Sex and IT and Rock and Roll

In what other area than drugs do we talk about 'users'? Right. I've recently noticed some strange personal habits. Usually the first thing I do when I wake up is check my mail. If I mishear anything in a conversation I want to spool back a couple of seconds and replay it. I send myself emails. I've been reading my email on the toilet (efficiency!) for so long that I've developed an embarrassing Pavlov reaction when I get lots of mail. And most disturbingly, I can't seem to concentrate for more than 30 seconds to read anything. I'm still halfway through a book I started 18 months ago. The only time I read anything properly is when I'm writing it myself. Am I alone? Don't think so. I've started asking people about their reading habits and have discovered a trend. Not enough time. The pressure of speed of change and susceptibility to sound bites is seducing us into taking unsound decisions. I blame the IT dealers. Google enticing me with "just another little search, it won't hurt you". Twitter tempting me to RT. LinkedIn luring me to make another contact. Addicted? Not me. I can stop anytime I want. Starting tomorrow. Really.

CIO’s in exile and the art of the possible

A familiar sight. People discussing the state of affairs in their organization and what they would do if they were the board of directors.

They often have promising ideas but what they don't have is the power to execute. I call them boards in exile. A characteristic of many governments in exile is that they reside in a foreign country. Boards of exile also live in foreign countries, in a metaphorical sense. They live in fictitious worlds and have a tendency to assume that things are as they would have organized their environment. And are therefore often surprised and disappointed when things turn out differently. Apparently it's easier to be in denial than accept that somebody else with other ideas is running the show. Reality check: what world do you live in – the world you'd like to live in or the real world?!

The 'in exile' suffix can be applied to many roles. Take the CIO. I know plenty of architects who live for 90% of their time amongst perfectly consistent information systems. The only time their idyllic world is disrupted is when they take the lift down from the top floor to the company restaurant on the ground floor and overhear what with people who live in the real world are saying. What they hear is obviously an aberration because it isn't in the enterprise architecture. Typical CIO's in exile, who can't grasp the reality of organizations in which it just ain't fair who's got the power and that they just want pragmatic solutions to real world problems. No less and certainly no more. Even if we think they should be investing in the longer term, it's their money so it's their call. The only thing you can and should do is explain the pro's and contra's of the options.

The bottom line is of course that we should all be aware of and accept the imperfect, unequal and downright unfair nature of the world and be more like politicians and exercise the art of the possible. 

Slightly cloudy – for the time being

My take is that clouds computing is here to stay. But the clouds are still young and much will change. So don't think that everything can be replaced by clouds. Yet. There are plenty of usable cloud computing based applications around. But not for all areas. So it'll be slight cloudy for the time being.

The heavens will become a lot more cloudy as soon as technology (and legislation!) gets more mature. But it's not only about technology. Remember when we started to have the opportunity to buy on the internet using a credit card. Scary, wasn't it?  But not anymore. And yes, security has improved but that's not the point. Just a question of getting used to it. Same with the clouds. Now it seems scary to not have your data storage and processing within reach but in five years same it'll be and – more importantly – feel different.

Headache prevents stomach ache

RACI matrices are very useful when organizing the IT management function and fathoming out who is responsible for what. A variation that I like to use is a RACI matrix with four columns:

• System component
• Business Information Management (Demand)
• Application management (Supply)
• Infrastructure management (Supply)

I get people to list the stuff that comprises an information system, like application modules, scripts, databases, user manuals etc. and use the BIM/AM/IM cells to fill in the RACI responsibilities, e.g. R:Roger, A:Arthur, C:Clara, I:Ingrid. You usually end up with a pretty long list and I give people a packet of aspirin because it's usually gives them a headache working out the responsibilities. But it does prevent stomach ache further down the road because sooner or later you're going to have to know who's responsible for what.

Expectation as a Service

I often approach people for the first time by sending an email. Could be a colleague or any other business contact. If I don't get a response within 24 hours I'm usually disappointed. I used to feel rejected but after some therapy I've got over that now. What would help in managing my expectations is if I knew their mail habits. The nerd in me is telling me that it would easy to track responses to email traffic and compile a digital notice board proclaiming what I should expect. Just like shops have an opening times notice hanging on a bit of string. Look up an email address in www.emailresponsetimes.com. Doesn't exist at the moment but come back in a couple of years time. It would also be handy to know what mood they're currently in but that's probably a bridge too far - or is it?     

Martini IT

Heard someone talking about "Martini IT" - any time, any place, anywhere - just about sums it up.

IT Truth and Reconciliation

Do think IT will ever have to say "Sorry" for all the problems it's created (and is going to create)?

And will we then have Truth and Reconciliation Commissions to rehabilitate IT'ers back into society?

It happened with the Bankers, so why not with IT?