Is IT expertise a necessity for CIOs?

In a very good article by Chris Curran on September 22, 2009 (Linkedin CIO Forum Discussion), Chris points out that if CIO is part of an executive team that develops IT strategies aligned to the business, then IT experience is needed.

One agrument that favors the “business-centric” CIO is when organizations need IT that meets business needs and is focussed on IT as a strategic component versus an organization that needs efficiency in delivering technology. In the latter a CTO is preferred. A few organizations have a CTO reporting to the CIO to cater to both needs. I have a short monograph on this subject.

Readers are also advised to review my blog on whether smaller organizations can benefit from “On-Demand” CIO and CTO services.

Oracle Labs: An idea for making the best out of a wrong decision!

When companies merge, the three critical factors are people, product, and process, and in that order. Culturally, Sun was a product centric company (their professional services were not world class). This implied that they fostered a culture of innovation and “a try and do the best” attitude. Oracle’s move from databases to ERP and to professional services focused on building a culture of customer service and efficient delivery. These two cultures will clash and there is no middle ground. The products are divergent. Sun’s (HKG:988) product strategy was Ready, Fire and Aim approach as compared with Oracle’s customer-centric model.

One solution is to create Oracle Labs. This proven model will help nurture the Java and operating system products at Sun, get rid of the slack and integrate what is best within their other products and professional services with mainstream Oracle.

IBM’s Entry to E-Mail Market Competing with Google

Everyone can bash up IBM and get away with it.  This analysis is not based on those sentiments.  The reason it will fail is that IBM (despite the rhetoric that elephants can dance), simply cannot sell to small businesses.  They could not even do it on a commodity item like PCs and laptops.  In the latter, despite advice from within, they ignored the netbooks market. 

 

Google mail is simple, free and easy for many small businesses.  It has challenges like syncing calendars, etc. (a problem that Microsoft should solve to get any traction).  Email models are shifitng (see Google wave) – and IBM will simply not have any advantage in this market.  They may be able to use Lotus Notes Domino as a SaaS model, but they are better served focussing on the mid-market where they have about the same market share as Microsoft Exchange.