Managing Supply Chain Risk: The Nokia and Ericsson Case Study « Procurement Insights. Everywhere you look whether in the blogs, or social networking groups or for that matter even the more traditional media streams, the term supply chain risk pops up with increasing frequency. Of course catastrophic events such as the recent earthquake in Japan have a way of igniting widespread interest if only for the time that the media keeps it in the forefront of our collective awareness or consciousness. Beyond these flashpoint events however, the subject of risk continues to be overlooked by most executives, the vast majority of whom have acknowledged some form of supply chain interruption in the previous 12 month period. A kind of when everything is said and done (and there is a great deal being said about supply risk) . . . there is more said than done! Here is the question . . . why? Is supply chain risk and its effects not entirely understood by those who possess the decision-making capabilities to take action?
In a kind of comparison that is reminiscent of Dr. Why did it happen? It's Time To Kill Your IT Strategy. Yes, that’s right — I’m suggesting CIOs should stop working on IT strategy. The days of developing a technology strategy that aligns to business strategy need to be behind us. Today’s CIOs must focus on business strategy. Let’s face it: Does sound business strategy even exist today without technology?
Most CEOs would likely agree that, unless you are running a lemonade stand, any successful business strategy must have solid technology at its core. The challenge for today’s CEOs is that, while planning business strategy in isolation from technology is sub-optimal, it remains the most common way business leaders develop strategy. That’s why Forrester has researched the ways in which companies develop technology strategy and also why we have developed the Business Technology Strategic Planning (BTSP) Framework (to be published soon). Now you might think we’re crazy — after all, many firms, including Forrester, earn substantial revenue from advising CIOs on IT strategy.
By Nigel Fenwick. CIO role will eventually cease to exist, claim CFOs - it management, IT Business, careers. The position of chief information officer could disappear from the business landscape within five years' time, according to nearly one in five chief financial officers questioned in a snapshot survey. Seventeen percent of the 203 CFOs who participated in the poll, part of a report released today by Getronics entitled 'The Changing Role of the CFO', said they believe the role of CIO will cease to exist.
This was attributed to the changing way businesses purchase and consume IT – signalling the increasing importance of utility-based and Cloud computing, where IT services are rented out on a pay-per-use model rather than purchased and installed outright. Nearly one in six were however undecided as to the fate of the CIO, while there was the overall perception that increased attention on IT from finance will result on the role at board level. The authors concluded that adoption of Cloud is "progressing, albeit at a moderate rate". IT systems aren't the problem for corporations. It's not the IT systems that are the problem for modern businesses, says MIT's Jeanne Ross. It's really the businesses' leadership.
If a corporation's senior leadership doesn't have a well thought-out operating model for its business, Ross said, it can't build a firm base of information-enabled core processes to run the business. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety. You need an online service to view this article in its entirety. Login Or, use your linked account: Choose an online service.
"If we don't build a platform," the business IT expert said Thursday at Virginia Commonwealth University, "we are at risk of never being able to succeed in a digital economy. " "We know companies working on this for 10 years," she said, "and they're not there. " Ross, this year's Charles G. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Ross is the director of the Center for Information Systems, which has studied scores of global corporations.
ERP software projects held back by IT nerves. When purchasing ERP software, companies today have a plethora of critical decisions to make. They must consider the differences in vendors' features and functionalities, support and licence costs, TCO and ROI estimates, underlying technical architectures and future roadmaps, just to name a few. But just within the last several years, the decision of whether to go with a software-as-a-service ERP vendor versus the traditional on-premise ERP model has become part of many companies' evaluation criteria. Make no mistake: SaaS ERP rollouts today are still the exception rather than the norm, as Aberdeen's ERP expert and research fellow Cindy Jutras writes in her latest report, SaaS ERP: Trends & Observations 2010.
But what has changed dramatically since Jutras began surveying ERP decision makers in 2007 on the topic is that SaaS ERP is getting more consideration than at any point in the past. Let the record state that on-premise ERP upgrades can be painful, expensive experiences. ERP projects deliver disappointing results, says study. More than half of companies that implement ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems end up garnering no more than 30 percent of the business benefits they expected, according to a new study released by systems integrator Panorama Consulting Group.
Some 72 percent of the 1,600 organisations surveyed said they were "fairly satisfied" with their ERP package. But this can be misleading, according to the study: "Some executives are just happy to complete projects, protect the company from risk and give little thought to whether or not the company is better off with the new software or whether or not they're getting as much out of the system as possible. " Panorama's report breaks down ERP offerings into three tiers, with large vendors like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft occupying Tier I, companies such as Lawson, Infor and Sage in Tier II, and smaller players including Compiere, NetSuite and Syspro in Tier III.
Altimeter Group analyst Ray Wang largely echoed that advice. Half of ERP projects achieve less than half of projected benefits. A report released this week highlights the challenge businesses face in making lengthy and expensive ERP projects worthwhile, with 50 per cent achieving less than 50 per cent of their projected benefits. Panorama Consulting Solutions surveyed 246 enterprises from 64 countries during 2011 and found that companies do not take time to identify costs and potential cost savings, and therefore find it difficult to measure the overall financial impact.This equates to benefits not being realised.
The report highlighted that 27 percent of respondents realised only 31-50 per cent of projected benefits; 17 percent realised 0-30 percent of projected benefits; 4 percent stated that they had not experienced any measurable benefits; and 2 percent said that they had not put a business case together. The availability of information was the main benefit noticed by organisations (75 percent), followed by increased interaction (60 percent) and improved lead times (38 percent). Nicholas Carr: IT still doesn't matter | CNET TV | Video Product Reviews, CNET Podcasts, Tech Shows, Live CNET Video.