Bart Perkins: After Superstorm Sandy, an opportunity to be better prepared
The whole point of an information systems contingency plan is to be prepared before catastrophe strikes. Unfortunately, we're all adept at postponing planning.
Stories by Bart Perkins
Bart Perkins: Don't forget the field
Headquarters staffers often belittle the importance of functions located elsewhere, and they just as often have things backward.
Bart Perkins: Change management is not optional
You can't assume that if you just design a better approach, people will automatically embrace the new system.
Bart Perkins: The value of skeptics (of the right kind)
Their endless questioning can be painful at times, but a loyal skeptic can help keep your project on track.
Who owns your tweets?
Both corporations and their employees who tweet on the company's behalf must clarify the question.
Court Has Compromised Software Rights
On April 11, our judiciary system failed the IT industry by limiting the ability of corporations to protect their internal software. Specifically, the U.S. Second Court of Appeals reversed the 2010 conviction of Sergey Aleynikow under the Economic Espionage Act (EEA). During his last day as a Goldman Sachs programmer, Aleynikov uploaded proprietary software that enhances Goldman's high-speed trading capabilities. Shortly thereafter, he joined a company that develops software tools for financial services firms. What a coincidence.
IT reorgs: Be sure of your reasons
When companies think about an IT reorganization, the first two questions raised are usually "Who?" and "Where?" Wrong on both counts! The first two questions should always be "Why?" and "How?"
Good Service Offers ROI
For many organizations, service centers are necessary evils that eat budget dollars while adding little value. Because they are viewed as overhead, many service centers (a.k.a. call centers, help desks, etc.) are outsourced to reduce costs. But that may not guarantee that you'll save money, and worse, it can alienate customers by presenting as your public face service-center staffers who may have insufficient product knowledge, language capabilities or civility.
Is social connectivity friend or foe to corporations?
In 1929, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigyes_Karinthy">Frigyes Karinthy</a> conjectured that anyone on Earth was connected to anyone else, on average, through just six people. Social networking may be increasing connectedness. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-team/anatomy-of-facebook/10150388519243859">Facebook recently studied connectedness</a> among its 721 million active users, concluding that the average distance between any two Facebook users is now only 4.74 "hops" (down from 5.28 in 2008).
Ensuring project success
Project plans sometimes go off the rails. That's always been the case, and with the perfection of the human race nowhere on the horizon, it will remain true. But we can reduce the number of projects that fail.
Bart Perkins: Wise managers don't block workplace Web access
A few years ago, companies regularly <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139020/Study_54_of_companies_ban_Facebook_Twitter_at_work">blocked access to Amazon, Facebook, eBay, World of Warcraft and other sites</a> , which they claimed distracted employees and wasted time. Some people indeed overdid Internet usage or abused social media privileges (remember <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2007/03/09/career-advice-dont-choose-facebook-over-your-job/">Goldman Sachs' Charlie</a> ?), and many organizations severely restricted Web access.
The Fortune 500's disappearing CIOs
Save the CIO, save the enterprise! It might not be the catchiest slogan, but there's more than a little truth in it.
Project Management: No horsing around
IT organizations are expected to complete projects on time, on budget and with high quality -- but often don't.
Cloudy, with a chance of trouble
Many organizations are considering shutting down their data centers and migrating most IT functions to the cloud. Beware, though: <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9150038/Dark_clouds_gather_over_online_security">Not all clouds are soft and fluffy</a> .
Infrastructure: IT's stepchild
Every enterprise needs a robust IT infrastructure in order to function effectively. Infrastructure is the foundation of corporate productivity and success. Many IT groups, however, don't have enough skilled infrastructure staffers to provide the solid foundation required.