IT buzzwords and memes of the moment: cloud & consumerizarion

Peter Kretzman, IT Consumerization, the Cloud and the Alleged Death of the CIO:

Let me be clear once again: this frequent linking of cloud and IT consumerization to the looming demise of the CIO and IT is not just misguided, but actually gets it completely backwards. In fact, I argue that IT consumerization and the cloud will actually elevate the importance of IT within a company, as both a service and a strategic focus.

Let’s list and then discuss some of the ways that combining these memes (IT consumerization, cloud, and the ensuing heralded death of the CIO) falls down when measured against common sense and reality:

It fails to understand the full range of what a CIO (or IT) actually provides for modern-day companies.
It fails to recognize the profound pitfalls of a decentralized and fragmented approach for company systems and technologies.
It erroneously equates IT consumerization with the BYOD trend, missing the larger important picture that underscores the strategic need for IT.
It misunderstands the interplay of commoditization and competitive strategic advantage.

Writing in "Wired Cloudline sponsored by IBM."

IT is hard enough already - why do things you don't need to?

Galen Gruman in Infoworld:

I don't get why IT itself takes on so many management challenges unrelated to technology operations or strategy.

Yes, it's not a good use of limited resources. But I don't think the problem of taking on things that don't need to be done is unique to IT.

Looking at IT for an answer to this is misplaced; instead, I'd start by looking at psychology, both organizational and individual.

Close Encounters of the Collaborative Kind

Good article in this month's IEEE Computer magazine, Close Encounters of the Collaborative Kind:

The participants in a collaborative interdisciplinary project found that developing a shared, project-specific communication style helped them overcome cultural barriers, understand the nuances of each other's work, and enhance the accuracy, interpretability, and utility of their models.