The Infonomics Letter

January 2010 Edition:

Just ten years ago, we all breathed a sigh of relief.  As the clock ticked over to 1 January 2000, remarkably, the world did not end. Aircraft did not fall out of the sky.  Banks did not suddenly stop processing transactions. Nor did those same banks deliver to the fanciful hopes of some that they would fill every account with tens of millions of dollars, for free.  The dread Y2K bug had not hit us after all.  The vast investment in fixing systems had saved us – or had it?  Many sceptics, including more than a few company directors, still insist that Y2K was a waste of money driven by hysterical IT practitioners who had reached the ultimate pinnacle of spending money to achieve no business benefit.

That sort of wrong-headed thinking is incredibly dangerous, and on January 1, 2010, some Australian banks demonstrated just how so, when a latent remnant of the Y2K problem resulted in EftPos transactions being rejected.  “Test the Future” explores the situation further.

Far too frequently, we hear of major IT projects stalling because of a lack of knowledge of how the old IT systems operate.  And as more and more of the business becomes buried inside information technology, the risks of losing essential knowledge begin to become more substantial.  In “How does it work again”, we begin exploring the need for organisations to take positive action to ensure that they retain their essential corporate knowledge.

Many who have attended one of my briefings or educational events will recall that I illustrate the importance of governing IT by citing cases from all over the world where major IT failures have caused damage to the organisation.  One such case is that of British Sky Broadcasting, which engaged a major international firm to deliver a Customer Relationship Management system.  When the project failed, the mess ended up in court, and just a few days ago, the Judge handed down his decision.  “An Interesting Decision” opens discussion on this very significant ruling.

The new international working group responsible for ISO 38500 and related standards is building a head of steam, and work is commencing on several fronts.  “Advancing the Standard” provides a snapshot of what is happening in this arena.

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December 2009 Edition:

Discusses the recently released report by the Australian Government's "Government 2.0 Taskforce".  Explores the opportunities and issues arising, and in particular at the prospect for IT to be used to truly transform and improve the operation of the machinery of government.  We introduce the notion of “Value Chain Integration” as a way of describing the process of using IT to join together and make more efficient and effective the previously separate elements of government or any other organisation.

November 2009 Edition:

Guest writer Jan Begg reports on her research into success of projects.  Unfortunately, the best that can be said of the results is that there is enormous scope for improvement!

We note the move by Westpac Bank to establish a board committee on governance of IT and we applaud the work of Carlo Francavilla who kindly translates The Infonomics Letter into Spanish.

October 2009 Edition:

Announces a new forum for the LinkedIn members to discuss “Waltzing with the Elephant”.

Builds on discussion in  the LinkedIn "The Enterprise Architecture Network" as the driver for a decision to present another extract from Waltzing with the Elephant, explaining what Enterprise Architecture is a vital discipline when changing organisations and their underpinning IT.

The Infonomics Letter Archive

September 2009 Edition:

Discusses initial and very positive reaction to Waltzing with the Elephant.

Explores the recommendations in the 2008 Gershon Review of the Australian Government's use of IT, and subsequent comments by Sir Peter Gershon when he discussed the dream of world class governance of IT in the public sector.

August 2009 Edition:

Reviews the launch for Waltzing with the Elephant on August 17 and training events in Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville and Adelaide.

Initial notes on an emerging trend to chief executives taking interest in IT and marshalling the executive team in setting the IT agenda.

July 2009 Edition:

Announces the launch date for Waltzing with the Elephant at a gala event in Sydney on 17 August and the subsequent business and government launch in Melbourne just four weeks later.

 

Presents an extract from chapter ten, discussing project steering committees in the context of the Performance Principle in ISO/IEC 38500.

June 2009 Edition:

Follow-up discussion on governance and management of IT.

A paper by Chris Ogden: “IT Governance – Redesigning the Board’s Role”, proposes that the internet has been the watershed that drives the need for a much greater degree of board oversight and supervision of IT use.

Reprise on ISO/IEC 38500 masterclass delivered in Germany in partnership with Serview.

May 2009 Edition:

Explores the distinction between “IT Governance” and “IT Management”. 

April 2009 Edition:

Australia's National Broadband Network - how we can recognise and measure success, and who is responsible for that success.

Web 2.0 presents some governance issues.

March 2009 Edition:

The track record of government with IT initiatives.

Why the first generation of “IT Governance” has failed.

The relationship between ISO/IEC 38500 and CobiT.

February 2009 Edition:

Human behaviours in governance of IT compared with behaviours in other situations.

December 2008 / January 2009 Edition:

"Making the right decisions..." about IT activities.
"Is Value Required?" extracting value that should come from IT expenditure.

Special Edition 20 November 2008:

International Working Group on the Corporate Governance of IT.

Downloads: ISO/IEC 38500 Case Study and Discussion of The Gershon Review

November 2008 Edition:

Making the right decisions.

Driving Business Value from IT.

October 2008 edition:

Governance of IT in difficult times;

The Gershon Report

Why ISO38500 is exciting for business;