On a recent Gartner webinar, research analyst Teresa Jones explained how the PPM solution market now offers dozens of effective tools to replace the ubiquitous spreadsheet.In 1979, spreadsheets changed the world. VisiCalc (for “visible calculator”) was the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II. According to Wikipedia, it’s often considered the application that turned...

It’s not easy to be an IT department in 2016, but is bimodal IT the answer? That depends on who you ask.Just when enterprises were starting to figure out their IT infrastructures, along came a slew of connected digital technologies including cloud and mobile computing, big data, and agile development. Before, it was acceptable for constituents to wait a long time for IT to solve a problem. Suddenly, it wasn’t – and IT began...

Does a human or robot virtual assistant (VA) make knowledge work easier?Human virtual assistance has been a booming business for almost a decade, and now, with the wide launch of Amazon Echo, you can have a robot as well. However, just because technology grows ever more sophisticated doesn’t mean our lives as knowledge workers are getting any easier. We will have a variety of needs that aren’t being met with existing proces...

Brand strategist Scott James of publishing firm Greenleaf Book Group knows something about making a name for yourself in a field where everyone is smart and at the top of their game. He’s come up with the four questions that separate experts from pretenders.Scott James believes there’s a clear line between experts who have built a platform and brand around their expertise and experts who are great at their work but haven’t...

At the recent Gartner Catalyst Conference in San Diego, PGi’s John Perkins talked about strength of the collaboration movement in the IT industry. As CIO reported, collaboration trends are breaking down IT silos and promoting responsive communication and agile development. Thanks to its newfound flexibility, IT is executing faster than ever. The following are six positive collaboration trends Perkins shared.Organization-Wid...

The latest report from Spiceworks outlines what's happening in IT this year. The study of 800+ worldwide IT pros, which we started covering last year, explores budgetary concerns, technology trends, and the general state of the IT industry.First and most importantly, IT budgets are barely budging. CIOs’ global planned spending is expected to increase by only about $2,000 year over year, and North American IT departments wil...

If your company is experiencing these developments, you may need to protect your job.In a recent CIO Magazine article, Moira Alexander of Conture Business Advisors points out that an in-house PMO isn’t a foregone conclusion. Depending on your industry, type or size of business, and the specifics of your organization, your CIO might consider outsourcing the project management function to be a sensible move. What are some of...

To business futurist Brian Solis, capturing an audience’s heart, mind, and spirit is mandatory.I had the pleasure of speaking with Brian Solis, principal analyst at the Altimeter Group, who has written a book that’s not really a book. X: Where Business Meets Design looks more like a sexy app than a business how-do, but it still does a great job explaining why customer experience, more than any other business priority, defin...

Yesterday I traveled to the Gil Hatch Center for Customer Innovation in Rochester, NY to talk with my partner Xerox and visiting press and analysts about the future of work and office technology. Given that the office isn?t a necessary a physical location anymore, both software and hardware must be configured to be used effectively and efficiently by a growing virtual, mobile and contract workforce. Whether you are an enter...

The world of compensation is changing – with far reaching consequences.Two big pieces of salary-related news hit the Internet recently. Credit card processing company Gravity Payments’ CEO was forced to defend his decision to standardize all employee pay to $70K, and the SEC finalized a long-delayed rule forcing businesses to share their “pay ratio,” or how CEO pay compares with that of the average company worker. How might...