| So I love IT, and you love IT. We love the | | | | 2. Smart Middleware: The days of logging into one |
| applications, the servers, the networks and, of | | | | application, entering data, and then logging into |
| course, the Internet. Whether it's because we are | | | | another application to enter the same data are |
| closet control freaks or because we are | | | | soooo over. If I can upload my Microsoft Outlook |
| fascinated by how all of the pieces fit together, | | | | email contact book into my new Gmail email |
| we just love it. I'm not saying that love is a bad | | | | account, then why can't I load my product catalog |
| thing, but at the end of the day IT exists to help | | | | into my marketing database just as easily? Smart |
| the company be successful (= make more | | | | middleware will allow all of a firm's applications to |
| money). | | | | share information and thereby will allow a |
| Michael Vizard over at Ziff Davis has been thinking | | | | complete view of the business to be provided. |
| about our love life just a bit and he's come up | | | | 3. BI,BI Baby: Finally Business Intelligence tools |
| with some interesting thoughts about where we | | | | have become powerful enough to mine those |
| need to be taking this relationship. | | | | bloated databases and provide all sorts of |
| In the end, it all revolves around data - or as we | | | | different users with specific answers to detailed |
| like to call it using fifty-cent words, information. By | | | | questions about what is working and what isn't. |
| now, just about everybody realizes that there is | | | | 4. The Blog Has Arrived: Remember all those |
| no shortage of information (just take a look | | | | fancy "knowledge management" applications that |
| around your office: there are piles of information | | | | software firms tried to sell everyone back in the |
| EVERYWHERE!) What is missing is knowledge - | | | | 90's? It turns out that what we really needed |
| and the only way to get knowledge is to process | | | | was a good blogging platform and permission to |
| all of that data and squeeze the knowledge out of | | | | write our little hearts out. Once problems and |
| it. | | | | solutions are blogged about, then the blogs can be |
| Michael believes that we in IT need to get our act | | | | mined by search tools and the information shared |
| together. The rest of the organization is waiting | | | | throughout the firm. |
| for us to provide them with the relevant | | | | 5. Stop Repeating Yourself: If I worked for a |
| knowledge that they need in order to make good | | | | storage company, these would be the best of |
| decisions. This means that there are five IT | | | | times - everybody is storing everything. |
| developments that we need to do a good job of | | | | Deduplication software is only now starting to |
| managing over the next few years in order to | | | | arrive which will allow us to just store one copy |
| truely make IT valuable to the rest of the | | | | of everything and this should finally stop the |
| business: | | | | storage madness. |
| | | | Most firms now realize that IT will be a critical |
| 1. Locate A Good Search Tool: Just as we have | | | | factor in their future success. It's only by |
| too much information in our personal lives, so too | | | | leveraging what IT can bring to the table that a |
| do businesses have too much information stored | | | | firm can beat its competition while satisfying its |
| in all of their different intranets. They may not be | | | | customers. The challenge is that IT is going to |
| able to say it in so many words, but the rest of | | | | have to find some way to bring all of these |
| the business is desperately looking to IT to | | | | different technologies together in order to make |
| provide an enterprise search tool that will help | | | | the company successful. But that's OK, because |
| them to find what they need. | | | | we love this stuff... |