Video

As every new generation of hardware brings performance boosts--especially faster processors, RAM, and solid state drives--virtual appliance vendors are taking advantage of these capabilities on host hardware. Vendors are now extracting the same...

Tool

The majority of IT departments spend 66% of their time performing operational activity and 34% of their time on strategic activity. Shifting more focus to strategic activity can build competitive advantage, enable innovation, and increase key...

Note

IT departments that achieve their ideal mix of operational and strategic activity can advance their standing as a strategic partner in the organization. It's a matter of making IT run better so resources can be shifted to innovative and high...

Determine what you need to do to really motivate IT professionals, both individually and collectively, that will help them to work harder at what they are doing and feel good about it.

With the aging IT "boomer" workforce approaching retirement in the next 5-10 years, organizations are faced with the prospect of losing the only employees in the organization with the knowledge for maintaining legacy systems.

Template/Policy

This template provides a guideline for agenda planning of IT Activity Assessment meetings. It outlines how long certain agenda items should take, as well as what should be covered in the meeting to get the most out of the discussion.

Note

Organizations are increasingly dependent on external vendors and suppliers to enable the effective delivery of IT services. Manage the vendor portfolio to improve the relationship between your organization and its IT vendors, maximize their...

Video

Improve IT excellence by improving the performance of your vendors.

Tool

Once you decide on vendor performance metrics, you will need a tool to track ongoing vendor performance. Info-Tech's dashboard tool tracks metrics for up to 20 vendors for small and mid-sized organizations. It presents results both at a...

Tool

IT must collect and act on vendor feedback to manage and ensure high vendor performance. Conduct regular vendor satisfaction surveys to measure the IT department's management performance and to address areas where improvement is needed.

Tool

To ensure high vendor performance, IT departments must practice vendor management by recording and acting on vendor issues. Track issues to resolution and understand where improvement is needed.

Solution Set

Organizations are dependent on vendors yet spend little effort managing their performance, resulting in less than optimal results.

Job Description

The role of the Vendor Portfolio Manager is pivotal in the IT department's interactions with suppliers of services, hardware, and software. The portfolio manager provides product and service purchasing guidance for the entire IT department.

Job Description

The role of the Purchasing/Procurement Manager is to plan, execute, and finalize purchasing and procurement strategies for technology spend across the organization.

Job Description

The role of the Contract Manager is to support, manage, and administer contracts for technology spending on services and products across the organization.

Template/Policy

Regular and formal performance reviews are critical to maintaining overall productivity of your staff. Every organization has a unique method of administering performance appraisals, but many are based on a few simple templates. A commonly used...

Template/Policy

Regular and formal performance reviews are critical to maintaining and improving overall productivity of your staff. Every organization has a unique method of administering performance appraisals, but many are based on a few simple templates.

Template/Policy

Regular and formal performance reviews are critical to maintaining overall productivity and improvement of managers. Every organization has a unique method of administering performance appraisals, but many are based on a few simple templates.

Note

The performance appraisal space is a mess of opinions, tactics, best practices and theories. If you are updating your current performance appraisal program or creating one from scratch, determining what opinions and tactics to adopt is a...

Solution Set

Knowing when and how to invest in a significant infrastructure change rather than a minor incremental purchase is difficult.

New IT leaders will have little influence unless they build credibility with senior business officers. Become a dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the accomplishment of strategic goals by earning the trust of business leaders.

(18-Mar-10) The explosion of communication and Internet traffic has made energy hogs of IT networks. Collectively, the information and communications technology industry emits 300 million tons of greenhouse gases annually -- the same amount as...

IT leaders often encounter a problematic relationship between IT and the business when taking on a new leadership role. This rift can hobble an IT leader's chances for long-term success. An essential early step in healing a weak relationship is...

It takes a new attitude and a specific set of skills to transition into an IT leadership role. That is why IT managers often get caught off guard when taking on new management positions. Learn to assess your leadership capabilities and fully...

Earning the respect of technical people takes strategy, especially when you're starting a new IT leadership position. Without credibility, it will be extremely difficult to influence your team and move the IT department forward. Follow...

IT leaders often encounter a problematic relationship between IT and the business when taking on a new leadership role. This rift can hobble an IT leader's chances for long-term success. An essential early step in healing a weak relationship is...

Taking on an IT leadership position is always challenging. Success or failure is determined by the leader's actions in the first few months. Learn what newly minted IT leaders should do to confirm they are the right person for the job.

Any enterprise can be adversely impacted by poor vendor performance - especially when it is a key vendor. These vendor problems can be especially traumatic for small enterprises with little or no recourse. As a result, IT managers should make it...

30-Sep-09 NetSuite Inc. has launched its cloud-based ERP and CRM systems for Apple Inc. iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The free mobile app, now available in the Apple App Store, will give users access to NetSuite's integrated business...

Video

It takes a new attitude and a specific set of skills to transition into an IT leadership role. That is why IT professionals often get caught off guard when taking on a new leadership position. Learn to assess your leadership capabilities to...