Certification – Current Thinking for IT Leaders

Aug 17, ’10 2:09 PM

Following is a curated list of resources that reflect current thinking on a topic of interest to IT leaders. You can assist this effort by contributing insight from your own real-world experiences, and are invited to suggest changes or additions here.

Current Thinking Includes:

The available certifications for IT-related careers range from extremely technical domains to management-focused specialities, from the firmly established (PMP) to new certifications in emerging disciplines such as cloud security. This post deals with the topic of IT certifications in general. The majority view regarding IT certification seems to be that certs continue to have value, and in a crowded job market, may help candidates stand out among their peers, particularly within the HR resume triage process.  Certifications are also viewed by many as a sign of continuing investment by an employee in their own career, and an acknowledgement that the majority of IT disciplines are ever-changing.

While it is possible to find anecdotal assertions of a performance advantage for certified employees versus their non-certified peers, there are fewer quantifiable studies that show this to be the case. In the example below (Project Management), it may be that a certification is viewed primarily as an “insurance policy” by many managers, perhaps a valuable one in a discipline where multiple studies have reported a 70% or higher project failure rate.  Lastly, some hold the opinion that certification remains valuable in a maturing industry, and should be the first step toward formal licensure of IT professionals, to match other industries such as accountants, etc.

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Business Value – Current Thinking for IT Leaders

Aug 17, ’10 10:18 AM

Following is a curated list of resources that reflect current thinking on a topic of interest to IT leaders. You can assist this effort by contributing insight from your own real-world experiences, and are invited to suggest changes or additions here.

Definitions Include:

This post deals with general Business Value for IT services to an organization, rather than the value equation of a specific technology solution such as cloud computing or unified communications. As is the case with “business alignment”, Business Value is a much-used term and regularly shows up on CIO and business surveys – specifically, the critical need to demonstrate business value for the organization.  The lack of a consensus on its definition for IT leaders suggests that more maturity is needed for definition as well as the practical use of the concept.

Wikipedia: Business value

In management, business value is an informal term that includes all forms of value that determine the health and well-being of the firm in the long-run. Business value expands concept of value of the firm beyond economic value (also known as economic profit, Economic value added, and Shareholder value) to include other forms of value such as employee value, customer value, supplier value, channel partner value, alliance partner value, managerial value, and societal value. Many of these forms of value are not directly measured in monetary terms.

David Morris: Adding business value

Business Value is anything that contributes to an organization’s stated primary goals, e.g. increase or protect revenue, reduce/avoid costs, improve service, meet regulatory/social obligations, achieve market strategy, and develop staff.

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Current Thinking Includes:

Current thinking includes suggestions for providing increased cost transparency through the advent of service catalogs and cloud computing, as well as the notion that Business Value may be a corollary for “confidence” in many cases, and can of course be built through successful delivery of services and programs.  We seem to be in the early days of discerning best methods/frameworks to measure and manage Business Value within the IT shop; two suggested here are the IT Capability Maturity Framework and the use of enterprise productivity measures such as EBITDA:

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Business Alignment – Current Thinking for IT Leaders

Aug 17, ’10 10:18 AM

Following is a curated list of resources that reflect current thinking on a topic of interest to IT leaders. You can assist this effort by contributing insight from your own real-world experiences, and are invited to suggest changes or additions here.

Current Thinking Includes:

Business-IT Alignment has been a perennial item on surveys and “complaint lists” by business leaders for several years. The majority of posts on the topic begin with an acknowledgment that much has already been written and discussed, yet the topic continues to be listed as a key priority or gap for IT leaders.  Current views include the need for a strong business sense first and foremost among IT staff, perhaps going as far as listing business acumen before technical skills in position descriptions and interviews:

NetworkWorld: CIOs cry out for business sense

Chief Information Officers (CIO) are crying out for IT analysts and architects with business sense in the face of a looming skills shortage, according to a report from recruitment firm Hudson ICT.

NetworkWorld: CVS IT Chief on Remedy for Business-IT Alignment

Technology starts with really good business thinking. And if you look at core strategy here, you’ll find a common theme which is a focus on customer experience and customer services.

CIO Insight: Kroll’s CIO on Effective Alignment

I’m not looking for someone who can install a server. I want people who can not just deliver what the business wants, but who also knows the business, the technology and the capabilities of the team so well that he or she can actually push further with what IT can do. That includes building relationships with the business and their IT peers.

Tight integration of IT and business units, especially Operations is another key suggestion, while converging on one vision and set of goals::

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