Metis Strategy

In this interview, Jorg Heinemann discusses four principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The two fundamental drivers of success in a vendor relationship Shifting trends in the solar industry The challenges of simultaneously having to act like both a construction company and a semi-conductor company How to transition an IT team from supporting a nimble startup to supporting a multi-billion dollar company The best ways to ensure alignment with the business

In this interview, Yuvi Kochar discusses two principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The decentralized structure of IT among the various business units under The Washington Post Company How The Washington Post Company has been leveraging the digital media environment amidst the challenge that the internet poses to media companies Cloud Computing and all of the possibilities and implications one must consider when leading a large holding company How the skill sets of in-house IT employees need to change to adapt to the evolving environment The various benefits and challenges when considering Enterprise 2.0 and social media for both internal as well as external facing application The future of mobile technologies’ impact on media

In this interview, Bruce Besanko discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include How the most important thing in defining a relationship between a CFO and CIO is the establishment of communication and transparency to build trust The four ways in which a CIO must demonstrate the value of a project The multiple resources models IT can employ when structuring its staff The important considerations when outsourcing The potential pros and cons of the various reporting relationships between the CIO and the CFO vs. the COO vs. the CEO The potential for the iPad and virtualization/cloud computing to provide agility to the workforce

In this interview, Abbie Lundberg discusses principle four of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The "CIO's Dilemma" of competing demands to be agile and innovative, while being responsible for cost cutting Cloud computing and how the concept of making businesses more agile is a great opportunity for IT How CIOs are increasingly focusing on the external customer, whether that be through business intelligence or directly customer facing applications The evolution of the role of the CIO in the years ahead The necessity to "get one's house in order" in order to first develop credibility with business partners before earning the trust necessary for a seat at the strategy setting table The importance of not only CIOs, but all IT executives that interface with business partners to be able to communicate effectively

In this interview, Mark Settle discusses all five principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The transition from being the buyer from IT vendors to leading the IT operations for an IT vendor How BMC Software IT serves as a strategic partner with the business as Beta testers for product development, monitors of competition, enablers of R&D, and sales representatives with intimate experience using the company's products The focus on recruiting IT leadership who will be able to play the role of a strategic partner whose focus is not only on managing IT, but also on working collaboratively with the business and capable of being involved in sales The green IT initiatives and achievements of BMC Software in energy savings and server utilization optimization The need for understanding the most appropriate use of collaboration technologies relative to different organizational dynamics The call to reassess very structured IT shops, whose traditionally rigid processes may be inhibiting agility

In this interview, Mark Silver discusses principle four of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include His ascent to the CIO role through a non-traditional path, and how he caught up on the learning curve without much technical coding expertise How experience with the technical details of coding are less important for becoming a CIO than understanding the business and the way in which it interacts with technology The concerning lack of higher education training technologists receive in interacting with business partners, and the need for the CIO to be the translator of business issues into technology solutions The cultural issues surrounding the adoption of a social media strategy The role IT can play in facilitating the social media strategy discussion and development

In this interview, Rob Dowler discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include How a federated IT structure allows the organization to act vertically within business units- or ministries- as well as horizontally across the government The mature strategic planning process the Government of Ontario employs in order to ensure the efficient use of tax-payer money How hosting an “internal consulting function” allows the organization to flexibly allocate permanent employees within the government based on project needs at “whole-sale” cost The importance of maintaining metrics in order to ensure the organization stays on course The shift in desired skills of future employees, and how those employees should be prepared to be “great enablers of public service delivery”

In this interview, Duane Anderson discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The key insights garnered as a new CIO The process of acclimating yourself to a new role The role an IT department plays for a company that relies on data gathering, synthesizing, and reporting The crucial role IT’s responsibility for infrastructure plays in acquisitive companies How in order to cut costs during the economic malaise, he categorized IT investment into three majors categories: utility expenses, maintenance capital, and new development/capabilities The evolving profile of successful IT associates and how many are coming from areas of study outside computer engineering backgrounds

In this interview, Karl Ulrich discusses principle four of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include How despite its natural tie to creativity, innovation can be driven through structured processes, which he explains in his book, Innovation Tournaments How the organizational structure, administration, and governance of innovation will be highly idiosyncratic to industry structure and firm dynamics The differentiation between external and internal facing innovation, and how each type necessitates different attention The five modes of the stage gate process that are crucial for new product development, and how to transition creative sparks into actionable opportunities The five areas a manager should focus on to influence the culture of innovation: incentives and recognition, transparency of decision making, the physical arrangement of the workplace, the recruiting process, and the allowance for creative “slack time” How measuring the success of innovation is, above all else, about creating economic value The benefits and potential risks of engaging third parties in the innovation process- be it vendors or customers- and how the exercise of opening up innovation is only practical depending on the industry

In this interview, Mark Jeffery discusses principle four of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The way in which marketing, data, analytics, and information technology are all related and the need to determine the Return on Marketing Investment from that relationship The necessity to focus on data-driven marketing in order to gain visibility into customer preferences, provide hard data to a traditionally “soft” division, and truly expose the ROI of marketing The fifteen metrics that he explains will allow the measurement of marketing, including 10 classical metrics and five “new-age” marketing metrics The lengthy process that he conducted in determining these metrics, accompanied by excellent case examples of companies that have leveraged data-driven marketing to increase their revenue and strengthen their customer base How it is an absolute necessity for Marketing to partner not just with Finance, but also with IT in order to build out capabilities to capture the metrics that will demonstrate an ROI for marketing The obstacles that companies face when considering data-driven marketing, and how, due to its relative infrequent use, can become a competitive advantage within an industry

In this interview, Bill Krivoshik discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The rationale for establishing the corporate CIO position at Marsh and McLennan Companies, which now oversees MMC’s substantially sized five operating companies How coordinating the agendas of the five operating companies’ CIOs has enabled MMC to consolidate data centers, leverage vendor relationships, enable knowledge management and cooperation across the horizontal structure, as well as avoid double work on application development The delicate balance that a corporate CIO with a centralized IT department must maintain between leveraging scale and the risk of destroying advantages from having technology that is close to the unique businesses and their customers How lowering technology spend on operational costs should go both towards the bottom line and towards building technologies that will provide competitive advantages The evolving role of the CIO and how the possession of business acumen will differentiate those that aim to succeed through good and bad financial times

In this interview, Remy Evard discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The unique role of an IT division that supports research scientists whose mission is discovery, as opposed to an IT division that supports a business division more responsible for revenues and costs How technology can enable global research and foster innovation by leveraging the scale of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research The way in which Remy, as a new CIO, went about gaining credibility with the business and scientists through “quick wins,” and the natural progression that the IT department followed once that credibility was established NIBR’s data initiative to manage decades of legacy information and how to ensure sound knowledge management The challenges of governance and managing a budget in a non-traditional IT environment, which requires flexibility in order to accommodate research projects The potential of new technologies, such as Web 2.0, mobile devices, and deep sequencing, to change the way in which scientific research is conducted

In this interview, Mike Capone discusses three principles of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The way in which ADP’s substantial data center consolidation has created savings on the bottom line and in their carbon footprint, improved processing speeds, and provided the opportunity for ADP to bolster their data security schemes A discussion of “Smart-Shoring” and how viewing his organization as “Global IT” has allowed ADP to get the most out of all geographies it operates in How ADP avoids the “rip and replace model” when approaching acquisitions and the accompanying IT integrations The power of Web 2.0 through corporate blogging and Social CRM, which can lead to organic ideas and improved collaboration How driving innovation through IT must be a process that marries the business leaders and technically talented innovators How ADP has been operating as a “cloud computing” provider long before it become a hot topic in IT

In this interview, Jay Brodsky discusses principle 4 of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The unique dynamics of being a CIO at a media company How to structure an IT department responsible for similar sub-divisions with very different needs The way in which the role of CIO must straddle an IT position and a business position and the necessity of IT leaders to work with the business to translate their needs into IT reality The wealth of opportunities and challenges that the internet and social media have presented to a traditional magazine, which has needed to be agile in staying relevant The way in which Atlantic Media has tried to stay in touch with its customers amid a world of Google-filtered searches and other competition The excitement around cloud computing and the possibilities it holds for the future of IT

In this interview, Robert Childs discusses principle 1 of World Class IT with Metis Strategy. Some of the topics discussed include The necessity to prepare leaders to leverage information technology for strategic advantage The careful balance between information sharing and security when it comes to IT in the military How IT has changed the dynamics of warfare The way in which the iCollege has diverged from the path of a typical educational institution in order to more aptly serve it’s unique set of students of senior military and government personnel The importance of cloud computing and how it is changing the face of IT The direction of IT’s developing role in the government and military