If you want a book that is focused on the alignment between IT and business, look no further. The five authors, along with several contributing authors, draw an analogy to a three-legged race. IT and business are tied together, and their goal is to cooperate with each other and coordinate their "third leg," which can be viewed as an amalgam of strategy, governance, business processes, budgeting, risk management, business partners and the external marketplace.
The authors, who include a mix of academics and CIOs, such as PepsiCo Inc.'s Tom Trainer and Marriott International Inc.'s Carl Wilson, do a credible job of describing the evolution of business technology management and providing anecdotes of real-world successes and failures from which readers can learn. The book is masterfully sprinkled with flow charts, diagrams, text boxes, mini case studies and tips from leading experts, such as F. Warren McFarlan of Harvard Business School, and MetLife Inc. CIO Steven Sheinheit. A must-read for today's IT executive.
Get Back in the Box: Innovation From the Inside Out, by Douglas Rushkoff (HarperCollins, 336 pages, $23.95).
I've always despised cliches and prefabricated expressions in business. And "think outside the box" is right at the top (or is it the bottom?) of the heap.
That's certainly one of the reasons why Rushkoff's book appealed to me. But as I began paging through it, I realized that there's a lot more to this volume than my personal disdain for marketingspeak.
Rushkoff contends that business managers all too frequently embrace change and shift the strategic direction of their companies in a mad rush to remain competitive and innovative. Instead, he recommends that corporate executives think "inside the box" in order to stay true to their companies' core competencies and best serve their customers.
Unlike cookie-cutter business-advice books that are filled with mini case studies of customer successes to back up the author's premise, Get Back in the Box intersperses historical examples of corporate blunders and accomplishments that are designed to provoke introspection.
For instance, Rushkoff points to how James Dyson, the inventor of the high-end Dyson vacuum cleaner, ignored suggestions from focus groups prior to the product's launch that consumers would be disgusted by having to see the filth that piles up in the machine's transparent collection bin. Instead, he followed his instincts that such a visual "would give people a certain sense of satisfaction after they vacuumed." The feature became a great selling point.
Whether or not you agree with Rushkoff's insights, the book is delightfully written and challenges its readers. Although Rushkoff relies a bit heavily on historical perspective to get his points across, the book will be useful to IT managers who are trying to align themselves with their business peers.
IT Portfolio Management Step-by-Step: Unlocking the Business Value of Technology, by Bryan Maizlish and Robert Handler (John Wiley & Sons, 400 pages, $49.95).
Although mountains of books have been written about IT management and even project management, few have focused specifically on IT portfolio management. That's somewhat surprising, given the rising number of blue-chip companies, such as KeySpan Energy Corp. and Lowe's Cos., that have adopted the techniques to fundamentally improve the way they manage their IT investments.
For the uninitiated, IT portfolio management is a set of techniques that IT managers can use to effectively place a Buy, Sell or Hold on IT investments such as software, similar to what a financial investor would do with stocks. Some organizations use IT portfolio management tools and techniques to rank IT projects using criteria such as anticipated business value and return on investment.
Maizlish, chief technology officer program team at Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions, and Handler, an analyst at Gartner Inc., offer a very detailed and pragmatic approach to IT portfolio management. The authors' expertise is apparent throughout the book, including in useful tips on how to handle the software vendor selection process.
As the authors point out, IT portfolio processes don't make decisions, people do. So they wisely devote a fair amount of discussion to people and cultural issues. And given the increased focus on regulations that IT managers must contend with these days, the authors also provide helpful guidelines on linking IT portfolio management strategies with Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance and IT governance efforts.
Maizlish and Handler have put together a useful guide for novice and veteran IT portfolio managers.
The Well-Timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage, by Peter Navarro (Wharton School Publishing, 272 pages, $27.99).
Well-run businesses like General Electric Co. manage to prosper during economic downturns. But being able to grow profits -- much less remain profitable -- can be considerably more challenging for companies in so-called cyclical industries that are dependent upon overall economic growth, such as chemical and automobile manufacturers.
Navarro, a business professor at the University of California, Irvine, illustrates how both recessionary and expansionary turning points in the economy can offer profit opportunities in different industries. Even though the book is light on the role that IT departments can play in helping to support businesses through economic swings, it's useful reading for IT managers who are determined to help support both cyclical and noncyclical businesses.