The Fractional CIO
Innovative CEOs and CFOs are turning to the fractional CIO to drive strategy, enterprise architecture and IT vendor management without the expense the typical high-powered CIO would incur. The ‘executive…
ERP Interface Design Principles
Switching ERP systems in a business is like transplanting all a person’s internal organs at once – and if you are going to take on that kind of pain, you might as well do it right. Three fundamental areas can determine success or failure of even the best managed program: where to set the functional edges; how to design the interfaces for the edges you set; and how to model your business objects in the software. In this post I’ll tackle interface design. (more…)
Great IT – Business Partnership
Organizing some thoughts I had put down while waiting for conversions to run on the weekend a large systems project went live, on original budget and original schedule.
In 25 years of working with great companies across a variety of industries, I see IT leaders engaging with business leadership to shape project commitments in three ways:
- Some answer “Yes,” to everything, work heroic hours and under-deliver
- Some just say “No”
- The best engage in a discussion starting with “Yes, and…”
Only the third type of leader has a great relationship with their business partners. There are many other prerequisites for a great IT / business partnership, such as the right organizational design, great people, great planning, and great project management. But it all starts with how you engage your business partners. (more…)