Lack of foresight when it comes to merging IT systems is one of the biggest roadblocks to a successful merger and acquisition (M&A). Regardless of the driving force of the union—a synergistic growth strategy, an unanticipated opportunity, or a lucrative buy-out—M&As can be tactical tools for growth. In the not too distant past, M&As weren’t so technically complex; maybe each …
The CIO’s Guide to Industrial IoT
What is the industrial internet of things, you ask? Well, according to a recent Global Industrial IoT (internet of things) Market Research report, the industrial internet of things is commonly made up of four end-user segments: Manufacturing, energy and utilities, automotive, and transportation. Toss healthcare in there as well (definitely a member of the IIoT, if not one of the …
Platforms and Infrastructure: A CIO’s Best Friend
No single company is the best at everything, and that’s why most CIOs choose to source their tools from different technology providers. It just makes sense—you want to get the most bang for your budgeted buck, even if that means hiring different service providers. And even though many companies may offer an array of business tools, your business is unique …
Top Five Big Data Challenges for CIOs
Big data is more than just a buzzword these days—but it can be both a massive opportunity and a huge problem for companies. Digital data collection has been a practice since the dawn of computing, but the exponential increase of information, in terms of smartphones, social, search and the IoT, have created a snowball effect when it comes to the …
How the Healthcare Industry Must Evolve for Millennials and their Children
While the attitudes, preferences, and needs of the Millennial generation have definitely been high on the minds of the business sector in recent years, they probably haven’t registered too high up the list of priorities for the healthcare industry. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, that’s something that needs to change. The oldest Millennials are now having their first children, …
How CIOs Become Invaluable In the Age of SaaS
With SaaS picking up speed, you may have heard whispers about the future of the CIO. Will the role remain necessary? Will it still serve a critical function in the running of a business, especially when you factor in the emergence of “Everything” as a Service (XaaS)? The answers are yes, yes, and yes. CIOs are still the glue that …
2016: The State of Shadow IT
This post is sponsored by Samsung Business. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Shadow IT, which refers to tech-related activities that happen outside the scope of traditional IT, is nothing new. And if you don’t think it’s happening in your organization, you’re wrong. An article in techcrunch.com revealed that when 200 global CIOs were surveyed recently, 83 percent of them …
ITaaS: The Future of the CIO
Do you know how your company really looks at IT? Is there a rift between the C-suite and the IT team concerning the value of the cloud on a big-picture, business-minded scale? What about your employees—are they jumping on the shadow IT bandwagon and using unapproved cloud applications to do their work because the overall IT structure seems convoluted or unproductive? …
IT Security Needed More Than Ever For SMEs
It’s hardly a secret when a large corporation gets hacked—it’s the opposite, actually. News of controversies and scandals for big business spreads quickly (like the recent Target and Ashley Madison data breaches). Just because they sometimes don’t make the front page, it’s important to remember that smaller scale breaches do happen and happen often. In fact, small to medium enterprise …
The Snowball Effect of Implementing “Cheap IT”
I’ll be honest. I don’t like the ring of it when people utter the words “cheap” and “IT” in the same breath. But wait, this post isn’t about my personal preferences, right? Actually, it is! I’m going to talk about why “cheap” and “IT” are not best buddies from a business standpoint, and why it is dangerous for any company …