Information Technology / IT Management A N By and large, cost-effective information technology (IT) management D is more about people, per sonal relationships, and corporate culture R I than it is about the technology itself. Simply put, IT doesn’t work if you O L are surrounded by bad people and stupid processes in a deranged E corporate culture. IT’s All about the People: Technology Management That Overcomes Disaffected People, Stupid Processes, and Deranged Corporate Cultures explains how to achieve dramatic improvements in service I T and agility by enhancing the people, processes, and culture within ’ your organization. It details the various roles within the technology s management process and supplies authoritative insight into the realities A of human behavior—including the range of best and worst behaviors from managers, executives, and corporate culture. L L • Considers organizational politics, among other reporting, a gov ernance, and power realities b • Unveils new management best practices, given the perennial o constraints of people, processes, and cultures u • Explores outsourcing and the cloud t t Industry veteran Stephen J. Andriole explains the reason behind h why many business cases fail and includes helpful insights on new e governance models, organic transformation, guerilla budgeting, and P open-source software. Providing a fresh perspective on the old basics of IT management through a twenty-first-century lens, this book arms E you with the methods needed to master the soft art of IT management O as well as purchasing, deployment, and technological support. P L E K13557 ISBN: 978-1-4398-7658-9 90000 www.crcpress.com 9 781439 876589 www.auerbach-publications.com K13557 cvr mech.indd 1 9/22/11 10:10 AM IT’s ALL about PEOPLE the Technology Management That Overcomes Disaffected People, Stupid Processes, and Deranged Corporate Cultures IT’s ALL about PEOPLE the Technology Management That Overcomes Disaffected People, Stupid Processes, and Deranged Corporate Cultures STEPHEN J. ANDRIOLE CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2012 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 2011909 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-7660-2 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Contents Preface.....................................................................................................xi Chapter 1 People...................................................................................1 Some.Dirty.Little.Secrets.............................................................2 Many.Technologists.Are.Not.Technical...............................3 No.One.Knows.What.the.Hell.“Architecture”.Is................4 Technology.Is.Operational,.Not.Strategic—at.Least. for.Now......................................................................................5 Vendor.Management.Is.an.Oxymoron:.No.One. Does.it.Well..............................................................................5 Software.Costs.Way.Too.Much.(Way, Way Too Much)......6 Can.You.Handle.the.Truth?........................................................8 When.Reason,.Logic,.and.Business.Cases.Fail.......................12 Soft.Skills.from.the.Dark.Side...................................................14 What.Will.You.(Really).Be.Doing.in.a.Few.Years?................16 The.(Really).Perfect.CIO.(You.Know.the.Type).....................18 Will.You.Work.for.Results?......................................................20 Sometimes.You.Must.Go.Negative..........................................23 Pay.Very.Close.Attention.to.New.Era.Skills...........................25 Everyone.to.the.Woodshed..................................................27 Politics,.Culture,.and.You.....................................................29 Can.You.Smell.Change?........................................................32 The.Consolidating.Technology.Industry.......................32 Major.Changes.in.the.Value.and.Location.of. Skill Sets.............................................................................32 Innovation.at.Risk.............................................................33 Leadership,.Likeability,.and.Life.............................................34 Do.You.Speak.Business?............................................................36 Pain.→.Pleasure.....................................................................37 Credibility.→.Influence........................................................37 Operations.→.Strategy..........................................................37 Three.Easy.First.Steps................................................................37 v vi  •  Contents Whatever.Happened.to.Mentoring,.Meritocracies,.and. Sabbaticals?..................................................................................38 Three.Brands.for.the.Millennium............................................41 Final.Thoughts.about.People....................................................43 Chapter 2 Organization......................................................................45 “I.Want.a.Divorce”....................................................................46 New.Governance.versus.Organizational.Terrorism..............50 Driving.Trends.......................................................................50 All.New.Governance.Models....................................................51 Core.Competency.Challenges..............................................52 Enterprise.Business.Technology.Architecture. Challenges...............................................................................52 Alternative.Hardware.and.Software.Delivery.Model. Challenges...............................................................................53 User-Managed.Web.2.0.Technology.Challenges..............54 Web.Transaction.Platform.Challenges...............................55 Globalization.Challenges......................................................55 Organizational.Implications...............................................56 Why.You.Need.a.Business.Technology.Management. Office...........................................................................................56 What.to.Do.When.the.Regions.Rebel....................................60 Processes,.Clear.and.Messy......................................................64 Process.World.......................................................................64 Process.Control.....................................................................66 Process.Improvement............................................................67 Process.Incentives..................................................................67 Takeaways..............................................................................68 The.Subtle,.Sublime,.and.Nefarious.(or,.Watch. Your Back)...............................................................................68 Training.to.Obsolescence.....................................................69 CAPEX.versus.Expensing.....................................................69 Those.Things.Are.Expensive................................................70 Sourcing..................................................................................71 Telecommuting’s.Not.for.Everyone.....................................71 Change.for.Their.Own.Sake.................................................72 Having.IT.Both.Ways,.You.Bastards.......................................73 Save.Money.Today.and.Make.Money.Tomorrow.............73 Contents  •  vii Stop.Worrying.about.Devices..............................................74 Software.and.Hardware.Are.Already.Services..................74 Open-Source.is.Safe,.Honestly.............................................74 There’s.Gold.in.Them.There.Processes...............................75 Web.2.0.Is.Really.Your.Friend..................................................75 Data.without.Analytics.Are.Useless...................................75 Organizational.Surgery.Is.No.Longer.Elective......................76 Loosen.Up...............................................................................76 It’s.Getting.Cloudy.Out.There..............................................77 Five.Hours.to.Influence.............................................................78 Ten.Things.the.IT.Department.Should.Tell. Management..........................................................................80 Final.Thoughts.about.Organization.........................................82 Chapter 3 Management......................................................................83 Really.Stupid.Meetings.............................................................84 Many.Happy.Returns................................................................86 A.Crisis.Is.a.Terrible.Thing.to.Waste......................................88 Changing.Our.Minds.(about.Everything).............................90 Vitamin.Pills.versus.Painkillers...............................................93 Save.Money,.Make.Money,.or.Go.Home.................................95 Ten.“New.Rules”.for.IT.............................................................96 Guerilla.Budgeting.....................................................................98 Another.Audit?........................................................................100 Innovation.in.Flight.................................................................102 Innovation.Parameters............................................................102 Incentives..............................................................................103 Governance...........................................................................104 Funding.................................................................................105 Initiatives..............................................................................105 Assessment...........................................................................106 Why.Strategic.Risk.Management.Is.So.Important..............107 Strategic.Risk.Management....................................................108 The.New.Risk.Equation...........................................................108 Innovation.on.the.Cheap;.Moving.Forward.while. Standing.Still.............................................................................111 Way.Overdue—Yet.Still.Really.Cheap:.BPM........................112 Crowdsourcing.for.Fun.and.Profit.........................................113 viii  •  Contents Tell.Them.You.Love.Them—To.Innovate..............................113 Social.Media.(Poor.Man’s.Marketing,.Customer. Service).and.Innovation..........................................................114 Innovation.Talent.Development.That.You. Actually Mean.......................................................................115 Tough.Love.Business.Cases.....................................................116 Tough.Love...........................................................................117 Web.2.0.............................................................................117 Alternative.Delivery.Models...................................................118 People.........................................................................................119 Organizations...........................................................................120 Strategy.....................................................................................120 Technology.Adoption—One.More.Time..............................121 Final.Thoughts.about.Management.......................................121 Chapter 4 Sourcing...........................................................................123 Why.More.(and.More.and.More).Outsourcing.Is. Inevitable..................................................................................124 Vendors,.Vendors,.Everywhere...............................................125 Has.Anyone.Been.to.Nordstrom?..........................................127 Technology.Life.in.the.Clouds................................................129 What.Start-Ups.and.Wind-Downs.Do.Now........................133 Start-Up.Tactics...................................................................133 Wind-Down.Tactics............................................................135 Sourcing,.Sourcing.Everywhere.............................................138 New.Ways.to.Deliver.Old.Services.for.Less.Money.............140 Clashing.Rocks.........................................................................141 Open-Source.Software........................................................141 Web.2.0.Technologies..........................................................143 Hardware-as-a-Service.......................................................144 Software-as-a-Service..........................................................144 Thin.Client.Architectures...................................................145 Caution.to.the.Rocks...........................................................146 Why.Crowdsourcing.Makes.Sense........................................148 IT’s.a.Done.Deal.......................................................................150 Enterprise.Software:.Now.You.See.IT—Now.You.Don’t.....153 Contents  •  ix What.the.Early.Twenty-First.Century.(in.Ruins).Is. Teaching.Us.about.Technology.Delivery..............................155 Renegotiations......................................................................155 Subsidies................................................................................156 Technology.Trends.Assessments.......................................156 Alternative.Delivery.Models..............................................157 Final.Thoughts.about.Sourcing..............................................159 Chapter 5 Organic.Transformation.................................................161 Over.and.Over.Again.and.Again...........................................161 People.........................................................................................161 Processes....................................................................................162 Governance...............................................................................162 Rationalization..........................................................................168 Sourcing.....................................................................................169 Innovation.................................................................................169 Management.“Best.Practices”.................................................170 Internal.Consulting—Go.for.IT.............................................171 Internal.versus.External.Consultants....................................172 The.Consulting.Process:.Identifying.Meaningful. Problems....................................................................................175 The.Consulting.Process:.Assessing.the.Appetite.for. Solutions....................................................................................177 The.Consulting.Process:.Determining.Likely.Costs. and.Risks....................................................................................178 The.Consulting.Process:.Finding.the.Right.Sponsors.........180 The.Consulting.Process:.Developing.Compelling. Business.Cases..........................................................................181 The.Consulting.Process:.Realistically.Defining.Projects....181 The.Consulting.Process:.Chunking.......................................182 The.Consulting.Process:.Executing.......................................182 The.Consulting.Process:.Revisiting.Value/Cost/Risk.........183 The.Consulting.Process:.Reporting.......................................183 Consulting.Knowledge.and.Skills..........................................184 Knowledge.of.the.Business.and.Functional.Business. Areas......................................................................................185 Knowledge.of.Technology..................................................186 Skills,.Abilities,.and.Behavior............................................189