George Spafford

In a 2006 study the Standish Group found that only 35% of IT projects could be deemed successful. Of the balance, 19% failed outright and 46% were considered “challenged” due to missed dates, blown budgets, etc. While this is an improvement over the original 1994 study, there is still dramatic room for improvement. In a […]

In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman notes how the impact of geographic distance has diminished and global competition is happening like never before. Everywhere we look his observation seems true. Due to recent R&D efforts with my organization and the need to source a diverse set of products, the role of eBay […]

It is essential to take the time to adequately assess not just the functionality of your IT tools but also the vendors who sell them. After all, the relative success or failure of your vendors will directly affect the quality of services that you yourelf can render to customers. With that in mind, here’s a […]

When I purchase a car, I expect it to operate reliably and safely for intended tasks. Customers would find it unacceptable if they had to reboot their cars every couple of days or if the brakes failed due to poor design when needed most. With the computer industry, things are different. Not only do we […]

Some IT organizations are using portfolios of IT projects to manage risks in an attempt to yield positive benefits to their organizations. The idea originated in finance and makes sense when the assets being held are relatively independent in nature. Are IT projects truly independent variables like a third party investment? Are we allowing a […]

A number of firms, including AT&T’s home Internet group, are bringing overseas call centers back to the United States. The hoped for benefits did not materialize as expected and a customer backlash in some cases has made the ventures less than ideal. Organizations pursuing offshore outsourcing strategies must not forget to factor in customer service […]

Knowing the greatly increased productivity that results from a mobile workforce, companies buy a plethora of laptops, ultra-portables, PDAs, cell phones, and personal storage devices. They also invest heavily in upgrading existing portable systems – anything to offer greater functionality to on-the-go staffers. However, companies are often in such a rush to expand that they […]

Have you ever stopped and thought about all of the skills we are losing? How many people today can do even basic math without a calculator or apply logical analysis to a problem greater than where to eat for dinner? I can’t help but wonder what the ultimate outcome of our headlong plunge into accelerated […]

In March 2004, Roger Duronio, acting on his own, launched a logic bomb attack that crippled almost 2,000 hosts on the UBS Paine Webber network. The business impact of this act were enormous and felt for quite some time as the organization sorted out the mess. UBS did a lot of things right and this […]

Sarbanes-Oxley is about restoring investor confidence in publicly traded companies by attempting to ensure that the financial reports that they present to the investing public are accurate. As a result, public companies have been forced to review and implement controls to help ensure that risks to the financial reporting process are properly managed. Of course, […]