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Ade McCormack

Founder of Auridian, which is focused on helping organisations maximise the business return on their IT investment. Author of The IT Value Stack - A Boardroom Guide to IT Leadership (Wiley 2007) and IT Demystified – The IT handbook for business professionals. issues.

Recent Activity

Tech firm? I don't think so!

The convergence of the Internet and mobility has made technology pervasive. So much so that many companies want to be seen as a 'tech player'. This is causing some confusion for the market in terms of what is the core... Continue reading

Posted 7 days ago at The eWorld Radar

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Squeeze the supplier!

Phrases such as "squeeze the supplier" and "sweat their balance sheet" are commonly used by many CIOs in relation to their technology providers. The post-Lehman market conditions perhaps justify this approach to vendor management. It is certainly a good discipline... Continue reading

Posted Apr 22, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Where's the pain?

When selling solutions, it makes the most sense to focus on the needs of those with the actual headache. As a tech vendor, going to market with a pitch to optimise server utilisation is functionally interesting to the CIO. Pitching... Continue reading

Posted Apr 15, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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When executives meet for dinner and IT is on the menu

T-Systems recently held two executive dinners in conjunction with the Financial Times. The first dinner was attended by CIOs and IT leaders from a variety of sectors. The second was attended by CFOs, similarly from a diverse range of sectors.... Continue reading

Posted Apr 11, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Are you worth it?

Do you know what you are worth? That is do you know what the market is willing to pay to secure your services? And do you know what steps you might take to increase your worth? Rather than consume brain... Continue reading

Posted Apr 8, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Self-reliant users

I am encountering many IT leaders who are concerned that they cannot reconcile the need to support every new user device that hits the market. This most likely reflects the world they grew up in, whereby users were spoon-fed and... Continue reading

Posted Mar 19, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Big data is not always big insight

Big data is the talk of the town. It converges the themes of data, information, video and social media amongst others to provide the vendors at least with a model to sell more services. Big data presents a danger in... Continue reading

Posted Mar 11, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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BYOD - Bring Your Own Datacentre

The enterprise end-game is in full swing. The main players including IBM, Cisco, EMC, Microsoft and HP to name a few are jostling for a piece of the datacentre and.the Cloud. They figure that the game is to be one... Continue reading

Posted Feb 24, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Seek developmental insecurity

Those of us in the IT industry who feel that after years of learning new languages, methods and management models we can slip into cruise mode and live off the knowledge and wisdom we have acquired are in for a... Continue reading

Posted Feb 24, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Investor beware

In the information economy organisations need to have information governance in place. The role should sit within the CIO's remit, given the second letter of the acronym. The fact that the CIO does not typically sit in the senior management... Continue reading

Posted Feb 11, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Beyond e-Skills

It is good to see that e-skills are being taken seriously on both sides of the IT function boundary. However as the IT function transitions from delivery of IT projects ("over to you user") to provision of information services ("help... Continue reading

Posted Feb 10, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Big data - Help me!

Harvard Business Review recently contained an article berating the IT function over how it fumbles analytics / big data projects. Specifically it highlights that whilst the IT department approach to building IT systems broadly works (heavily caveated), taking the same... Continue reading

Posted Feb 4, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Innovation and disruption

Are you considered innovative and disruptive? Certain industries have traditionally discouraged such traits. However there are at least two reasons to develop them: By constantly looking to disrupt your business model, you will raise the bar on what customers expect... Continue reading

Posted Jan 28, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Hermetically sealed?

Does your role protect you from the cold winds of commercial reality? Is your primary skill being able to operate below the redundancy radar thus keeping yourself in employment? It is perfectly natural to do this. Many organisations pay people... Continue reading

Posted Jan 21, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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Beyond Job specifications

Did you find your current role through the traditional application process? This order taking approach to acquiring employment is indicative that your employer has options in terms of swapping you out. That is the very nature of general job specifications.... Continue reading

Posted Jan 14, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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The Digital Hunter Gatherer

Gartner introduced us to the concept of digital natives and digital immigrants. The former were born into a web-centric world, the latter were not. This model helps us to understand how the needs / aspirations of the younger generation might... Continue reading

Posted Jan 8, 2013 at The eWorld Radar

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I recently attended an interesting event in Berlin to commemorate the momentous falling of the Wall in 1989. Speakers from a variety of arenas speedily conveyed how they were 'knocking down' walls in respect of science, art, poverty and industry.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 27, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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China – Siri-ous about Tech

It wasn’t so long ago that China had nothing to offer in terms of global tech players. Today it has Lenovo and Huawei. Lenovo is now the top PC maker (depending on whose stats you believe) and Huawei has 10... Continue reading

Posted Oct 11, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

2

Time to be productive

Mankind from a consumer perspective has generally benefited from the Industrial era; more choice and lower prices. But from a work perspective the benefits have been less obvious. Prior to the Industrial revolution (approximately a quarter of a million years)... Continue reading

Posted Sep 5, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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There is a reason that the Chief Marketing Officer has the ear of the CEO and CFO and that the CIO doesn’t. The CMO is responsible for the organisation’s brand, but her number one priority is the brand of her... Continue reading

Posted Aug 29, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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The new company car

Owning an iPad confers certain digital era characteristics: Cool - I am at the cutting edge of technology. Together - My work and life are integrated in one device. Superior - I am a consumer of content rather than a... Continue reading

Posted Jul 6, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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Skills for the New Industrial Revolution

I recently facilitated a forum entitled the Skills for the New Industrial Revolution as part of the European Commission’s Mission Growth conference in Brussels. I was fortunate to have senior representatives from industry, government and academe along with a sample... Continue reading

Posted Jun 13, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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Tech Sector Review - May 2012

Logica takeover After years of wandering in the no man’s land between outsourcing and technology consulting services, UK IT firm Logica is being scooped up by Canadian outfit CGI. Logica’s board are happy with the $1.7bn offer. This is all... Continue reading

Posted Jun 6, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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Marry me – A very short guide to outsourcing

I attended a very interesting breakfast seminar on outsourcing hosted by AT Kearney. A number of key points emerged including the importance of treating the relationship between the buyer of the outsourcing services and the supplier as a marriage as... Continue reading

Posted May 30, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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Digital willpower

Willpower is the ability to keep a focus on what is best for you (broccoli) in the face of what you want (cake). In the digital world the cost of communicating with clients approximates to zero, so the temptation is... Continue reading

Posted May 17, 2012 at The eWorld Radar

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