Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• The case for CIOs taking charge of Agile at scale

  Agile at scale is becoming a best practice for leading companies. Will the CIO be the CEO's proxy for driving scaled agility? Not without lobbying for the job.  Continue Reading

• 4 essential elements of Agile at scale

  Dave West, the CEO and product owner at Scrum.org, explains what is meant by the term 'Agile at scale,' how it can be applied in IT and the CIO's role in this new movement.  Continue Reading

• Why is diversity in tech becoming a CIO issue?

  CIOs need to take radical steps to increase the number of women and minorities in tech. Deloitte's Anjali Shaikh explains.  Continue Reading

• How can CIOs improve their IT mentorship programs?

  According to Deloitte's Anjali Shaikh, CIOs are no better than their C-suite peers at mentoring. An IT talent shortage demands CIOs do better. Here's how.  Continue Reading

• Change management is critical to optimizing a digital workforce

  In part two of his Ask the Expert discussion of working alongside chatbots, cobots and AI, IBM's Gene Chao focuses on the importance of change management.  Continue Reading

• Managing the automated workplace: Humans vs. chatbots vs. cobots

  Who's afraid of the automated workplace? IBM's Gene Chao answers questions on how chatbots, cobots and AI are impacting jobs and why hybrid labor requires new management skills.  Continue Reading

• IT vs. business: Who owns the machine learning capability?

  You can't have machine learning without help from IT, but the discipline is bigger than IT. Practitioners weigh in on who owns the machine learning capability.  Continue Reading

• What role does machine learning play in the threat hunting process?

  Fidelis Cybersecurity president and CEO Nick Lantuh discusses threat hunting best practices, including machine learning's role in corporate data protection.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of serverless computing?

  At the recent Gartner Symposium, analyst Arun Chandrasekaran highlighted the benefits of serverless computing and delineated the factors driving enterprise interest in serverless.  Continue Reading

• What's the difference between SLO vs. SLA?

  Often used interchangeably, the terms SLO and SLA are not the same. Find out the key attributes of each and why each is important for managing service providers.  Continue Reading

• What is embedded intelligence and how can CIOs prepare for it?

  Deloitte advises CIOs keep their eyes on a new application of AI. The consultancy calls it pervasive intelligence.  Continue Reading

• How can companies build a strategy for monetizing data?

  To extract value from data, most companies will face people, process and technology challenges. Matt Maccaux explains the ins and outs of monetizing data.  Continue Reading

• What should CIOs look for when choosing public cloud platforms?

  In this Ask the Expert, Lumentum SVP and CIO Ralph Loura highlights two key factors to consider when choosing among public cloud giants AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform.  Continue Reading

• How can enterprises benefit from automation in security?

  Tufin Technical Director Joe Schreiber highlights how automating security operations can benefit an organization and discusses best practices for effective implementation.  Continue Reading

• What tactics can organizations adopt to drive cloud security practices?

  In this Ask the Expert, Gartner's Marco Meinardi explains business factors driving cloud security practices and explains the role of the CIA triad in enterprise cloud security.  Continue Reading

• What steps can CIOs take to neutralize cloud shadow IT?

  In this Ask the Expert, Gartner's Marco Meinardi explains why denying access and applying too much intermediation are not effective in neutralizing cloud shadow IT projects.  Continue Reading

• ITSM vs DevOps: Are DevOps, Agile overshadowing ITSM frameworks?

  In this Ask the Expert, digital transformation expert IsaacSacolick shares his perspective on the impact that DevOps and Agile strategies have on ITSM practices.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of ITSM for fast-moving businesses?

  IT service management helps enable digitization, but CIOs will have to invest resources to develop an effective ITSM program. Here are six benefits of ITSM that help make the case.  Continue Reading

• How to use value stream mapping tools, CSI to improve business processes

  ITIL expert Gary Case lays out the leading methods for improving business processes. Learn how value stream mapping tools and CSI models can help.  Continue Reading

• How do machine learning algorithms differ from traditional algorithms?

  In this ask the expert, ParallelM CTO Nisha Talagala lays out the similarities and differences between traditional software engineering and machine learning.  Continue Reading

• Top 10: What IT service delivery challenges plague CIOs?

  ITIL expert Gary Case has consulted with a wide range of companies over a long career in ITSM. Read his list of the 10 IT service delivery challenges that continue to bedevil CIOs.  Continue Reading

• What 3 factors go into a winning service management strategy?

  Service management is not a one-off project. In this Ask the Expert, ITSM guru Charlie Miles explicates the three ingredients that separate success from failure.  Continue Reading

• Is consolidating ITSM tools in the best interest of CIOs?

  Gartner's Kenneth Gonzalez says ITSM software tools should be assessed against three metrics -- quality, cost and performance. That will require CIOs to do some major silo-busting.  Continue Reading

• How is cloud influencing the CDO role?

  Cloud investments create both opportunities and challenges for the rapidly evolving chief data officer role. Alation's Satyen Sangani shares his perspective here.  Continue Reading

• IT career skills: Does being a specialist make a difference?

  When it comes to developing IT skills, is it better to be the jack-of-all-trades or master of one? Airtel's Harmeen Mehta shares her perspective in this ATE.  Continue Reading

• An AI-machine learning data challenge: Predicting the unpredictable

  A difficult test for companies wanting to capitalize on huge amounts of data and emerging tech is getting it to fit what they can't see, says MIT's Iyad Rahwan.  Continue Reading

• How can companies protect against ransomware in the cloud?

  When it comes to ransomware attacks, cloud storage is not foolproof. CyberSight's Hyder Rabbani offers tips about how to address cloud ransomware threats.  Continue Reading

• What's the difference between chatbots and virtual assistants?

  Forrester's Thomas Husson gives his take on the difference between virtual assistants and chatbots. He says one is closer to a 'dynamic FAQ' and the other is a third-party aggregator.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for cloud security: Be cognizant of what's in the cloud

  In this Ask the Expert, Booz Allen Hamilton's Anil Markose offers the cloud security best practices organizations need to protect their cloud information.  Continue Reading

• What are the top RPA security risks and how do CIOs prevent them?

  RPA security risks often take a back seat to the technology's promise of costs savings and reliability. HfS Research's Saurabh Gupta and KPMG's Martin Sokalski set the record straight.  Continue Reading

• Cloud computing optimization: A CIO's perspective

  Optimizing cloud means having a solid strategy in place, evaluating the services in use and ensuring the business is served, according to CyrusOne CIO Blake Hankins.  Continue Reading

• How do attackers build and use phishing kits?

  With attackers looking to maximize their ROI, they are employing what is called a phishing kit to run scam campaigns. In this Ask the Expert, learn how such kits are built.  Continue Reading

• How can the CISO become a business enabler?

  For a cybersecurity program to be effective, CISOs must be viewed as business enablers. Kudelski Security's John Hellickson offers tips on how CISOs can make the transformation.  Continue Reading

• Is end user training essential to data loss prevention program success?

  Regulations like the GDPR promise to enforce stricter data protection rules. While a data loss prevention program can help, it requires end-user training to ease adoption.  Continue Reading

• What is 'ground truth' in AI and deep learning?

  'Ground truth' is the bedrock of AI and deep learning. Carnegie Mellon professor Tom Mitchell explains the term and its significance with an example from healthcare.  Continue Reading

• Tech vs. training: Where should business focus cybersecurity spending?

  As information security budgets grow, cybersecurity spending needs to be focused on employee-centric areas like training to be effective. ISSA's Candy Alexander explains why.  Continue Reading

• More potential attack vectors complicate wearable device security

  To ensure wearable device security, organizations can no longer get by with aged approaches, said Boeing's Brian Laughlin.  Continue Reading

• Ask the expert: Finding value in drones for business use

  The use of drones for business is gaining popularity, but the technology's value will vary widely across industries as use cases expand, according to Anil Nanduri of Intel.  Continue Reading

• What is the SIAM model and why do CIOs need it?

  Multisourcing can boost IT and business agility, but the approach can also spiral out of control. The SIAM model aims to ensure delivery is seamless and strategic.  Continue Reading

• How should CIOs prepare for systems of engagement?

  IDC predicts that by 2016, 65% of organizations' infrastructure investments will target systems of engagement and insight rather than maintaining existing systems of record.  Continue Reading

• Will IaaS offerings look radically different by 2016?

  In this Ask the Expert, IDC analyst Rick Villars explains why 75% of IaaS provider offerings will be redesigned or phased out over the next year.  Continue Reading

• How many companies have cloud architects?

  In this Ask the Expert, analysts James Staten of Forrester Research and Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner Inc. talk about how the majority of companies don't have a cloud architect, but should.  Continue Reading

• What specific skills should a successful cloud architect have?

  In this Ask the Expert, analysts Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner and James Staten of Forrester Research discuss the skills a successful cloud architect should possess. Turns out, the best candidate is a jack of all trades.  Continue Reading

• What is a cloud architect?

  In this Ask the Expert, analysts James Staten of Forrester Research and Kyle Hilgendorf of Gartner offer their job descriptions for the new role of cloud architect.  Continue Reading

• What should go into an SLA?

  What should go into a service-level agreement?  Continue Reading

• What's the difference between an outsourcing agreement and a service-level agreement?

  What's the difference between an outsourcing agreement and a service-level agreement? If they are different, what are the defining elements of each?  Continue Reading

• The importance of outsourcing

  What is the importance of outsourcing in today's world?  Continue Reading

• Methods for measuring effectiveness of interface

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• E-commerce vs. e-business: What is the difference?

  The difference between e-commerce and e-business  Continue Reading

• CyberCash or EFT?

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• Should the quality assurance team report to the CIO?

  Principles to follow for your QA team  Continue Reading

• Using benchmark data to estimate cost savings

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• What’s the top ERP solution for insurance companies?

  Looking for ERP solutions to meet the unique needs of an insurance company can be challenging, but you’ll find some ideas in this expert tip.  Continue Reading

• Outsourcing to Malaysia or Singapore?

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