- Business/IT Co-Evolution - The Role of the Cloud
4 Nov 09 | Presentation
Once a mere adjunct to the organisation, information technology is now increasingly inseparable from the organisation it serves. We are used to thinking about the many ways that IT has changed business (e-commerce, e-mail, databases, etc), but we don’t usually think as much about the ways that business and societal forces — such as advertising, property rights and governments — are shaping the course of information technology. The LEF believes the phrase business/IT co-evolution provides a powerful metaphor with which to describe and anticipate this two-way process of change. Cloud computing will prove to be the single, biggest step in this co-evolutionary process thus far, as — through virtual and variable resources — it increasingly supports a unified model for business/IT agility and change. David Moschella will discuss the importance of business/IT co-evolution, and why we think cloud computing is such an unprecedented and important industry tipping point.
See event: LEF Client Forum: The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation (4-5 November 2009)
- Rethinking Management and Employee Engagement - the Role of Enterprise Technologies
3 Nov 09 | Presentation
The economic recession has affected us all, but it was the outcome of the actions of very few people in very few organisations. By contrast, the more important disruption that is unfolding, in front of our eyes, is the outcome of multiple small changes in the behaviour of very many people primarily enabled by technology. Like all revolutions, it is a mass movement, even though many of the participants are sublimely unaware of the transformational role they are playing.
The last 20 years of business activity has been a dramatic story of strategic innovation and radically new business models, as industry after industry was revolutionised by competitive strategies that overturned long-standing assumptions about the formula for success in that industry.
The next 20 years will swing the focus to innovation in the way we manage and radically new organisational models, as companies discover that their long standing assumptions about how best to manage talented people and organise collective work are no longer effective.
In this half-day Management Update, Alan Matcham, Lee Schlenker and Jules Goddard outline the results of our recent study to explain the potential role of enterprise technologies to rethink management practice.
See event: Rethinking Management and Employee Engagement - the Role of Enterprise Technologies (3 November 2009)
- Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction (Volume 2)
29 Oct 09 | LEF Technology Program Report
Abstraction, long used in IT to mask complexity, is an essential ingredient for cloud computing. It's the secret sauce that sets up hardware and software to be delivered as services from the cloud. Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction shows clients how to mix that sauce for their specific needs.
Abstraction includes the many variations of virtualization, as well as services and multitenancy. In addition to enabling new combinations of IT components, abstraction helps the enterprise reduce cycle times. With abstraction, we can do in minutes what used to take days or weeks. Further, we can match IT demand to supply far more accurately, doing away with excess IT inventory.
The Cloud rEvolution series explores IT and business implications, covering technology advances, examples, concerns and practical guidelines. The four-volume series is as follows:
Volume 1: Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation
Volume 2: Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction
Volume 3: Cloud rEvolution: The Cloud Effect
Volume 4: Cloud rEvolution: A Workbook for Cloud Computing in the Enterprise
- The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation
22 Oct 09 | Presentation
Over the last year, the Leading Edge Forum has been researching both the business implications and technical evolution of the cloud computing phenomenon. In this presentation, Bob will discuss how cloud computing is being used today in large organisations to make their operations more scalable, virtual, and agile, while simultaneously shifting to on-demand and variable cost models. As more and more business activity moves to the cloud, companies are adopting new management and security practices, while embracing ongoing cultural change.
The presentation also explains the evolution of Cloud Computing, some definitions of what is (and what is not) cloud as well as briefly outlining the CSC road map for Cloud Computing.
See event: The Cloud rEvolution – Improving Agility, Cutting Costs, and Accelerating Business Innovation (22 October 2009)
- People Not Engaged and Performance Struggling? – What Role Management and Technology?
13 Oct 09 | Presentation
The global economic downturn, low levels of employee engagement and the growth crisis in organisations have underlined management’s difficulties in creating adaptable and engaging organisations to deal with the increasingly complex challenges of modern markets and economies. Research shows the search by management for greater levels of employee engagement to enable higher levels of performance through innovation, service, commitment and creativity appears to becoming harder and harder.
During this web conference, the paper’s authors, Alan Matcham, Lee Schlenker and Jules Goddard, will introduce and explore the potential of the concept of corporate ecology. They will provide some options to help management better leverage different generations of information technology to improve organisational performance. In taking a holistic view at the interdependence of technology, engagement and the management of human resource, the authors will provide a framework to enrich these resources and help business leaders understand the choices available.
See event: People Not Engaged and Performance Struggling? – What Role Management and Technology? (13 October 2009)
- Bridging the Gap between the CIO and the Board
12 Oct 09 | Single Topic Report
This report examines the relationship between the CIO and the board: how it has evolved over the past 30 years; what factors have contributed to the disconnect (and disillusionment) we see today; and what can be done about it, including practical steps that directors and boards can take to forge a more productive relationship. Our recommendations for bridging the gap span five key areas of engagement between the board and the CIO: strategic alignment, reputation protection, value realisation, compliance and succession planning.
Further information
If you would like to understand this topic further and its implications for your organisation, contact your Account Representative.
- Business/IT Co-Evolution - Rethinking Strategy and Risk
1 Oct 09 | Presentation
Business and technology change are now inseparable, and can no longer be discussed or analysed in isolation. Each is pushing the other in a process we have labelled as business/IT co-evolution. In this emerging world, business and technology change increasingly occur at the same speed, challenging traditional industry structures, management orthodoxies, and risk management assumptions. In this session, David will assess the state of business/IT co-evolution today and over the next five years, while defining the broad parameters of economic, technological and social change, and their implications for the individual firm.
See event: The Future of IT (1 October 2009)
- The Journey to Value
1 Oct 09 | Presentation
If enterprise applications have traditionally been designed to reinforce predominant management paradigms, what types of information architectures can help managers see their organisations and their responsibilities in a different light? Drawing on four examples taken from the Leading Edge Forum's study on the impact of social media on management practice, Professor Schlenker will explore visions, contexts and experiences of IT implementations that have supported contrasting visions of the managers' role in their organisations and in their business communities. He will challenge the audience to look beyond 'best practices'; and to discuss how the resulting value propositions can be adapted to account for specific markets and industries.
See event: The Future of IT (1 October 2009)
- Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation (Volume 1)
30 Sep 09 | LEF Technology Program Report
Cloud computing is taking IT by storm, and with it enterprises across the commercial and government sectors. As cloud computing changes the game in IT and opens up enormous agility and innovation for the business, enterprises are seeking to understand how they can benefit from cloud.
According to economist Brian Arthur of the Santa Fe Institute, cloud computing represents a morphing of the digital domain. This morphing is evolutionary from a technology standpoint, and potentially revolutionary for its business impact, as cloud (the latest major phase of IT) infiltrates all aspects of the economy over time. Or as Arthur puts it, "The economy is an expression of its technologies."
Volume 1, Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation, examines the core building blocks of the cloud, focusing on three areas: universal power, universal information and universal access. Armed with a solid understanding of cloud's foundations, enterprises will be better equipped to take advantage of advances in cloud computing, address its current limitations, and cut through the hype and doubt that currently surround cloud.
Volume 1 kicks off the four-volume Cloud rEvolution series, which probes the cloud continuum from its foundational technologies to abstracted technologies to the ultimate abstraction: the cloud itself. The series explores IT and business implications, covering technology advances, examples, concerns and practical guidelines. The four-volume series is as follows:
Volume 1: Cloud rEvolution: Laying the Foundation
Volume 2: Cloud rEvolution: The Art of Abstraction
Volume 3: Cloud rEvolution: The Cloud Effect
Volume 4: Cloud rEvolution: A Workbook for Cloud Computing in the Enterprise
- Doing Business in the Cloud – Implications for Cost, Agility and Innovation
27 Aug 09 | Single Topic Report
This report is designed to help business and IT leaders both understand and assess the implications of the cloud computing phenomenon. While there has been a lot of IT marketplace hype, and it is easy to dismiss cloud computing as just another computer industry buzzword, we believe this would be unwise. The phrase ‘cloud computing’ captures the essence of IT-based innovation today and points the way toward important future economic, business and technology trends. Just as previous IT eras (such as mainframes, personal computers and the Internet) have led to important business and economic changes, so will the cloud. This report will, in largely non-technical language, describe the nature of those changes, and what they mean to business and IT executives alike. We will show that the cloud is already a powerful platform that is helping world-class organisations operate faster, more flexibly and effectively, and at a substantially lower cost.
View Video - Doing Business in the Cloud
Further information
If you would like to understand this topic further and its implications for your organisation, contact your Account Representative.