The Next Leap in Productivity E-Book

Adam Kolawa

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 180

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

How much should top management really care about IT? That'sthe question Adam Kolawa bluntly poses in this feisty andcompelling book. "The Next Leap in Productivity" goesfar beyond traditional business books written for the CIOcommunity. It tackles crucial issues such as productivity,efficiency and quality management. It makes the case for applyingthe principles of Deming and Juran to software development. Then ittakes a "leap," arguing that huge potential increasesin IT productivity can lead to enormous increases in enterpriseproductivity. In this sense, "The Next Leap inProductivity" is a truly visionary book. Software vendors and CIOs who read this book will discover asoftware development process that is transparent, practical andefficient. Non-technical C-level executives (CEOs, CFOs, COOs,etc.) will discover a blueprint for improving corporateproductivity and dramatically reducing operating costs. For the past decade, CIOs have been urged, coaxed, counseled andexhorted to act more like CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other C-levelexecutives. This book suggests that it's time for CEOs, CFOs,COOs and other C-level executives to start acting more like CIOs."The Next Leap in Productivity" will appeal to anyoneinvolved in buying, selling, developing or using IT. Advance Praise for "The Next Leap inProductivity" "Adam's book is a challenge to all the top managerswho've stopped caring about IT. His message is simple: If youreally care about IT, you find ways to make IT more productive. Theimprovements you achieve in IT productivity can then be leveragedinto huge leaps in productivity at the enterprise level. This bookoffers a roadmap for translating IT productivity into businessprofit. Adam's argument is worth reading and worthconsidering as you formulate your IT strategies and plan your ITbudgets."--Gary Beach, Publisher Emeritus, CIOmagazine "Adam lays the groundwork for a common language that canbe used to bridge the chasms between IT and other essentialcomponents of the business such as finance, product development,sales, marketing, distribution and customer service. Everyone whoreads this book will learn valuable lessons that can be leveragedto improve returns on human capital investments at every level ofthe organization. Adam's concepts have the potential to boostlevels of confidence and performance throughout theenterprise."-- Michael Minelli, Co-author, Partnering withthe CIO "These kinds of productivity principles are not meretheory. When we put these same principles into effect, ourproductivity went up more than we had thought possible. And ouremployee morale went up, too. It became easier to write code theright way and harder to make stupid mistakes. This new way ofcreating software makes it possible for us to concentrate on whatwe really want to do here at Cisco, which is to improve theInternet for everybody."-- Andy Chessin, Senior TechnicalLead, Cisco, Inc.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Don’t Get Too Comfortable with the Idea that IT Is Just a Commodity

Introduction

A Blueprint for Improving Corporate Productivity

PREFACE

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 - Success Depends on Innovation and Innovation Depends on ...

Another Day at the Racetrack

Winning the Race with Two Leaps in Productivity

Meeting in the Middle

A True Story—Mostly

Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk

Beyond the Numbers

So What Exactly Do I Do?

Productivity Trumps Quality—and for Good Reason!

Exactly What Kind of Ware Are We Talking About?

Disposable Software

Only a Fool . . .

True IT Productivity

Plunging into Crisis

Managing Creativity in the Real World

Superconductivity as Metaphor

Last but Certainly Not Least: Sarbanes-Oxley

Chapter 2 - Who Is Driving Your IT Strategy?

From Black Box to Runaway Train

Managing IT versus Understanding IT

Why IT Matters

The Right Questions

Prioritizing IT

When IT Is the Business

Never a Dull Moment

Participate in Writing the Business Requirements

It Is Your Turn to Drive

Leadership from Above

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate . . .

Chapter 3 - Read My Lips: IT Is an Asset

If You Are Not an Asset, You Are a Liability

It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

A New Partnership

Great Expectations

When IT Is a Business Channel

Chapter4 - Achieving a Quantum Leap in Developer Productivity

Essential Software Concepts for Top Managers

Quest for “Disposable Software”

To Improve Quality, Focus on Productivity

Do Not Change a Flat Tire with an Arc Welder

What Is Productivity?

It Is All in Your Heads

You Cannot Improve What You Do Not Understand

Crucial Methodology

The Right Way and the Wrong Way to Measure Quality

Deming Revolution Finally Comes to Software

“Production Line” Software

Deming versus U.S. Automakers

Deming’s Error Prevention Concept

An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth 16 Tons of Cure

A Jumble of Nuts and Bolts

Find the Cause at the Root

A Tragic Example

Pay Me Now, or Pay Me a Lot More Later

Role of Top Management

The Test Suite Is Part of the Product

Automate, Automate, Automate

Insist on Standards

Which Kind of CEO Do You Want to Be?

Improve Quality by Improving Productivity

People Matter

What Kind of Productivity Improvements Are We Talking About?

Six Principles of ADP

The Real Payoff—Moving from Developer Leap to Enterprise Leap

Chapter 5 - The SOA Imperative

The Internet Changes Everything

SOA Is the New Lingua Franca

To Gain Control You Must Give Up Control

What Is “an Architecture,” and Why Should I Care?

Finally, We Are Talking to Each Other

SOA: Services, Not Programs

An Example: Shipping ‘R’ Us

SOA Is a Business Tool, Not Just an IT Tool

Getting the Most from Your Assets

The Real Payoff of SOA: Business Process Engineering

Governance and Evolution

SOA Means Openness

Managing Risk and Security

Getting Ready to Put It All Together

Chapter 6 - Achieving a Quantum Leap in Enterprise Productivity

Unleashing the Power of Productivity Is Your Job

The Unexpected Gift of Sarbanes-Oxley

Fundamental Paradox of IT Process Improvement

The New World Is More Complicated than the Old World

This Is Not Deadwood

What Does the Enterprise Leap in Productivity Look Like?

Tasks and Decision Points

What Should You Look for in a CIO?

An Infrastructure of Constant Creativity and Innovation

AFTERWORD

RECOMMENDED READING

GLOSSARY

NOTES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INDEX

Copyright © 2009 by Adam Kolawa. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kolawa, Adam.

The next leap in productivity : what top managers really need to know about information technology / Adam Kolawa. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-44907-3

1. Information technology—Management I. Title.

HD30.2.K654 2009

004.068—dc22

2008040309

This book is dedicated to the employees of Parasoft. Thank you for all of your hard work and good ideas.

—Adam Kolawa

FOREWORD

Don’t Get Too Comfortable with the Idea that IT Is Just a Commodity

By Gary Beach

Publisher Emeritus of CIO Magazine

How much should top management really care about information technology (IT)? That’s the question Adam bluntly poses in this feisty and compelling book. Most of the chief executive officers (CEOs) I’ve met, and lots of chief information officers (CIOs), too, say they really care only about business results. They’ve grown comfortable saying stuff like, “IT is just a utility. It’s a fact of life, like air conditioning and running water.”

There was a time when I would have agreed wholeheartedly. I would have joined the chorus singing, “IT is a commodity, just like electricity.” But I’m less certain now. And I get uneasy when I hear people telling me over and over that nothing counts except “results.”

Here’s why it makes me itch when people talk about how little they care about IT and how much they care about results: You can’t achieve the results you want without IT.

Sure, there are parts of IT that have been commoditized. But there are broad, sweeping swathes of IT that still represent purely creative and incredibly valuable intellectual capital that’s been captured and painstakingly translated into software code.

There are plenty of companies out there competing on the basis of their IT superiority, or at the very least on the basis of their IT competency. That’s a fact.

So I think the simple answer to Adam’s question is this: Top management should care about IT because superior IT is a competitive advantage in a networked global economy.

The more complex answer is that top managers need to learn more about IT so they can make absolutely certain that the CIO receives the support and funding that he or she needs to run a superior IT shop.

After all, if you believe there is a connection between superior IT and superior business results, then supporting your local CIO is clearly a business imperative, right?

Adam’s book is a challenge to all the top managers who’ve stopped caring about IT. His message is simple: If you really care about your business, you find ways to make IT more productive. The improvements you achieve in IT productivity can then be leveraged into huge leaps in productivity at the enterprise level.

This book offers a road map for translating IT productivity into business profit. Adam’s argument is worth reading and worth considering as you formulate your IT strategies and plan your IT budgets.