IT Management Models

This is a collection conveying 26 different IT governance, management and delivery excellence models.

Models/frameworks include the following:
1. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Model
2. ISO/IEC 20000 IT Service Management Model
3. ISO/IEC 27000 Information Security Management Systems Model
4. COBIT 5 Model
5. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
6. People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM)
7. ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE)
8. Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)
9. Portfolio, Programme, Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3)
10. Portfolio, Programme, Project Office Model (P3O)
11. PRINCE2 Project Management Model
12. IDEAL Model
13. Waterfall Model
14. Agile Model
15. Scrum Model
16. COPC-2000 Model
17. Lean Levers for IT Outsourcing
18. Cause & Effect Diagram
19. DMAIC Process Improvement Model (Six Sigma)
20. ISO 9001 Quality Management Model
21. Baldrige Performance Excellence Model
22. EFQM Business Excellence Model
23. Balanced Scorecard
24. Benchmarking Model
25. SERVQUAL Model
26. Change Management Model 

Challenges needing emotional intelligence (EQ)

Only the most emotionally intelligent leaders can manage the many challenges in business today.
Restructuring organizations and reducing staff to make them more productive means that there is a strong need to identify,
retain and motivate truly exceptional employees who can work effectively in teams.
EQ enhances teamwork.

Rapid technological and business changes require people to be able and willing to accept and implement change.
EQ enhances flexibility.

Globalization creates political and cultural challenges for leaders and employees.
EQ enhances problem solving!

In the mid-1990's Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author did a lot of influential and pioneering work on EQ. Goleman believes that outstanding leadership requires a combination of self-mastery and social intelligence, which have two competency areas: perception and skills.

Leaders with high emotional intelligence can enhance the motivation and optimism in a workplace. It is also important because often because how often results are obtained can be as important as the results themselves.

Shared and unwritten culture rules in Organizations

Charles Handy analyzed the shared and unwritten rules of workspace behavior in his book "Understanding organizations". He identified four main groups of behaviors or types of culture.

Handy used analogies to illustrate the main features of each culture. You may already have a good idea of the culture of your organization. The images below will provide you more information about the types of culture they depict.

Power


A spider's web depicts power cultures. These organizations are usually controlled
by one main character. Such cultures are common in family-run business and small entrepreneurial companies.








Task

A net illustrates the linkages between individuals that are typical of task cultures.
Task cultures tend to be responsive and flexible. They are often advertising agencies, high-tech companies
and other research-based organisation.





Role 


A Greek temple represents role cultures. These gain their strength from the various functions, rules, roles and procedures in an organisation. Large organisations tend to have this type of culture.










Person 


The individual is of paramount importance in person cultures, the organisation is secondary.
The legal and medical professions are good examples of this type of culture.

(ISC)² Security Congress 2013 in Chicago

The (ISC)2 Security Congress 2013 (30 September 2013) in Chicago focused on the challenges facing information security practitioners – but what are they and what are the solutions?




Lessons to be learned

• It is important for the business to understand the nature of the threat against the business and the impact of a breach on production, finances, intellectual property and reputation;

• Organisations need to be able to continually monitor their networks and have the ability to detect and mitigate intrusions as quickly as possible;

• Security policies and procedures need to be updated regularly and enforced to help information security keep pace with the constantly evolving threat landscape;

• Malware is increasingly customised and targeted. This means organisations need to be prepared for unknown attacks. But that does not mean all other attacks go away. Basic IT security remains vital;

• Human beings are often the weakest link. Consequently, an extremely high proportion of attacks involve a social engineering element. Security awareness training is therefore indispensable;

• Attackers may be using customised attacks, but operating methods typically remain the same. Though intelligence sharing, businesses can continually update their defence strategies.

What makes a good manager?

Being a manager of people is a somewhat unnatural act and many managers fail to deliver,
says Julian Birkinshaw, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School.
He tells Della Bradshaw that good management is about giving power away, not micromanagement.

See the video here (Financial Times Website).

Marriage and jobs need hard work and love

A job, it seems to me, is a lot like a marriage.
People tend not to congratulate you when you trade your new spouse for a newer model.
Yet almost everyone thinks quitting the old job for a new one marks progress of some sort. It shows ambition, imagination, courage and so on.





A lasting job should be seen as a sign of success, just as a lasting marriage is.

I have come up with my own system for knowing if a job is worth hanging on to.
I share my system below:

- The people are nice (most of them)
- The work is often interesting.
- There is the right amount of it - plenty, not too much
- There is the chance to do different things.
- People sometimes say THANK YOU.

That's it!

The reflection on this article leads me to another unfashionable similarity between a job and a marriage.
The secret of success lies in reasonable expectations.

The four precepts by Rene Descartes

Descartes seeks to ascertain the true method by which to arrive at the knowledge of whatever lay within the compass of his powers; he presents four precepts:

His four precepts are summarized next:

1. Accept only that which you are sure of
2. divide into as small parts as necessary
3. solve the simplest problem first
4. make a complete list as possible






Precepts further explained below:

The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgement than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt.

The second, to divide each of the difficulties under examination into as many parts as possible, and as might be necessary for its adequate solution.

The third, to conduct my thoughts in such order that, by commencing with objects the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend by little and little, and, as it were, step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex; assigning in thought a certain order even to those objects which in their own nature do not stand in a relation of antecedence and sequence.

And the last, in every case to make enumerations so complete, and reviews so general, that I might be assured that nothing was omitted.


Read more at wikipedia

Les 4 préceptes de Rene Descartes

Le premier étoit de ne recevoir jamais aucune chose pour vraie que je ne la connusse évidemment être telle; c’est-à-dire, d’éviter soigneusement la précipitation et la prévention, et de ne comprendre rien de plus en mes jugements que ce qui se présenteroit si clairement et si distinctement à mon esprit, que je n’eusse aucune occasion de le mettre en doute.

Le second, de diviser chacune des difficultés que j’examinerois, en autant de parcelles qu’il se pourroit, et qu’il seroit requis pour les mieux résoudre.

Le troisième, de conduire par ordre mes pensées, en commençant par les objets les plus simples et les plus aisés à connoître, pour monter peu à peu comme par degrés jusques à la connoissance des plus composés, et supposant même de l’ordre entre ceux qui ne se précèdent point naturellement les uns les autres.

Et le dernier, de faire partout des dénombrements si entiers et des revues si générales, que je fusse assuré de ne rien omettre.

New technology revolution will inch into what we wear

Take the example of the future watch of Apple: iWatch

 or smart devices Wristbands:
1) jawbone
2) Nike


Personally I am already using the Jawbone up wrist band.

Without forgetting the Google's glass.

Amanda Rosenberg is the lady on the picture, the product marketing manager at Google who suggested "OK, Glass."

It is obvious for me that we will be wearing in the near future more and more technology on us.

Basics Project Management Life Cycle: Wrap-up Step

After a project has been completed, the last step is the final wrap-up. A complete summary should be written of every step of the project along with changes made to the original outline of the work as well as any alterations to budgets and the overall lessons learned from the project. This will be very helpful to you and your company in completing future projects.

What is a Divide and Conquer Strategy?

Today I wanted to learn more about what is exactly a Divide and Conquer Strategy.
The maxims "divide et impera" and "divide ut regnes" were utilised by the Roman ruler Caesar and the French emperor Napoleon.

Article 

A divide and conquer strategy, also known as “divide and rule strategy” is often applied in the arenas of politics and sociology. In this strategy, one power breaks another power into smaller, more manageable pieces, and then takes control of those pieces one by one. It generally takes a very strong power to implement such a strategy. In order to successfully break up another power or government, the conqueror must have access to strong political, military, and economic machines.

Furthermore, in order to maintain power and influence, large governments will often work to keep smaller powers and governments from uniting. In fact, this use of the principles within the divide and conquer strategy is most common. It is much easier to prevent small powers from linking forces than to break them apart once they have aligned.

Leaders who use a divide and conquer strategy may encourage or foster feuds between smaller powers. This kind of political maneuvering requires a great understanding of the people who are being manipulated. In order to foster feuds, for example, one must understand the political and social histories of the parties intended to take part in the feuds.

The strategy also includes methods with which to control the funds and resources of the small conquered parties. For example, a powerful leader may encourage a less powerful leader to make unwise financial decisions in order to drain the smaller power’s resources. This is often successful if the leaders of the smaller powers have inflated egos and delusions of grandeur. It is important to note that this form is only effective if the smaller power allows itself to be influenced by the larger power.

The divide and conquer strategy has been widely used throughout history. Both the Roman empire and the British empire played small tribes and groups against one another in order to control their lands and territories. It was used by the Romans when they took Britain, when the British Empire took India, and when the Anglo-Normans took Ireland. A staple political strategy, divide and conquer is still used by many countries today.

Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule) - Rethink Your "To Do" List

Originally, the Pareto Principle referred to the observation that 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to only 20% of the population.

More generally, the Pareto Principle is the observation (not law) that most things in life are not distributed evenly. It can mean all of the following things:

   

• 20% of the input creates 80% of the result
• 20% of the workers produce 80% of the result
• 20% of the customers create 80% of the revenue
• 20% of the bugs cause 80% of the crashes
• 20% of the features cause 80% of the usage
• And on and on…

From here this article is an excerpt of a blog article from the Harvard Business Review - The Unimportance of Practically Everything.

It perfectly explains how to prioritize your "TO DO" list according to the Pareto principle in order to maximize your results.

When you make a "to do" list, prioritize each item by the amount of effort required (1 to 10, with 1 being the least amount of effort) and the potential positive results (1 to 10, with 10 being the highest impact.)

 Now divide the potential results by the amount of effort to get a "priority" ranking. Do the items with the lowest resulting priority number first. Here's a simple example:

        Task 1: Write report on trip meeting.
        Effort=10, Result=2, Priority=5
        Task 2: Prepare presentation for marketing.
        Effort=4, Result=4, Priority=1
        Task 3: Call current customer about referral.
        Effort=1, Result=10, Priority=0.1
 
See your new priority-based order? You do Task 3 first, Task 2 second, and Task 1 last–if at all.

This way, you ensure you do those important low-effort tasks that make up 80% of your success.

What is an ERP (Enterprise Ressource Planning)?

Enterprise Resource Planning provides applications that help manage the business functions:

- logistics
- sales and distribution
- marketing
- finance
- and human resources.

All this in an organization that may be spread across different continents.

Types of thinking: Strategic Thinking (Rational + Creative)

Strategic thinking merges aspects of both rational and creative thinking. It involves considering actions and decisions in the context of a big-picture view of an organization and its strategic goals, its broader business environement, and the interaction of all its divisions. This enables managers to identify and capitalize on opportunities for contributing to the overall success of their organizations, while making decisions for their departments and managing day-to-day business operations.

How do you think that feedback differs from criticism in Project management?

- Feedback is specific to improving performance
- Feedback is offered with positive intention of helping
- Feedback is about the performance, not the person

What exactly is a skill in project management?

In project management, a skill is the ability to coordinate behaviour to achieve an objective.
A skilled project manager knows what it takes to manage both tangible and intangible ressources, and how to coordinate both people and process to sucessfully complete a project.

Management the Development of a Project Team

Successful project teams do not happen on their own. They exist because project leaders possess the skills to guide their teams to be effective, and because those leaders
know how to manage a team to produce results.

With supportive leadership, motivation, and commitment, a project team will move efficiently through the project stages to a successful conclusion.

Business Effectiveness

"Hire the best. Pay them fairly. Communicate frequently. Provide challenges and rewards. Believe in them. Get out of their way and the will knock your socks off".
- Mary Ann Allison

What is the single most important tool every CIO should use?

1. A strategy that clearly aligns with the organization people, process maturity, financials and culture.

2. Goals for all staff that are a combination of measurable and also soft skill based. Many groups have goals that are to technical and do not address behavior.

3. A communication plan for engaging customers.

4. Effective steering via well defined deliverables.

5. Relationships driven by being active and visible. You have to manage across all dimensions and that can only occur if you are talking with people. The best way to capture indicators is often via informal. communications.

6. Do not get buried in analysis. Even seasoned exec's can get caught up in the act of chasing more and more data.

7. Spend more time on preventative measures (educating) then digging for causes.

The Cloud Implementation Planning Stage

The Cloud implementation planning in the Cloud Adoption Lifecycle Model is a stage.

At this point, an organization is preparing to implement cloud computing and it is involved in selecting suitable cloud providers, solutions and associated technologies.

Cloud Adoption Lifecycle Model

The Cloud Adoption Lifecycle Model recommends five stages in the cloud adoption process.

The five stages are:
1- Cloud proof of concept or POC/pilot project
2 - Cloud strategy and road-map
3- cloud modeling and architecture
4 cloud implementation planning and
5 - cloud implementation.

GOVERNANCE = CONTROL OF SERVICES

Governance is a term used to describe the management and control of services. So, for example, if the role of IT is to help a thriving company develop innovative products and services, the IT governance plan might include several new high-tech initiatives to help achieve this goal.
However, if a company is using technology to help it survive a downturn, IT governance is mainly concerned with efficiency, saving money, and sharing systems.

Aligning IT and Business Strategies

A business strategy contains the mission, vision and objectives of an organization. It also contains the organization's market strategy, unique value proposition, and distinctive value configuration.

An IT strategy contains information on applications and human resources. Details about the way IT is to be organized and the technical infrastructure itself are also included.

By aligning their business and IT strategies, organizations can achieve the best return on their IT investment.
An IT-enabled business strategy contains the business expectations the company has of IT. It also includes the company's future IT plans.

Globally Networked Customs (GNC)

Driven by the need to ensure that World Customs Organization (WCO) Members were well-positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of the global trading environment, the WCO Council adopted its Customs in the 21st Century strategic vision in 2008. It comprises ten building blocks, of which Globally Networked Customs (GNC) is the first.

To make GNC a reality, an Ad Hoc Working Group was set up by the WCO to undertake “a comprehensive analysis of the potential to rationalize, harmonize and standardize the secure and efficient exchange of information between WCO Members”.

Visit World Customs Organization (WCO) - Organization Mondiale des Douanes (OMC)

Shanghai train central station

Shanghai train central station from José Ferreiro

Lessons in Strategy

There is no one perfect strategy... That is why building up strategic thinking capability is so vital!

• TESCO built on founder Jack Cohen's "pile it high, sell it cheap" formula and willingness to experiment.

• SCHWEPPES cultivated "alternative coalitions" of managers who worked behind the scenes to anticipate changes.

• SMITH & NEPHEW overcame political infighting to develop respect between executives for different strategic viewpoints.

• PROCTER & GAMBLE taught executives that "strategic thinking capability" was essential to adapt to a shifting context.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) takes cloud computing tips from amazon

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has developed a private cloud to support its application development process, using Amazon best practices. The project has enabled RBS to determine running costs of its IT infrastructure and provide service-based pricing. The self-service cloud, which is available through a portal, allows developers to provision Red Hat Linux, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 to deploy servers for their applications. The service is being used by more than 100 teams. Adoption within RBS is being spread by word of mouth.

Source: www.ComputerWeekly.com