From the category archives:

IT Strategy

Enterprise analysis is a key component of building an information technology strategy to meet current and future business needs.

Vendor selection best practices: Interview with Susan Penny Brown

September 24, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Susan Penny Brown is a thirty-year veteran of the software industry, with expertise in IT strategy and complex enterprise applications. She spent the first 20 years of her career in high-profile Silicon Valley firms, both highly successful and abysmal failures. Susan established Interim Technical Management, Inc. in 1998 when she relocated to the Denver area. [...]

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What’s a business analyst’s role in IT strategy? [guest post]

April 29, 2009 by Lisa Breytspraak

One of the topics Laura and I have discussed over the last few months is how business analysts can and should be involved in IT strategic planning. So when Laura asked me to guest post on her blog, I thought this would be a great first topic.
(Note from Laura: Read my thoughts on the [...]

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New approaches to software projects as social media and new marketing transform organizations

April 13, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

As social media outlets such as Twitter have recently hit mainstream, a lot of attention has been given to using these new marketing channels for staying informed or finding new ways to send messages to people.  But social media is much more powerful than most of what we’re hearing–it enables conversations with new people in [...]

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Align your business with goals: a Business Architecture approach (webinar)

April 3, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

An upcoming April 10 webinar about aliging business and IT through business architecture.  Learn about Object Edge’s business architecture methodology and pick up some insight into this latest “hot topic” in “BA” circles.
Business architecture should get you thinking outside the project and about the larger goals of your organization and how they are supported through [...]

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Using free software and services to scale a business

March 5, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

It’s no secret that a plethora of free tools and services exist to help you do anything from publish a blog to publish video to manage your email and calendar to doing all kinds of traditional administrative tasks like word processing and spreadsheet management.  But what I learned this past weekend is that it’s possible [...]

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Building momentum to implement a new technology strategy

March 2, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

I’ve begun to question the whiz bang method with which most new IT strategies are laid out. Surely, we’ve spent time understanding the business needs and developing an ideal future architecture, but when it comes time to communicate this with the business team (who needs to buy-in and possibly fund it) and the technology team [...]

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Are you fully leveraging your current technologies?

February 11, 2009 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Taking the time to conduct a complete assessment of your organization’s technology-driven capabilities can be a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. However, not expending the time or effort sets you up to miss potential opportunities to create more value from your technologies.
Here are some possible outcomes delivered when the assessment is coupled with other efforts:

Make an [...]

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How to establish a framework for taking smart risks (book review)

November 17, 2008 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Do you engage with risk easily or take the wrong risks and find yourself getting burned?  Or, do you avoid risks and watch others reap your successes? Successful people pursue smart risks.  Successful people evaluate risks based on logic and timing, but ultimately trust their gut to guide them in big decisions. A solid framework [...]

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Dealing with legacy systems

October 23, 2008 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Most people in IT have dealt with this situation. For any number of reasons, the software application you are responsible for is held together with the virtual equivalent of duct-tape.  Maybe the person who built the system is long gone.  Maybe you built the system but for a completely different purpose than it’s now serving.  [...]

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5 questions to ask before starting any technology project

October 20, 2008 by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Many times we are so excited to implement a new idea or solve a recently elevated business problem that we forget to stop for a moment and reflect on the direction we are taking.  I know you’ve been there.  The pieces of the puzzle finally fit together and you know exactly how to move forward.  [...]

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