November 4th, 2009

Please vote: Shortlisted at Computer Weekly

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 8:15 am

Categories: Blog annoucements

Tags: Information Technology, Computer, Strategy, Project Management, Tools & Techniques, Management, It Operations, It service Management, Michael Krigsman

UK-based IT news site, Computer Weekly, shortlisted this blog for an award in the 2009 Project Management category. Being shortlisted is an honor because Computer Weekly offers some of the best IT insight anywhere.

In addition, the magazine’s Executive Editor, Tony Collins, is one of the top journalists covering IT failures; Tony takes no prisoners but is always fair and impartial. His work has served as an inspiration to me.

SHAMELESS, UNREPENTANT PLUG

Yes, I want you to vote — for my blog! To make it easy, please follow this little guide.

Step 1. Click the voting page

Step 2. Scroll down to number 7, the Project Management category, as shown here:

Step 3. Do the right thing….

November 2nd, 2009

Seeking IT failure experts on Twitter

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:22 am

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, IT issues

Tags: Twitter Inc., Information Technology, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

I’m assembling the definitive Twitter list of folks who have demonstrated deep insight and commitment into analyzing the causes and prevention of IT failures. The list is called IT Failure Insights and I need your help to get it right.

If you know someone who should be on that list, please send me a message on Twitter.

Before adding anyone to the list I will ask to see blog posts, Twitter messages, papers the person has written, or other examples demonstrating clear connection between their professional life and this topic.

[Photo from iStockphoto]

September 17th, 2009

CRM success: An IT failures virtual town hall meeting

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 5:18 pm

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, CRM, IT issues, Project portfolio management, Project strategy

Tags: Information Technology, ACT!, CRM, Customer-relationship Management Project, Advertising & Promotion, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software, Michael Krigsman

Customer relationship management projects are notoriously difficult to get right. This IT failures town hall meeting examines why CRM projects fail and presents practical tips to help make you successful.

We’ll discuss issues such as:

• What makes CRM projects so difficult
• Sales people and their relationship to CRM
• Crossing the CRM chasm to success
• Social CRM

I will be joined for this event by CRM industry guru, Mike Muhney. Beginning with the co-invention of ACT! Mike has been recognized as a global visionary and powerful speaker on the subject of effective business relationships. He has publicly spoken to over 150,000 people worldwide on improving the way they do business, and he has often been interviewed and written about in numerous global publications on the topics of entrepreneurship, market creation, penetration and leadership, global expansion, and motivational speaking.

In 1986 Mike and a friend co-founded the company Contact Software International and they co-invented ACT! which is credited with creating the category of Contact Management applications. ACT! also has been frequently credited with pioneering today’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) industry. Released in 1987, ACT! went on to win over 100 awards globally, including numerous PC Magazine Editor’s Choice awards (the “Oscar” of any and all PC Industry Awards), and is still, after 22 years, the predominant Contact Manager with an extremely loyal following, now estimated to number in excess of 10 million users worldwide.

Please attend this interactive discussion and participate in a valuable conversation about success and failure in CRM. There’s no cost but you must register in advance.

Topic: Achieving CRM success: An IT failures virtual town hall meeting

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 12:00 noon -1:00 PM, Eastern Time. The registration page lists international telephone numbers.

Registration: Click here to register for this online session

August 4th, 2009

Managing vendor performance: An IT failures virtual town hall

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 6:39 pm

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, Cultural issues, Devil's Triangle, IT issues, Project portfolio management, Project strategy

Tags: Town Hall, Performance, Information Technology, Vendor Performance, Jason Coyne, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

The business and organizational complexity associated with many IT projects sometimes causes difficulty for customers, system integrators, and technology providers.

For the next IT failures virtual town hall, we will discuss practical tips to help you better manage vendor performance and increase project success.

We’ll examine issues such as:

• Why managing vendor performance is a challenge
• Improving requirements analysis and the business case
• The role of misaligned expectations in IT failure situations
• Conducting an effective vendor selection process
• Avoiding failure by setting clear objectives
• Tactical interventions to avoid meltdown

I will be joined for this event by Jason Coyne, a UK-based IT failures expert who has served as mentor, expert witness, and negotiator on some of Britain’s largest IT disputes.

Jason recently started a new organization, Evolution Project Consulting, to provide dispute management and resolution services to government and private sector IT projects. Jason’s knowledge of IT project and program management issues is deep, broad, and highly practical. Having provided advisory services to more than 500 projects, he is like a walking encyclopedia of UK failures.

Please attend this interactive discussion and participate in an important conversation about vendor performance management.

The event is free, but you must register in advance.

Title: Managing vendor performance: An IT failures virtual town hall

Date and Time: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 11:00AM -12:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time. The registration page lists international telephone numbers.

Registration: Click here to register for this online session

July 23rd, 2009

CRM failures on tap

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 8:03 am

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, CRM, IT issues, Research and statistics

Tags: CRM, Advertising & Promotion, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software, Michael Krigsman

Customer relationship management is an interesting and important part of the enterprise technology landscape. Given the significance of CRM, this blog is long overdue devoting attention to CRM failures. I’m now rectifying that problem.

CRM is a broad domain that encompasses an organization’s entire set of relationships and interactions with customers. Although technology plays a large role, developing effective customer relationships is really a corporate “lifestyle” decision that values customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Fellow ZDNet blogger and true CRM guru, Paul Greenberg, captures this spirit in a definition on his personal blog. The major theme is relationship and shared value:

CRM 1.0 (2003): “CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system and a technology, designed to improve human interactions in a business environment.”

CRM 2.0 (2008): “CRM 2.0 is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules and processes, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation to improve human interactions and provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It is the company’s response to the customer’s ownership of the conversation.”

Since customer interactions extend in many directions, the supporting technology must also be diverse. Forrester Research principle analyst, Bill Band, describes an “Extended CRM Application Ecosystem” that brings order to the many technology areas comprising CRM.

The diagram shows how the tentacles of CRM reach across many technologies:

Read the rest of this entry »

July 20th, 2009

TechTarget blogger of the week

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 8:32 pm

Categories: Blog annoucements, Book and Blog Reviews

Tags: TechTarget, Information Technology, Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Strategy, Internet, Management, Michael Krigsman

Thanks to IT Knowledge Exchange from TechTarget, for selecting IT Project Failures as blog of the week. I really appreciate that!

They’ve got a pretty good selection of blogs covering a broad range of topics. A few that caught my eye are SAP Watch, Software Quality Insights, and Voices of CRM. It’s professional blogging and good stuff.

April 24th, 2009

IT failures town hall: Aligning IT and business

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 10:01 am

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, IT issues, Uncategorized

Tags: CIO, Information Technology, Ace Hardware, Paul Ingevaldson, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

Many projects get into trouble because business and IT seem to function like oil and water: co-existing without real communication or mutual understanding. As a direct result, misplaced expectations lead to cost overruns, late projects, and further deterioration of relations between the two groups.

For the next IT failures town hall, former Ace Hardware CIO, Paul Ingevaldson, will lead a conversation on bridging the IT / business alignment gap. We’ll discuss why the gap exists and explore practical steps to bring these two critical groups together, thereby making your projects more successful.

While CIO of Ace, Paul was simultaneously Senior Vice President of International, with P&L responsibility for stores in 70 countries, and he ran the company’s Ace Canada subsidiary. Paul writes and speaks on IT and CIO issues, and enjoys teaching business users how to work effectively with IT.

• Related: Former Ace Hardware CIO on IT failure [podcast]

Please attend this interactive discussion and participate in a conversation about this fundamental driver of IT success and failure. There’s no cost but you must register in advance.

Date and Time: Tuesday May 19, 2009, 11:00AM -12:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time

Registration: Click here to register for this online session.

March 18th, 2009

Risks of survival: An IT failures town hall discussion

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 1:40 pm

Categories: Blog annoucements, CIO issues, IT issues, Project strategy

Tags: Information Technology, Failures Town Hall Discussion, Jonathan, Strategy, Management, Michael Krigsman

Join independent analyst, Jonathan Yarmis, and me for a lively discussion about IT failure during this period of economic turmoil. Together, we’ll examine whether IT is sowing the seeds for its own future pain and suffering.

Doing more with less” has been an IT watchword for almost a decade. Despite already getting close to the bone, the current economic climate now imposes significant hardship on even the survivors. Join us, share your thoughts, and let’s explore these issues together.

Topic: Risks of survival: An IT failures town hall discussion

Session description: We all face difficult decisions as we learn to cope in this new economic reality. To adapt successfully, we must be prepared to ask tough questions of the organizations for which we work and of ourselves. What do I need to do to keep the economic engine running? Beyond that, where am I likely to incur undue risk and how can I minimize those exposures? It would be unfortunate for IT to survive the downturn only to discover that our ongoing viability is threatened. This IT failures town hall discussion will focus on hard questions for difficult times.

Discussion initiator: Jonathan Yarmis is an independent analyst who’s covered enterprise software, technology, and IT for firms such as AMR Research and Gartner. Jonathan is also a frequent and highly in-demand conference speaker.

Date and time: Tuesday, April 7, 2009 from 11:00 AM -12:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time.

Location: This town hall will be held via teleconference, so it’s easy to attend. Sign up below to receive all the details.

Cost: Free!

Registration: Everyone is welcome to attend, but please click here to register.

February 13th, 2009

Valentine's Day greetings

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 5:18 pm

Categories: Blog annoucements

Tags: Valentine, Valentine's Day, Blogging, Internet, Michael Krigsman

Thanks for reading the blog on a daily basis, whether you’ve agreed with my perspectives or not. Here’s wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day!

[Photo by Michael Krigsman.]

December 25th, 2008

A reader's ZDNet holiday poem

Posted by Michael Krigsman @ 5:46 am

Categories: Blog annoucements

Tags: Poem, Blog, Blogger, Blogging, Internet, Michael Krigsman

ZDNet reader, MGP2, posted this original poem, called “Tis the day before Christmas,” in a Talkback. For the entire ZDNet gang, I want to thank him and all our readers. Hope you’re enjoying the holidays!

Read the rest of this entry »