IBRS has found that the mobility needs of many organisations can be covered by just one or two “generic use case” categories. Thus many user demands for mobility can be met with just one or two development approaches.

Research shows that flexible workplaces result in improved productivity, increased revenue, lower staff attrition and higher staff morale. Numerous surveys indicate that the majority of employers and business managers support flexible workplace arrangements. But is this widespread recognition translated into actively marketing and promoting flexible workplace arrangements to prospective employees? The answer appears to be a resounding NO.

Increasingly, organisations are looking beyond classical agile methodologies, towards lean techniques pioneered in industrial production. The transposition of lean techniques into the context of corporate IT is a challenge that requires a high level of process maturity and organisational discipline. The desired benefits only materialise if the lean approach is applied to processes that can be put under statistical control, and if the approach feeds into a domain engineering process that addresses the root causes of operational inefficiencies.

In spite of changes over the last decade the Microsoft Windows Server licensing is still rooted in the physical machine era of the ’90s. However, most organisations run the majority of their x86 workloads in virtual machines. Microsoft’s disconnect with the virtualisation realities of the last five years can result in licensing confusion. Organisations that choose the wrong licensing approach will either greatly over-spend on Microsoft licences or, more likely, not be compliant.

The goals of enterprise architecture include prioritisation and strategic alignment of investments, savings through reduction in unnecessary duplication, and improved agility through reduced complexity. When these goals are achieved the positive impacts can be enormous. These goals are achieved when the enterprise architecture function has input to investment decision making and the way that solutions chosen and implemented. Astute CEOs will involve enterprise architects in assessment of business cases, procurement decisions and project reviews. The UK Government reported a direct saving of AU$6.3 billion from project reviews that cost less than $100 million. Many of these were ICT-based projects, which are known to be higher risk than other project types and are placed under greater scrutiny. Astute CIOs have a clearly defined strategy and process for review of projects under their purview.

Although net neutrality is neither credible nor a legitimate concept in the Australian telecommunications market, it carries commercial leverage. The new network architecture of NBN and the associated changes to the telecoms market regulation make it irrelevant. The ‘user pays’ principle of Quality of Service (QoS) should finally eliminate net neutrality. Despite all the impending changes, the commercial and political leverage of net neutrality is too powerful to lose and will continue to stalk the telecoms market. For telecommunications providers and regulators the struggle will move to another plane. For end-users, individuals and organisations, it will require vigilance to ensure that the network is really open to everything and not armed with gatekeepers blocking access.

Faced with the tough question, ‘How can the organisation reduce its IT costs without compromising client services?’ astute CIOs highlight the impact of the potential reductions by business unit and assist line managers to argue the case for retaining the status quo, to the Executive. Conversely CIOs who notice the firm’s market share is dropping due to clumsy online ordering systems or excessive customer complaints about online IT services must take the initiative and, with line management, propose an immediate course of action to the Executive to fix the situation, even if it means increasing IT spending. Waiting for line management to act is not an option.

Identity management projects do not have a good reputation for successful delivery. Too often, the final implementation fails to live up to promises. Identity management projects can deliver genuine value to a business, including: compliance with regulation, improving customer satisfaction, or reducing risk. But if the business is not driving the project, then the project is probably off the rails and heading for failure. In this situation, CIOs must seriously consider terminating the project because a project not driven by the business is one being imposed on it – it is the tail wagging the dog.

Deals have increased this month, but more importantly, the deals are more interesting! Increased outsourcing in areas that support consumer-orientated functions (as opposed to just infrastructure or business support deals) is especially clear this month.