How to Break Down the OpEx vs. CapEx Cloud Computing Debate

How to Break Down the OpEx vs. CapEx Cloud Computing Debate

The debate about the economic benefits of cloud computing is intense, and is commonly boiled down to a talking point labelled OpEx vs. CapEx. Very often, like many talking points, the headline conflict is really a stalking horse that conceals the true source of conflict. In the case of OpEx vs. CapEx, what often underlies the discussion is really an indirect, coded debate about the future of IT infrastructure and operations groups: Will they […]

Two Important Test Questions

Two Important Test Questions

The full range of debate about the Big Standardized Tests really comes down to answering two critical questions about the testing. 1. Does the test collect good data? The whole justification for the BS Tests is that they will collect all sorts of rich and useful data about students, schools, and educational programs. I have been amazed at the widespread, childlike, bland faith that many people have in anything called a “standardized test.” If […]

Yes He Can: Ball Corp. CIO on Tech-Enabling Business

Yes He Can: Ball Corp. CIO on Tech-Enabling Business

Leroy Williams works in lockstep with the rest of the executive committee at Ball to continually invest in technology that enhances economic value add—the beacon metric for the manufacturer and its shareholders. With his 10-year anniversary as CIO at Ball fast approaching, he must be doing something right. Over a 20-year career, Leroy Williams has worked in industries as varied as telecom, banking, state government, and manufacturing. While he acknowledges that deep industry knowledge […]

Sales Still Matters More than Social Media

Sales Still Matters More than Social Media

Sales Still Matters More than Social Media It’s become commonplace for observers to tout the transformative potential of digital technologies and bemoan the allegedly slow pace at which companies support these initiatives. Two recent blogs published by HBR.org are representative and, I believe, wrong. Walter Frick, an HBR editor, contrasts the enthusiasm of executives for spending money on digital initiatives versus their relatively unsupportive boards. “Digital growth is appropriately a priority for a diverse […]

Measuring the Practice of Collaborative Innovation: What’s Your Story?

Measuring the Practice of Collaborative Innovation: What’s Your Story?

purple white people gears collab Last week, a Mindjet client and SpigitEngage user sought my view on measurement . He pursues his practice in a global, multi-brand enterprise, and wanted to know how he might measure his practice of collaborative innovation. My perspective? We tell a story by how and what we measure, and we can weave that tale in many different ways. We start with a premise of how the practice might help an […]

The digital tipping point: McKinsey Global Survey results

After years of revving their engines, many companies are gaining momentum with their digital initiatives. Executives say their CEOs are more involved in digital efforts than ever before and that their enterprises are now investing enough to meet their overall digital goals. Yet McKinsey’s latest survey on digitization 1 also finds that many respondents say their companies must address key organizational issues before digital can have a truly transformative impact on their business. This […]

The Proof is in the Pudding

At this year’s Enterprise Connect conference a large emphasis was placed on customer experience and data analytics. This new focus is representative of the entire unified communications industry maturing and realizing that results matter. Adjective overload, hyperboles, and outright deception may be fine for marketing slicks, but in the […]