June 4th, 2009

Reviewing Sapphire, user interfaces, the Devil's Triangle, and IT success

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 2:37 pm

Categories: CIO issues, Cultural issues, IT Devil's Triangle, IT issues, Interview, Project strategy, SAP, Uncategorized

Tags: Information Technology, SAP AG, ERP, Jon Reed, Asuret, Michael, BBD, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Podcasts, Tools & Techniques

This guest post was written by Jon Reed, an accomplished blogger, SAP expert, and author of the website jonerp.com. Jon interviewed me following SAP’s recent Sapphire conference, and we discussed a variety of topics that are of interest to readers of this blog. Listen to the recording by clicking the player at the top of this post and read Jon’s summary of our interview. Jon originally posted this as an article on his blog.

SAPPHIRE 2009, BUSINESS BYDESIGN, AND ERP PROJECT FAILURE (AND HOW TO AVOID IT)
Written by: Jon Reed
Interview Date: May 22, 2009

In the first installment of his “Sapphire in Review” podcast series, Jon Reed of JonERP.com welcomes special guest Michael Krigsman, President of Asuret and popular ZDNet blogger and Tweeter. Michael’s focus is evaluating the keys to IT project success and failure, so during this twenty-eight minute podcast, Jon gets Michael’s take on how project failure applies to ERP vendors and SAP specifically. Jon also gets the skinny on Michael’s investigations of Business ByDesign at Sapphire, and why he sees SAP’s focus on UI improvements and BI enhancements as important to ERP project success. In closing, Michael shares an inside view on what it’s like to be part of SAP’s Blogger Relations Program, mixing it up with SAP executives.

Podcast Timeline:

1:01 Michael’s work at Asuret and ZDNet, and how it all ties back into examining the dynamics of IT project success and failure. Asuret provides consulting and software on business transformation projects; on ZDNet, Michael analyzes case studies of IT project failure and evaluates why they aren’t achieving project objectives. He also looks at related issues pertaining to organizational dynamics, business and IT communication breakdowns, and the cultural issues that contribute to project success or failure.

2:32 The highlights of the keynotes from Michael’s perspective. Two things stood out: first, Michael got the sense that SAP was making an attempt to bring in more consumer-oriented, end-user interfaces into their software. This is way overdue, but an essential area of improvement. A more human-oriented enterprise will yield more successful projects. Michael also enjoy Hasso Plattner’s keynotes - all his years of experience have put him in a position “beyond reproach” where he can speak his mind and cover topics that interest him.

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May 15th, 2009

Understanding SAP's Business byDesign SaaS strategy

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 12:58 pm

Categories: CIO issues, Enterprise 2.0, IT issues, SAP, SaaS, PaaS, and SOA, Uncategorized

Tags: Software, Strategy, SAP AG, Tools & Techniques, Software As A Service (SaaS), Management, Emerging Technologies, Michael Krigsman

At this week’s Sapphire conference in Orlando, SAP spoke at length about the status and trajectory of Business by Design, the company’s on-demand, software as a service (SaaS) offering.

To learn about SAP’s SaaS strategy, I talked with several current customers and the following five SAP executives:

• Pascal Brosset - Chief Strategy Officer
• Rainer Zinow - Senior Vice President for ByDesign Innovations
• Jeff Stiles - Senior Vice President of SME Marketing
• Christoph Behrendt - Senior Vice President for Midsize Enterprises
• Frank Iannotti - Vice President for Business ByDesign, North America

During these interviews, I repeatedly cross-checked the main points, explicitly trying to uncover irregularities and inconsistencies. Despite my attempt to find discrepancies, the conversations yielded a consistent picture in several important areas.

Commitment. SAP remains deeply committed to the Business byDesign platform and product. In response to my direct question on the commitment topic, Jeff Stiles answered, “Categorically yes,” and added:

SAP is 100 percent, unequivocally committed to bringing Business byDesign to market for the long haul.

Business model. For the low cost economics of SaaS software to work on a sustained basis, subscription software vendors generally strive to accomplish three goals:

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May 12th, 2009

CEO interview: an insider's look at SaaS vs. on-premise software

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 5:56 am

Categories: CIO issues, Enterprise 2.0, IT issues, Interview, Podcast, SaaS, PaaS, and SOA, Uncategorized

Tags:

Many enterprise buyers view software as a service (SaaS) products as a viable alternative to purchasing on-premise applications, yet there is confusion around differences between these two delivery models. To learn about some of these differences, I spoke with serial entrepreneur David Friend, CEO of online backup services provider Carbonite.

Carbonite is David’s sixth software startup. He previously co-founded Sonexis, FaxNet, Pilot Software, Computer Pictures Corporation and ARP Instruments. David’s background spans a broad range of ventures, including traditional, on-premises enterprise software in addition to SaaS.

To listen to our entire conversation, click the podcast player at the top of this post. You can also read my edited conversation notes and analysis below.

How fast is Carbonite growing?

In May 2006, we sold $12,000 of subscriptions and stored 800GB of customer data. Today, we sell that volume every 3-4 hours and maintain 13 million GB of storage for customers. Revenues in the last quarter grew 36% over the previous quarter, so the growth has been meteoric.

What are the unique challenges of managing a rapidly-growing SaaS company?

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April 13th, 2009

Interview: SAP's global head of project operations [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:39 am

Categories: CIO issues, Governance, IT Devil's Triangle, IT issues, Interview, Podcast, Project management, Project portfolio management, Project strategy, SAP, Uncategorized

Tags: Project, Podcast, Information Technology, Project Manager, SAP AG, Paul, Project Management, Tools & Techniques, Strategy, It Operations

Sound business strategy and solid execution are the foundation stones of all successful IT projects. For organizations running multiple projects, execution means consistency across an entire portfolio.

As one of the largest enterprise software vendors, SAP’s core competency includes precisely this kind of portfolio management. To better understand SAP’s strategic thinking on managing complex IT projects, I spoke with Paul Ritchie, the company’s Head of Global Project Management Operations.

Paul’s team is responsible for the project management processes, tool, methodologies, and training used by 1200 SAP project managers around the world. He’s also Chairman of the Global Corporate Council at the Project Management Institute (PMI), which suggests the broad importance and influence attached to this SAP role.

The podcast (see the player at the top of this post) offers an intimate glimpse inside SAP’s work on project portfolio management, governance, and project delivery strategy. Here’s a summary of key issues Paul and I discuss in the podcast:

What does “project management operations” mean?

Project management operations (or project management office, also called PMO) represent the critical link between a company’s strategy and it’s actual project delivery.

Four pillars support SAP’s PMO:

1. Process, such as project management methodologies that describe how to run projects and programs

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April 1st, 2009

IT failure contributes to UK bank collapse

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 12:24 pm

Categories: CIO issues, Governance, IT issues, Project management, Project strategy, Uncategorized

Tags: Software, Bank, Risk, Information Technology, Banking, U.K., Temenos, Temenos Newsletter, Tools & Techniques, Strategy

A failed business strategy involving a large IT blunder contributed to the collapse of Scotland’s largest customer-owned lender, the Dunfermline Building Society. As a result, the Society is writing off a £9.5 million IT loss, despite total profit for the year of only £11 million.

The UK government will pay Nationwide Building Society 1.6 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) in cash to purchase the troubled bank.

The Financial Times reports:

Jim Murphy, Scotland secretary, said the previous management had made “reckless decisions” because of its over-exposure to commercial loans, involvement in the subprime market and unfortunate decisions on technology. Dunfermline was forced to make a £9.5m write-off on last year’s £11m profits because of a failed IT system.

Finextra reports that the company lost focus by attempting to establish a software business selling mortgage-processing systems to other banks:

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March 30th, 2009

Ed Yourdon on IT governance and failure [podcast]

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 9:29 am

Categories: Cultural issues, Governance, IT issues, Interview, Podcast, Project strategy, Risk

Tags: IT Governance, Governance, Information Technology, Ed Yourdon, Strategy, Podcasts, Management, Internet, Michael Krigsman

Ed Yourdon is a seminal figure in understanding and interpreting software failures. Among Ed’s many accomplishments is writing 27 books and almost 600 articles on this subject. I interviewed Ed to learn his views on the relationship between governance and IT project failure.

Governance is an important topic and a key driver toward aligning IT activities with an organization’s broader strategic goals and interests. Given Ed’s stature in the field, this is an important podcast. To listen, just click the start button on the audio player at the top of this post.

I’ve summarized and edited some of Ed’s comments, but listen to the podcast for the best experience.

What is IT governance?

Governance is usually the province of organizations managing large projects. It comprises five areas:

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February 25th, 2009

San Diego fires Axon over ERP implementation problems

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 10:58 am

Categories: CIO issues, Consulting, Government projects, IT Devil's Triangle, IT issues, Implementation, Oracle, Politics, Project failures, SAP, Uncategorized, Vendor relationships

Tags: San Diego, SAP AG, ERP, Axon, System Integrator, Tools & Techniques, Project Management, Workforce Management, Advertising & Promotion, Outsourcing

The city of San Diego, CA terminated its software implementation contract with services provider, Axon, citing “systematically deficient project management practices.” The project is running $11 million (27 percent) over-budget to date, a number which will likely increase.

San Diego’s termination memo highlights key Axon governance and implementation process deficiencies. Tom Fleming, president of San Diego Data Processing Corporation (DPC), a municipal IT contracting agency, wrote the document:

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December 23rd, 2008

IT ethics and the recession

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 7:34 am

Categories: IT issues, Research and statistics, Security and privacy

Tags: Recession, Information Technology, Ethics, Worker, Business Ethics, Leadership, Management, Michael Krigsman

With a major recession in full-swing, someone had to come up with a survey covering the ethics of office workers in three countries. The punch line: a large percentage of folks surveyed would steal confidential company data in the event of layoff rumors. The results are fairly ugly, painting a negative picture of ethics in the workplace.

Security firm, Cyber-Ark, conducted the survey, called The Global Recession and its Effect on Work Ethics. The company interviewed 600 workers in the US, UK, and the Netherlands.

When asked how far respondents would go to keep their job, 15 percent of Americans said they would consider blackmailing their boss! At first, I thought this was a joke, but it appears to be serious after all.

Unfortunately, the answers are not a positive reflection upon my fellow citizens:

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December 22nd, 2008

CIO strategic competencies for 2009

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 1:10 pm

Categories: CIO issues, Cultural issues, IT issues, Interview, Research and statistics

Tags: CIO, Information Technology, Center For CIO Leadership, Center, Strategy, Leadership, Management, Michael Krigsman

The Center for CIO Leadership has released research measuring CIO skills in four areas linked to enterprise strategy and leadership. The study, called The CIO Profession: Leaders of Change, Drivers of Innovation, collected data from 270 CIOs regarding these competencies:

• Leadership
• Business Strategy and Process
• Innovation and Growth
• Organization and Talent Management.

The Center’s Executive Director, Harvey Koeppel, a former Citigroup CIO, summarized the study’s findings during an interview with me last week:

CIOs are evolving into enterprise leaders, helping develop the strategic plan while driving innovation and growth. To accomplish this goal, speaking the right language and creating the right metrics are critical. Although operational benchmarks, such as availability and uptime, are important, CIOs must go beyond them.

I asked Harvey to discuss implications related to IT failure and success:

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December 19th, 2008

UK Transportation Department IT failure: 'Stupendous incompetence'

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 8:37 am

Categories: CIO issues, Cultural issues, Financial impact, Government projects, IT issues, Politics, Project failures, Project management, SAP

Tags: Project, Performance, Information Technology, Mr., IBM Corp., Department For Transport, Shared Service Center, Performance Management, Strategy, Project Management

The UK House of Commons attacked the Department for Transportation (DfT) for gross mismanagement of a shared services IT project. In a rather extraordinary comment, Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts for the UK House of Commons, said:

The DfT planned and implemented its shared corporate services project with stupendous incompetence. This is one of the worst cases of project management seen by this Committee.

The DfT initially estimated the program would save £57 million ($85m) over ten years. Current forecasts show that program will result in a net loss £81 million ($121m). A House of Commons analysis concluded:

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