Blaize Horner Reich
Abstract
This research investigated CIOs'view of the changes driving and occurring in their in-house IT organizations. Results of interviews with 50 CIOs and IT leaders from 22 organizations in Canada and the U.S. suggest three main drivers of change for in-house IT organizations: rapid strategic business change, pervasive IT with an experienced user community, and e-business and technology complexity. These drivers are creating changes in all parts of the IT organization: structure and roles, application development, technology architectures, and skills and knowledge of IT practitioners. According to CIOs, their virtual, global IT organizations need to move even closer towards the strategic centre of the company, requiring increased business knowledge, improved ability to influence and negotiate, and a renewed focus on standardized architectures, metrics, and value creation.
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Index Terms
- In their own words: CIO visions about the future of in-house IT organizations
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Reviews
Charles William Bash
This paper is based on the supposition that people who participate in the open source movement are doing so without receiving any financial compensation. It fails to recognize the changes in the computer and software industries that have, ironically, contributed to the rise of open source. These causes are perhaps twofold. First, there is the underemployment of programmers. This occurs frequently when somebody graduates from college and searches for their first programming job. This also occurs after someone works in the industry for a number of years, turns 40, and is laid off because of the misconception by hiring managers that this person has outdated skills. Second, there is outsourcing. Outsourcing has been occurring within the computer industry for decades. Originally, it was simply outsourcing that went to another company, located within the borders of the United States. More recently, outsourcing has moved offshore to places that are far from the United States. These two events have placed highly educated programmers in a situation where nobody wants them. Their only solution, if they want to continue working in the field, is to do something that will gain them professional recognition. Many will write software that is open source. They are not doing so based on some utopian ideal about software and intellectual property. They are doing so for the recognition that can be received by the open source community, and for an entry that can go on a resume. The supposition that participation in the open source movement precludes any financial gain is false. Programmers who participate in the movement have not taken vows of poverty. They will eventually receive some financial gain. Their gain may not be obvious to casual observers, but it is there nevertheless. Online Computing Reviews Service
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