Featured Advisory Papers
Workplace Innovation
As a Service
Security Leadership
Governance & Planning
Infrastructure
Applications
Sourcing & Staffing
Operations & Service Delivery
Workplace Innovation
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Key lessons from the executive roundtable on data, analytics and business value
Conclusion: On 16 May 2019, IBRS conducted a peer roundtable on issues related to data, analytics and business value. The focus of the roundtable was to allow senior IT executives to explore how...
- Joseph Sweeney -
How not to innovate
Conclusion: Innovation is a growing key competency for organisations in the public sector and seemingly an imperative for the commercial and not-for-profit sectors to grow or maintain market share and...
- Sue Johnston -
Analytics artificial intelligence maturity model
Conclusion: Artificial intelligence technologies are available in various places such as robotic process automation (RPA), virtual agents and analytics. The purpose of this paper is to provide an AI...
- Wissam Raffoul -
SNAPSHOT: From paper to digital thinking
Conclusion: Current approaches to knowledge management are being disrupted by a wave of new working practices that replace the paper-based metaphor that pre-dates the computer revolution, with a...
- Joseph Sweeney -
Digital transformation: More than a technology project
Conclusion: Organisations everywhere are thinking about, planning or undertaking digital transformation activities. While good progress is being made, there is still a tendency to view digital...
- Sue Johnston
As a Service
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Running IT-as-a-Service Part 52: The new generation business relationship manager’s role
Conclusion: Running IT-as-a-Service requires emulating vendors’ account management function by creating a business relationship manager (BRM) role. The role’s rationale is to provide strategic advice...
- Wissam Raffoul -
Running IT-as-a-Service Part 51: Service integration and management (SIAM) pragmatic implementation
Conclusion: The success of digital transformation, hybrid Cloud deployment and multi-service providers’ governance largely depends on IT services being integrated and managed in a unified and...
- Wissam Raffoul -
The impact of Software-as-a-Service on enterprise solutions: Why you must run IT-as-a-Service
Conclusion: Business executives in different business units are bypassing ICT with enterprise Software-as-a-Service. Two early leaders in this trend – marketing and human resources departments – are...
- Joseph Sweeney -
Running IT-as-a-Service Part 50: Hybrid Cloud migration – Where is the money saving?
Conclusion: External Cloud services can realise cost reduction up to 50 % p. a. and promise no set-up or exit fees. While the ongoing cost reduction is realistic, there are significant other costs related...
- Wissam Raffoul -
Running IT-as-a-Service Part 49: The case for hybrid Cloud migration
Conclusion: Public Cloud is not the solution to all IT organisations’ technology and services problems. This is because most IT organisations use a portfolio of environments such as legacy systems,...
- Wissam Raffoul
Security Leadership
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Improve security posture without buying the latest product du jour
Conclusion: Given the reality of shrinking budgets, organisations can struggle deciding what new products to purchase or techniques to implement. They hope the new capabilities will enhance their...
- Peter Sandilands -
Microsegmentation: Improving IT security
Conclusion: Recently, several architectural models and tools have become available to enable the microsegmentation of networks, which helps improve overall security within organisations and can help limit the...
- Peter Hall -
Why the CISO should evolve into a CSO
Conclusion: Over the past decade, the role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has risen to be one of great importance in many large and mid-sized organisations. While this remains the...
- Claire Pales -
What is the security agenda for 2019?
Conclusion: Throughout the year, most businesses invite in a third party to conduct an information security risk assessment – as per best practice. Often this is a compliance exercise, other times...
- Claire Pales -
The security of third-party access
Conclusion: Relying on third parties to succeed in business has become the norm. Cost limitations and workforce requirements mean that businesses need to find efficient ways to achieve their goals. This...
- Claire Pales
Governance & Planning
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Digital ethics: Doing the right thing when nobody (or everybody) is looking
Conclusion: Business ethics is not a new topic. It is as old as business itself and many of the issues and questions posed during ethical considerations are just as old. Digital ethics takes a fresh...
- Ewan Perrin -
For job security, get the house in order before an IT audit
Conclusion: IT auditors typically consult with, and report their findings to, the board’s Audit and Risk Committee. Their POW (program of work) or activities upon which they will focus may or may...
- Alan Hansell -
PMO: 3 key organisation challenges to support
Conclusion: Organisations understand that implementing projects is part of the natural workflow. Delivering projects that meet organisational expectations is expected and demanded. Project...
- Sue Johnston -
Enterprise architecture frameworks Part 2: Creating a complete and contemporary solution
Conclusion: Enterprise architecture (EA) framework standards, such as the Zachman Framework or The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), are often promoted by advocates as complete solutions for...
- Sam Higgins -
Turning data analysis from an art to a science
Conclusion: Increasing competition where thin profit margins are the norm forces management to analyse business data more intently to identify ways to increase revenue and/or reduce operating costs....
- Alan Hansell
Infrastructure
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Asset management maturity model: Are the processes a living part of your organisation?
Conclusion: Asset management can be described as ‘the life cycle management of physical assets to achieve the stated outputs of the enterprise’. To achieve the appropriate level of asset...
- Mark Unwin -
ICT health check: Win-win for ICT and business
Conclusion: ICT health checks enable organisations to better understand risks and prioritise activities to both maintain and improve the performance and reliability of ICT in support of business...
- Mike Mitchelmore -
Telecommunications capability: Not the way we have always done it
Conclusion: Telecommunications services and the supporting infrastructure have historically been complex, costly and difficult to change. The modern technology landscape now allows for greater...
- Mike Mitchelmore -
PROTECTED Cloud: Cyber considerations
Conclusion: The Agency Head/CEO is responsible to accredit the ICT system for use at the PROTECTED level. The accreditation process is specific to the services being delivered for the organisation....
- Mike Mitchelmore -
ICT monitoring strategy: First principles
Conclusion: What to monitor and how you respond to the data is often poorly documented and not fully understood until after a failure occurs. In this world of “no surprises”, effective monitoring is a key...
- Mike Mitchelmore
Applications
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5G potential to deliver economic upsides
Conclusion: The three largest service providers in Australia for mobile phone services, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, have all committed to providing 5G networks. 2019 has seen the introduction of 5G...
- Peter Hall -
CIOs seek ready-made over DIY AI solutions
Conclusion: Despite market hype around the role of data scientists and in-house developers for the successful exploitation of artificial intelligence (AI), organisations are increasingly looking to their...
- Sam Higgins -
A case for applying practical evaluation approaches in an evolving Software-as-a-Service world
Conclusion: With Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployments the fastest growing and most deployed Cloud service globally, particular attention should be given to evaluation and selection approaches that...
- Michael Smit -
Modern CRM Part 4: Specifications and requirements template
This document provides a template of specifications and requirements for a modern CRM, categorised by several key areas
- Joseph Sweeney
Nearables, location and proximity beacons
Conclusion: The ubiquitous availability of smartphone and wearable technology has opened up opportunities for a wide range of new applications that take advantage of knowing the location and...
- Peter Hall
Sourcing & Staffing
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Sourcing Monthly June 2019 – July 2019
Conclusion: This month, attention has been drawn to vendors and managed service providers requiring customer transformation or migration to new frameworks and associated customer reluctance to do...
- Irene Pimentel -
Sourcing Monthly May 2019 – June 2019
Conclusion: This month, the high activity in mergers and acquisitions has continued. However, there has been additional discussion on the impact of these acquisitions on the industry in general, as well as...
- Irene Pimentel -
Work for managers that hire you
Conclusion: Relationships at work between managers and employees are important and can influence the success and effectiveness of individual teams or whole organisations. Both managers and employees need...
- Peter Hall -
New tricks: Training – or retraining – creativity
Conclusion: The IT skills shortage is likely to worsen. In addition to technical skills, technology leaders and workers overwhelmingly recognise the value of creativity in the workplace, yet they...
- Ewan Perrin -
Effective communication is a combat multiplier for business
Conclusion: Successful businesses need their people to be productive and to perform well. Effective communication may assist i.e.suring they do. Effective communication is about thought leadership,...
- Mike Mitchelmore
Operations & Service Delivery
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ICT disaster recovery plan challenges
Conclusion: ICT disaster recovery plans (DRPs) have been in place for many years. Fortunately, invoking these plans is rare, but just like insurance plans, it is wise to ensure the fine print is...
- Peter Bickerton -
Incident response planning: More than dealing with cyber security breaches and outages
Conclusion: In times of business disruption, the value of a pragmatic and accessible incident response plan (IRP) will become the main tool in getting the business back to normal operation, and...
- Peter Bickerton -
Testing your business continuity plan
Conclusion: Regular testing of the business continuity plan (BCP) has many benefits which go beyond ticking the mandatory compliance box to keep audit off the back of executives. Effective testing...
- Peter Bickerton -
Challenges when conducting business impact analysis
Conclusion: Conducting effective business impact analysis details the business functions and provides further insight into the relative importance of each function and its criticality. The...
- Peter Bickerton -
The IT Data Analyst: A crucial role and function for delivering IT-as-a-Service
Conclusion: The IT organisation in most enterprises suffers from the “Cobbler’s Children” syndrome – they give great advice but do not practise what they preach. A prime example is when IT does not apply...
- Sam Higgins
