Category Archives: CEO Questions

Business Executive Series #9

Representative goal statement – “I want IT to increase shareholder value (share price as influenced by business growth and EPS growth).” One of my favorite technology books is The Squandered Computer by Paul Strassmann. It’s a bit of a skeptic’s … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #8

Business Imperative, New Investments Representative goal statement – “I need IT to merge 5 acquired companies into one, requiring all new, state-of-the-art IT systems across the board.” This particular representative goal statement really gives me pause for thought. The statement … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #7

IT Value Proposition, Strategic Focus Representative goal statement -  “I want IT to have superior service/cost positioning on a long-term basis and focus critical domain knowledge and expertise on high value initiatives.” I would love to work with the CEO  … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #6

Business Imperative Representative goal statement -  “I thought that (what) we needed IT to do started off as (IT) cost savings, but that quickly changed to support for competitive business requirements.” The way in which the Representative Goal Statement was … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #5

Business Imperative, Access to New Capabilities, Avoidance of IT CapEx Representative goal statement -   “I need IT to enable short-term independence from (previous Parent company); put in place a flexible mechanism to address future requirements and avoid competing for capital … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #4

Business Imperative, Corporate Alignment Representative goal statement – “I need IT to spearhead a strategic business initiative replacing the new (core processing) system and align IT with our cultural values.” This particular theme is one that I’ve encountered a few … Continue reading

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Filed under BES, CEO Questions, Culture & Values, Investment, OCM

Business Executive Series #3

Operational Stability, Access to New Capabilities, Variable Cost for Services Representative goal statement – “I need IT to stabilize (IT) Operations and be able to introduce leading edge IT capabilities on a pay-as-you-go basis.” If there was one theme that … Continue reading

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Filed under BES, CEO Questions, Cost, Operations

Business Executive Series #2

  Solution Delivery Responsiveness, Cost Reduction (IT Services) Representative goal statement -  “I need IT to significantly increase IT performance (time-to-results) and reduce cost bases by at least 15%.” The second most popular theme submitted for discussion in the Business … Continue reading

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Business Executive Series #1

Cost for Commodity IT Services Representative goal statement – “I need to make sure that we have the lowest cost alternative for commodity services.” As I wrote previously, the popularity of this theme somewhat surprised me. The support statement leads … Continue reading

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The Business Executive Series

Thanks to everyone who sent in a question or statement regarding the upcoming series of posts on business expectations of IT. Your input was very useful in understanding what goals and objectives IT is most frequently challenged to achieve by … Continue reading

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