<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:s="http://www.techrepublic.com/search" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"  xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<channel>
    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on 12 critical insights on the state of IT in 2012 ]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596]]></link>
    <atom:link rel="hub" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" />
    <atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596/rss" />

    <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <lastBuildDate>2013-05-24T19:07:56-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Expand your view]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3672369]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I find this article quite an interesting read.  It is funny how organizations are struggling to embrace IT when it is IT that helps them function (no email, database, security, etc you will have to go back to manually processing orders, payroll, etc.).  For those of us who have seen the wars (pre-oracle, SAP, ERP, EMC, DSS, etc) we kind of laugh knowing that all that is happening is folks are coming out with the same old initiatives and calling it the next wave of innovation.  Yes, I agree that there is a lot of waste in IT, especially when companies put in these multi-million dollar projects that support 1% of the business.  I also laugh when we spend millions on replacing older technology that has not been more than 20% utilized.  In fact, I frown when we spend 100 million dollars on projects that are supposed to turn off older equipment, however there is this one person in the business that has one monthly report that he may or may not look at.I also, frown when I see companies spend tons of dollars on bringing in consultants to review their business processes only to find out that their process were bad from the time that they were created.  We (the royal WE) promise to uphold the business mission statement that mentions reducing waste and streamlining the business to maximize profits, however we turn around and reduce IT when your process models should be tweaked. If you want to help reduce your IT foot print, please look at your business waste as well.  A little training can go a long way to cleanse your entire business model and raise your profit margins.I do have one key question with BYOD, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and any other new wave of so called IT reduction strategies.  When you are in the mist of a major deal and your service provider goes down, fails to secure your data, loses you transaction or is not there when you really need them, what are your going to do?  What if your business can't afford to lose this one customer, what will you do?I am not taking the IT side, I am just trying to get folks to understand that you need to look at your entire business (department by department) and make the right adjustments, not just the easiest (get rid of IT). Just food for thought.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3672369]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[timsimmons30]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2012 12:09:50 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[The Cloud is the best thing that has happened to IT.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3672222]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[As an IT Network engineer, I have experienced the flaws of a slow and inflexible IT department. This is most of the reasons we find a lot of the corporate IT staff shaking in their boots!The Cloud has offered an alternative to Management, but they are having a hard time understanding the Pro's &amp; Con's to migrating services. Is a simple decision, get on the cloud and cut the excess fat of useless IT personnel and outdated equipment.There are some IT guys who will not feel secure without a steady paycheck... but in fact is just the opposite for the professional IT mind, this can be simply an opportunity to thrive if you are truly an asset in knowledge and experience. If you are in IT, and you are worried about your job. Is only a matter of time before your worry becomes a reality. Instead, stop worrying and start moonlighting and you will find there is a lot of demand and opportunity if you have a value to offer. If you don't... switch to management.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3672222]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[riverasanchez@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2012 06:01:22 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I don't think so.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668104]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[In all the organizations  I have worked in, IT is as good (or bad) as Management wants it to be]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668104]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Imprecator]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 13:24:52 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Business loves cloud and BYOD more than IT]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668084]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Cloud+BYOD = get around ITCloud is a way for business people to get around IT because we have failed them, we are too slow, too expensive, and too inflexible.BYOD is a way for business to use the equipment they want instead of Windows PCs or laptops and Blackberries.  BYOD also makes business people mobile, so they can get out of their cubes and offices, so they can see their operations in person.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668084]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[elmramir]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 11:21:57 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I don't recall]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668091]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Making this specific to TechRepublic anymore than your defining cost versus profit centers is specific wrt technology.I do read more than tech blogs and no where else do I find this derisive use of the term cost center in conjunction with those divisions that are regarded as not being profit centers.You make a good point though in that as this is a forum specific to technology, why are contributors writing such articles with such tone. You won't find marketing or hr trying to kneecap themselves in this way.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668091]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Charles Bundy]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 10:45:35 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Yes, and YES]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668075]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Both are cost centers, (As a department), just like IT.  The difference is for most &quot;Cxx&quot; it is easier to understand what value they add or fail to add.Few truly understand IT.  The company I work for I wear about 5 hats.  My boss (partner at a law firm) routinely gives me large bonuses, and tells me &quot;I have no idea what you do, or what your challenges are, but I know you bust you @$$ saving me money, and you keep the rest of us functioning&quot;.  He see's what most do not see.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668075]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[tech@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 05:39:20 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I think you missed the point]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668064]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Just because you work in a cost center does not mean you don't bring value, aren't needed.  It just means that on the accounting sheet you cost a company rather than make them money.  Nothing wrong with that.  If a company didn't need cost centers everyone would be out of a job.  IT, HR, Accounting, Building Maintenance.....As lowly support staff you may not be outwardly appreciated where you work, that is a culture issue.Frankly a lot of it has to do with your attitude.  You have to be happy helping people.  You have to be able to help people without making them feel stupid.  To your bosses, you must appear to be able to solve problems faster  and more accurately...No matter what your job is, it is what you make out of it.  You sound like you are letting your job dictate your destiny.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668064]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[tech@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 05:31:48 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Could it be...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668063]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[because this is a tech blog?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668063]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[tech@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 05:23:55 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[I disagree]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668074]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[IT in Business has been around longer than a generation. (50 years at the very least). The thing is that changes (the real ones that is, not the marketing hoopla) are common and often radical. Not as common as marketing would have you believe though.I am pretty sure that (for example) during the dot com boom of the late 90s some inescrupulous individuals used the confusion and chaos that boom created to play their power card. Well, I and most people I know never did and if &quot;the business&quot; pretends to paint all of IT with the same brush, they better remember this: If they regard a good piece of work the same as a mediocre job they'll end up with ONLY mediocre jobs. And no &quot;cloud&quot; is going to save them from that.However the &quot;marketing hoopla&quot; tells &quot;the business&quot; on &quot;each iteration of change&quot; that the new version will be so easy and reliable that no IT specialists will be required to understand it, deploy it and operate it.And yes I AM extremely bitter about it. This business (despite the inherent unstability of it) used to be akin to engineering. And it basically keeps degenerating into something less than badly run, dishonest marketing ploy.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3668074]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Imprecator]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 04:34:24 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Nah]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667952]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I don't go to work with a chip on my shoulder.  It's just that IT, as a business unit, is young and unstable.  A few years back, the IT guys had businesses over a barrel, and they took advantage of that.  Now, the pendulum is swinging the other direction.  This too shall pass, until we find ourselves in an equilibrium, like the more mature departments.Everyone knows what to expect when you outsource payroll.  That experience hasn't been worked out yet with IT.  It seems like a commodity, and to an extent it is.  Most companies could put their services in The Cloud and be fine for quite a while.  Eventually, though, someone would want something that isn't in the service offering.  They'll get tired of being told &quot;we don't offer that&quot;, and won't like to hear that they're stuck on a platform with no migration path.  (Vendor lock-in is a real bear.)  There's a romantic notion of all the capital costs and labor going away, but having the same amenities they're used to.  I don't think that's reality.Anyway, I don't resent HR, Accounting, Legal, etc., for their established places.  I do see that we (IT) have more of a focus on customer service -- and that's because we have to.  As an industry, we've got our PR face on.  We played our power card, and now we're on probation.For the record, if you're thinking I'm whining about handling an exec's personal matters, I really don't mind.  It's their company, and they're the reason I get a paycheck.  Heck, from time to time, we do that for users, too.  My point there was that there's a level of personal service when you have your own in-house department that you won't get when you outsource.  And I think that will be missed.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667952]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[nwallette]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 11:03:18 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Sure it's a cost center]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667891]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Every business has costs to operate and IT departments will always be some part of that.  Where IT can be part of the discussion is in helping mitigate costs.  Part of the fallacy of IT offshoring and hiring too many IT consultants is that you wind up with a lot of support staff who may understand their own jobs but they don't understand the business.  When IT is a valued part of the team and used appropriately they are a excellent resource for any company.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667891]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chilidog67]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 07:32:39 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[And IT will survive because...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667861]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[If I read some of the comments correctly, IT simply must survive -- to provide incompetent management a place to blame all their problems.So, no, IT is not going away.Just the respect and honor.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667861]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[premiertechnologist]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 06:37:36 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Absolutely!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667842]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I've heard of upper management locked away in a meeting all day in order to come up with a mission statement.  Even during their breaks, they were arguing about it.By and large, this is a waste of time and a waste of big money.  Everyone is for quality, customer service, innovation, blah, blah, blah.  Upper management gets paid for coming up with a few sentences to make the company look as if it is different from every other company dreaming up the same mission statement with the same high and lofty ideals, but just using a few different words and throwing in this week's favorite buzzword to prove that their businesses are up on the current business fad.If IT operated as upper management does, no real work would be done.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667842]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[sissy sue]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 05:53:01 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Solutions to problems]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667758]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[IT to often fails to deliver 'solutions to problems', which really is what Information Systems of all kinds are ultimately for.  IT people tend to argue their solution is great, but fail to recognize that the solution the provide is targeted at the wrong problem, or a problem that is not the users problem.  For example a CMS  that provides great reports for managers who wish understand customer relations, but really make life difficult for employees who's work is to build those relationships.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667758]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[csudholz]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 18:10:44 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Horrible thread about I.T.]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667742]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[No matter how much I.T. changes, people want to beat up on it.  No matter how many businesses fail because of poor planning or management from the top, they want to blame I.T.  When the cost or complexity of technology goes up, they want to blame I.T.  When marketing campaigns fail, they want to blame I.T.  When projects are poorly planned and end badly, they want to blame I.T.  When there is a virus on someone's computer, they want to blame I.T.  No one in the entire company has to take any blame at all since everyone can blame I.T.  The whipping boy's in I.T. are there to take the blame, not the credit.This looping blame game is all getting old, folks.  Justin, you are stuck in the late 80's.  You should not be claiming to be such an expert on I.T. since every single talking point you have is all around the blame game.  Everything you say can be cut and pasted from thousands of articles written by other &quot;experts&quot; that continue to churn out the same old mush.  I don't want to hear it anymore.  This entire discussion is not a learning experience for anyone.  It is just another I.T. in a blender blame game that is not even current anymore.Sad, very sad.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667742]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[rsherrell]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 13:45:10 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[You have an attitude problem....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667714]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[So, you better drink the Kool-Aid or you will get sent to re-education...... remember to take your Daniel Goleman action figure.....]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667714]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Imprecator]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 12:10:15 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[It's just new and intriguing]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667685]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[You're absolutely right.  Let's try an experiment to see how much value IT has.  The next time your ISP goes down, or the power is out, take some pictures or video.  Everyone sitting at their desks, saying things like &quot;well the computers are down, I may as well go home for the day.&quot;I wonder exactly how many folks would be affected if there was a two-hour &quot;HR outage&quot;?The fact is, IT is a necessary business support department.  It wasn't forty years ago.  If the power went out, you could still file next to a window, or write a memo, or have a meeting.  Not today.  But, there are a lot of people still in the workforce that grew up parallel to technology.  We all just accept that a business needs a legal team, an accountant, and HR.  Sometimes that stuff gets outsourced, but not en masse quite so often as is looming for IT right now.Someone told the chiefs that there's a magic pill to save money.  Externalize IT and it just gets cheaper.  It's a siren song, sold by sales teams.  IT is relatively new.  Corporate culture hasn't been through the outsourcing swings and learned the potential pitfalls like with other departments.  If you have a complicated business, do you want to consult a law firm every time you have a contract or an employee incident?  No, the in-house lawyer knows your business model and can be much more effective than when you need your key executives in a room with a consultant for hours, paying an exorbitant amount of money, explaining the finer points of your operations to someone that will never have the level of intuition that a staff member would.  That same principle applies to IT, it just hasn't been learned the hard way yet.IT is on its best behavior right now.  Our department offers reporting out the wazoo, has amazing uptime, rarely asks for (and even more rarely, gets) maintenance windows, we're running a skeleton crew, we haven't spent money on barely anything in the last year, and unlike *any* *other* *internal* *service* *department*, we have a responsive helpdesk reachable by IM, phone, email, and a web portal.  We still feel obligated to kiss ass in return for our jobs.Frankly, service has just gotten so good, it's taken for granted.  A few years ago, an email outage at our company was not a panic event.  Now, fire would rain down from the heavens if we kicked an Exchange front-end VM during business hours.  We get constant whining and stomping of feet at telecom bills because the only time service is down is when a facility loses power.  If we traded those T1s, metro-Ethernet links, and other business-class circuits for cable modems and DSL, the admin staff here would spend hours on hold with local telecoms and the executives would have to do without YouTube for a few hours.No one thinks of the work required when it's just there, and just works.  I say go ahead -- outsource IT.  Put your services into the cloud.  Then who's going to come and fix the president's daughter's iPad?  He'll just have to stand in line at the Apple Store like everyone else.  Then we'll see who's the cost center.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667685]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[nwallette]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 11:32:21 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[12 critical insights]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667684]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I'm sorry but I didn't find too much insightful or earth shattering about the points. Additionally, I find them premised on a particular type of business model. Maybe it was one of those things you had to see ...]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667684]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[deisenbarth]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 11:22:53 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[Tech Republic and Critical Insights]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667656]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[What are 2 things that don't belong in the same sentence?]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667656]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Computer Dave]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 10:11:01 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
             

    <item>
        <title><![CDATA[read the posts]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667654]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I guess you didn't see that part about getting accounting to also re-examine how money silos are organized. as long as accounting is in the &quot;father knows best&quot; days, you will be right. but the issue of the money-silos, which are endemic to my company, change, there isn't much motivation for accounting to re-evaluate its own models, nor for IT to behave like a wealth generator, nor for individual functional business units to think out of the box. At lot needs to change. Quite a lot IS CHANGING and the companies who figure that out, will survive. Right now my company does not really practice what it preaches, but I also have to admit that you start out by talking the talk and gradually change yourself by walking the walk.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/102-391596-3667654]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[tavent]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 09:56:29 -0700</pubDate>
    </item>
    </channel>
</rss>

