CIO Insights editor, Doug Moran, lists 16 attributes of a leader, which he calls the “16 Ifs.” The “If” part he attributes to a Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name, which describes for Doug, “a leadership path that I have chosen to follow.” Doug says the first two lines might have been written for today’s CIOs:
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;”
Here are Doug’s 16 attributes of a leader:
- Composure ― The Power to Keep Your Head
- Character ― The Wisdom to Know and Trust Yourself
- Patience ― The Strength to Endure
- Selflessness ― The Ability to Put Your Cause and Beliefs Ahead of Yourself
- Vision ―The Power of Having and Sharing a Dream
- Self-Efficacy ― The Confidence to Gain from Triumph and Disaster
- Integrity ― The Wisdom to Know the Truth and the Strength to Defend It
- Resilience ― The Ability to Bounce Back from Adversity
- Boldness ― The Ability to See and Seize Opportunities
- Accountability ― The Will to Take Ownership Regardless of the Outcome
- Courage ― The Ability to Face the Dangers When They Become Real
- Stamina ― The Will to Hold On When You Have Nothing Left
- Authenticity ― The Resolve Always to Be Yourself
- Inspiration ― The Ability to Connect With and Motivate Friends and Foes
- Enthusiasm ― The Energy to Fill Every Minute
- Ambition ― The Will to Make the World What You Want It to Be
To read the entire CIO Insights article, click here.
I ran across an interesting slide show on CIO Insight about the things Business hates most about IT — and vice versa. The list comes from Susan Cramm’s forthcoming book, 8 Things We Hate About IT. Some of the more snarky excerpts include:
- Line leaders hate when IT consists of condescending techies who don’t listen.
- IT leaders hate when the business treats IT professionals like untrustworthy servant-genies.
The discussion of IT versus Business Management has been a hot one for a long time and reminds me of this anecdote I came across a while ago. Its author is unknown:
A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”
The man below says, “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.”
“You must work in Information Technology,” says the balloonist.
“I do,” replies the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” says the balloonist, “Everything you have told me is technically correct, but it’s of no use to anyone.”
The man below says, “You must work in business management.”
“I do,” replies the balloonist, “But how did you know?”
“Well,” says the man, “You don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”
Your thoughts on the issue?
Just in time for the geeks on your gift list, ITworld profiles the top ten mostly non-tech tools IT professionals can’t function without. First on the list is a multi-tool from Leatherman — one of EasyStreet’s happy customers.
“I rewired my parents’ new house for phone and Ethernet with nothing but my Leatherman and a crimping tool,” says a multi-tool advocate.
You can view the whole ITworld list here.
When HP hired Forrester last May to conduct a multi-national survey of data center inefficiencies, the research firm found many companies seriously lacking in information about their IT equipment. (The survey included 185 IT professionals in the US, UK and Australia.)
“A substantial number of our survey respondents were not able to estimate the utilization of their server or storage infrastructure,” the Forrester report stated. “Upon consolidating systems, many firms discover that a portion of their servers are ghosts – servers that are turned on but crashed or abandoned.”
In light of this lack of knowledge, Forrester suggests collecting asset information including business owner, hardware configuration, and utilization before proceeding with virtualization, consolidation, or data center infrastructure changes.
Data-center and data-network operations are the two most frequently outsourced IT activities, according to a recent report compiled by research and consulting firm Computer Economics. The firm polled IT managers in more than 200 companies in the U.S. and Canada.
“Today, IT outsourcing is taking on many new and varied forms as technology continues to evolve,” the report states. “Nearly every IT function can be outsourced to third-party service providers, from application development to IT management.”
Of the 11 different IT services it explored, both “data center operations” and “data network operations” topped the list for being outsourced, both at 28 percent of the firms queried.
Data center operations are defined in the report as outsourcing “where data centers are managed and operated by an outside service provider. This includes data centers where facilities or computer hardware are owned by the customer, as well as cases where data centers or computer equipment are owned by the service provider.”
Data network operations are “where a service provider is responsible for all or part of data network operations, network monitoring, or contract services to install, repair, or maintain data network equipment, software, or circuits.”
Application maintenance and website/e-commerce systems were the next most outsourced services at 27 percent each, while IT security was least popular at 19 percent.
“IT organizations are experiencing the most cost overruns with application development, website/e-commerce systems, and data network operations outsourcing contracts,” the firm found. “They have the easiest time predicting costs for IT security, voice network operations, and data center operations outsourcing contracts.”
To obtain a copy of the Computer Economics report, click here.
