Teamwork, But Less Technology

Teamwork, But Less Technology

Mid-tier firms don’t use collaboration tools as much as larger companies do. Is that wise?

Small and growing businesses are not technology laggards. Mid-tier companies are more likely than large companies to be early and midstream technology adopters, and they are increasing IT spending faster, according to past CIO Insight surveys.

Fascinating article which looks at the differences in IT use between large and small/medium firms. If you look at the chart there are differences across the board, but the largest differences appear to be in specific collaborative technologies. The article speculates why this might be the case, but it would be useful to dig a bit deeper into how the large companies are using these technologies. What are the demographics that are different? Are the companies more productive or less when they use these technologies. On chart is particularly interesting:

25 March, 2008 | No comments

Five Ways Generation Y May Reinvent IT

Five Ways Generation Y May Reinvent IT

Perhaps, instead of wreaking havoc, their different working styles might cause foundational changes in the way enterprises run, especially when it comes to IT. Here are five ways that Generation Y could pull up the roots of information technology in favor of something new.

Reinvent IT, I like the sound of that. While I think the authors are premature on what they are saying, I think we will see some very positive changes in how technology is used in organizations because Generation Y simply sees technology differently.

24 March, 2008 | No comments

Which way are we heading?

Two articles came across my desk today causing me to wonder about the direction we are heading. As an MIS Professor I am very aware of the employment data as well as the prospects for future employment. I’ve read many articles saying that things are bad and others that say they are good and getting better. But the bottom line is technology continues to have an impact on business (why I like MIS in the first place)…anyway, these two articles show how things are changing.

The first one alarms me a bit. It seems IBM is starting to bypass the CIO and work directly with the business units:

CIO Insight Article

The second one shows how the IT people are becoming more involved in the business:

Computer World Article

So what do we see? What does the future look like? The encouraging thing is that technology first american cash advancemagnum cash advance,advance cash faxing magnumadvance cash loan payday,advance cash cash loan loan payday quick,advance cash loan payday todayadvance cash company,scams on cash advance companyhow to win at blackjackcasino online gambling guidebest online casino gambling site,best online casino gamblingadd casino link onlineinternet roulettefree online slots game,play free online slots gamevideo poker machinefree casino game no download,casino software download,casino downloadfree online video pokerfree on line video pokerno download casinovirtual casino gamblingonline bingocomputer black jackplay slots,play free slots game,free slots play for freeinternet slotsbest craps onlinefree backgammon download,free backgammon,free backgammon game downloadfree casino game,free casino,free casino moneyfree casino game no downloadplay blackjack online,blackjack money online play,play blackjack online freeonline casino gambling siteduces wild video pokeronline casino slots gamblingonline black jack gamefree triple play video pokerbest gambling online roulette,online roulette gamblingfree roulette,free online roulette,free roulette gamefree craps game online,free craps game,free online casino game crapsmultiplay video pokerinternet blackjack,free internet blackjack,blackjack internet casinoblack jack game,black jack game download,black jack casino gamevideo poker downloadsplay roulette onlineinternet casino gambling online,online casino gambling,casino gamblingfree no deposit casino bonusblack jack tournament,black jack tournament ultimate,winning black jack tournamentinternet video pokerfree black jack gamedownload rouletteplay free casino gameonline casino wageringno download video pokerplay craps,how to play craps on the internet,play craps freelearn to play roulette,play roulette,play casino roulettevideo poker tips is closer to the users. The discouraging thing is that if there’s no plan, each unit does what it wants, what happens? Some don’t see MIS as a “functional area” of business. But it is. Can each of the other functional areas do their own marketing? Certainly, with today’s software they could. So why do we still have marketing departments? To leverage marketing opportunities. The same is true for MIS, organizations need to leverage technology opportunities too.

What do you think?

17 March, 2008 | No comments

How to Tap ITs Hidden Potential

How to Tap ITs Hidden Potential - WSJ.com

Simply put, top executives at most companies fail to recognize the value of IT. It can help a company transform data from its operations, its business partners and its markets into useful competitive information. It can be the source of profitable innovations in the way a company interacts with its customers and suppliers. But there is still a tendency to think of IT as a basic utility, like plumbing or telephone service.

Great article in the Wall Street Journal!! MIS professors have been preaching the alignment between business and technology for years. We have been telling students there is a need to translate between both worlds. Preaching strategy. Business + Computers, what a concept

11 March, 2008 | No comments

Facebook vs. LinkedIn: Which is better for business?

Facebook vs. LinkedIn: Which is better for business?

March 4, 2008 Computerworld Social networking is no longer the Next Big Thing; its now as much part of our Web experience as search engines. Previously considered the province of kids who wanted to keep up with class gossip, social networking services are being co-opted by grownups who are examining ways to use them both within and outside of their places of employment.

Fascinating article. I am glad that someone looked at it this way. Social Networking is not going away and time soon and it will have/has had an impact on business.

4 March, 2008 | No comments

Age Determines Technologys Value

Age Determines Technologys Value

Younger generations rarely notice the technology in the devices they use. Baby boomers raised in the 1960s only saw the programming and didnt think much, if at all, about the technology and infrastructure that brought them Bonanza, The Ed Sullivan Show and Laugh-In. Not only do younger generations perceive technology differently from their elders, including the CIOs and other executives who manage IT organizations and corporations, but they use it differently, too.

I know it’s been awhile since I posted, I’ve been busy. My class server crashed (we did not have a backup) and I just reconfigured my new Tablet PC (Lenovo X61 - Vista is wonderful on a Tablet - so far), so life has kept me busy. But this article kept coming across my desk…um’ e-mail and it is causing me to think. The other day my son and I were discussing something and I said “did you follow up on those e-mails I sent?” to which he replied “no, if you want me to read something, send it to Face Book.” Now I thought that a bit odd, but it did not jump out at me until I read this article and then it all made sense. The cool thing is my son has no problem with me being one of his friends on Face Book. When I asked to be added he immediately added me and then changed the setting so it says i am his Dad. Pretty cool I thought. But it’s nothing new for him. Just SOP.

We are starting to take technology for granted as it continues to improve and we are just now seeing the start of social networking. The future will amaze us and the way we connect with other stakeholders will amaze as well.

28 November, 2007 | No comments

Blog Away

SI.com - NCAA eases restrictions on live updates

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA eased its restrictions on blogging and said live updates from its events are permitted as long as they are limited to scores and time remaining.

Well it appears that NCAA is getting this one figured out and in my opinion they got this one right….now if they could just do something about the BCS…

22 June, 2007 | No comments

NCAA’s stance on blogs hurts the sports fans

NCAA’s stance on blogs hurts the sports fans- al.com

The NCAA has done such a superior job of improving academic fraud, gambling, recruiting violations, drug use, proper tuition in scholarships and escalating athletic costs that it’s now tackling more serious matters: Blogging.

The public relations fallout from this story is so absurd, only the NCAA could be involved. The NCAA wants more control of its product in what could be a landmark case between the media and sports organizations over how news is reported.

This has been an interesting story to follow. At the College World Series a blogger was asked to leave as he was posting “real-time” information which violates some contracts the NCAA has with various organizations ($$$). Some would argue, was it really real-time? Lots of questions followed. This is causing even more people to take note about the role of Blogs.

I found this particular commentary particularly interesting.

20 June, 2007 | No comments

Tech blogs go from hobbies to businesses - USATODAY.com

Tech blogs go from hobbies to businesses - USATODAY.com

Suddenly, TechCrunch could make or break a start-up. Entrepreneurs swarmed Arrington at conferences. Several showed up at his house one morning and banged on the windows until he let them in, he says. He hired five full-time and 16 part-time employees, and broke the news that Google was acquiring YouTube.

Seems blogs are receiving a bit more attention lately. This article is an entertaining read that shows exactly how influential Blogs are becoming. It’s interesting to think about how the influence has moved from companies, consultants, or organizations, to specific individuals. Find someone whose opinion you value and you can read their blog.

20 June, 2007 | No comments

Joost

Here’s a really cool development Joost (pronounced juice). It allows you to watch TV on your PC for free. But it appears to use P2P technology. The don’t say that in big words up front. When you sign up they tell you that you are agreeing to have the program use some of your bandwidth and it will run in the background unless you completely shut the software down. Very cool idea.

But you need an invitation too….a quick web search revealed this page where you can get an invite.

You can learn more from USA Today.

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14 June, 2007 | No comments

Net Neutrality

CNN has an interesting article on Net Neutrality. For the most art it is the musicians’ perspectives. But the interesting thing is it is not what you might think. They actually make some really good points and Net Neutrality is a very big issue. If companies/governments begin controlling it in any way it will impact the future of the web. At first the control may seem logical, but in reality the end result will be changed. The article is worth checking out:

CNN on Net Neutraility

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29 March, 2007 | No comments

How IT Is Putting You Out of Business |

CIO Blogs - How IT Is Putting You Out of Business |

And what happens is the information technology people are collecting a lot of stuff that’s easy to collect, because we’ve got our fingers on it. But who’s out there digging up all the external information and organizing it in such a way inside the company that people can actually put it into their plans and into their thinking and put it into the very mechanics of how they run a company?

At first, when I read this I thought, “oh no, another IT doesn’t matter article” and if you just look at the article you may be right. But take a look at his PPT presentation at the end and you see he has some valid points that have nothing to do with IT. But if you look for solutions to the problems he is describing you see the answers in MIS. Now some have a hard time differentiating between IT and MIS, but there is a difference. MIS is focused on the business use of technology, not just the technology itself. So in this case MIS, the application of the appropriate technology, is the solution to the problems he is identifying. As the above paragraph states, IT right now simply saves and collects data that is easy. We need to start asking the tough questions and look for ways to get beyond the organization. Technology can do that. That’s what digital stakeholders is all about.

1 March, 2007 | No comments

Twelve-steps to curing e-mail addiction

Twelve-steps to curing e-mail addiction - CNN.com

An executive coach in Pennsylvania has devised a plan to teach people how to manage the electronic tool, which some users say can be as much an intrusive waste of time as it is fast-paced and efficient.

Developed for cases such as a golfer who checked his BlackBerry after every shot, and lost a potential client who wanted nothing to do with his obsession, Marsha Egan’s plan taps into deepening concern that e-mail misuse can cost businesses millions of dollars in lost productivity.

Fascinating article that for me touches on many levels. First is the addiction part. Sure I think many are addicted to the instant gratification that e-mail can provide and also the idea of living up to expectations. For academics this can be very real. Last semester I had a student e-mail me at 6:30pm with a question, but I was out at a family function. When I returned home and checked e-mail at 9:30pm (just 3 hours) I was greeted with a nasty note “why have you not responded”.

But the reality of this article is that it is more about time management and setting priorities than then addiction. There are some good tips for keeping e-mail under control. As our attention spans continue to get smaller and smaller we need to work hard to bring them back up or the IQ of the entire nation will eventually suffer.

20 February, 2007 | No comments

Students use IM-lingo in essays

Students use IM-lingo in essays - CNN.com

But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children’s social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.

Most of the time I am excited about how technology is impacting digital relationships. But this article has me concerned, not because students do it. They always look for the path of least resistance. But some educators have me scratching my head:

Some educators, like David Warlick, 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, see the young burgeoning band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has authored three books on technology in the classroom.

Ok, I get his point. But the kids we have now are relatively new to IM compared with those we will see in the future. Will the entire business environment change to compensate for these students? Some seem to think so (see Got Game).

12 February, 2007 | No comments

Microsoft in hot water over Wikipedia edits

Microsoft in hot water over Wikipedia edits - CNN.com

While Wikipedia is known as the encyclopedia that anyone can tweak, founder Jimmy Wales and his cadre of volunteer editors, writers and moderators have blocked public-relations firms, campaign workers and anyone else perceived as having a conflict of interest from posting fluff or slanting entries. So paying for Wikipedia copy is considered a definite no-no.

Ok, here comes another article link I find this one intriguing because it involves MS and Wikipedia. In the past studies have show Wikipedia to be just slightly more “unaccurate” that the established Encyclopedia Brittanica. But this seemed marginal and one would wonder if it was statistically signifcant. Anyway, Wikipedia has become a beloved source of information and this is not the first time someone or something has tried to change its content. MS would have us believe that it was trying to get it right, but who’s right do they consider right? They have a way of seeing them through Redmond glasses and they think they know more than the rest of us (IMHO). One always has to wonder about the objectivity of a MS sponsored report/white paper/correct. Anyway, perhaps you will find this interesting as well.

24 January, 2007 | No comments

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