Best Practices In Business Technology Management

Despite the exponential growth of computing and communications technology, the inertia of old business technology management practices still drives most investment decisions in this area. Companies spend too much money on new technology, while their business models and processes underutilize the resources they already have. Written in a compelling, conversational manner, Best Practices in Business Technology Management advises those who buy, install, and support all types of computing and communications technology, empowering them to optimize their systems in new and innovative ways. Divided into six chapters, the book provides insight into the field, discussing decision-making, trends, alignment, optimization, processes, timing, and other areas. It includes practical hands-on advice that explores organization, the challenges of working with people, acquisition and measurement of technology, operational effectiveness, and strategic effectiveness. The best practices presented are not theoretical or untested. Rather, they are the result of trench warfare and real applications. The insights contained in this volume represent what successful companies have done—and continue to do—to optimize the business technology relationship. A nationally-known business technology veteran, author Stephen J. Andriole has developed a perspective on the optimization of computing and communications technology based on years of experience from government, industry, academia, and the venture capital business. In this book, he demonstrates how those who buy and deploy technology can optimize their technology in a way that saves costs and provides maximum performance.

Describes the principles and methodologies for crafting and executing a successful business-aligned IT strategy to provide businesses with value delivery.

Offers access to www.technologybestpractices.com web site containing sample planning templates, contingency plans, policies, annual inventory worksheet, and Help Desk. Includes strategic technology planning, and managing and training techniques Shows how to apply technology tools to improve business.

Gives you an enterprise-wide view of technology to help you manage your business as a system: optimize investments in technology; achieve efficient business integration; and monitor and measure TM effectiveness. Detailed case studies illustrate the TM efforts of such organizations as Motorola and Digital Equipment.

* Presents assessment methods for organization and management processes. * Provides special tools and techniques for managing and organizing R&D, new product, and project-oriented challenges. * Includes real-world case studies.

This substantially enriched second edition of the book includes evolution of IT applications in business over last five decades, to enable readers in understanding how IT offers newer solutions to modern business. It also discusses the knowledge management systems, various e-business models including e-marketing, Internet architecture and business technology management (BTM), where the focus is on strategic exploitation of IT. The unique arrangement of the contents in the book exposes the readers from the basics of IT (hardware, software and data) to all potential IT applications viz., data and transaction processing, MIS and EIS, business integration, CRM, business intelligence, decisions support systems, data warehouse and data mining, which bring tactical and strategic benefits to business. How technology benefits business, is the core of this book. The book also explains generic contributions of IT to business, enormity of business processes and management functions, what the business expects from the technology, systems audit and controls and software engineering and various techniques which lead to reliable, accurate, and secured deployment of IT applications in business. The text is highly practice oriented and is illustrated with a number of real-life examples and case studies. How IT resources are to be acquired and managed, are also discussed, in great detail. The book is designed for the postgraduate students pursuing business management and computer applications. Besides, the managers in all business verticals and functions will also find this book of immense use to them.

Engineered in Japan presents a unique and comprehensive examination of technology management in the most successful Japanese companies: unique in that all chapters go beyond superficial descriptions of stylized practices to look in depth at particular issues, often contradicting or qualifying the conventional wisdom; comprehensive in that it covers the entire technology life cycle from basic R&D, to development engineering, to manufacturing processes, to learning from the Japanese. Each chapter is based on original research by noted scholars in the field, and identifies technology management practices that have become a major source of competitive advantage for highly successful Japanese companies. Engineered in Japan documents the best practices from such companies as Toyota, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Nippondenso, and discusses how these technology management practices can be usefully adopted in other cultural contexts. Going beyond past observations, the authors all delve below the surface of Japanese management approaches. They look more closely than has been done before at how particular methods are applied, and they identify some new practices that have not yet been highlighted in books on Japanese methods. Presenting recent data that contradict some conventional thinking about U.S.-Japanese differences, they look at old techniques from a new perspective. "U.S. managers can perhaps learn more from the process of creation in Japan and the organizational structures that support innovation," say the editors in their introduction, "than from the particular approaches, tools, and technologies created." A running theme throughout the book is that Japanese managers and engineers tend to think in terms of systems, focusing not just on the parts but on the connections between them. Engineered in Japan is must reading for technology managers and engineers, along with anyone interested in Japanese business, engineering, and management.

The force-multiplying power of business-technology alignment is acknowledged among the biggest contributors to enterprise success in the digital age. Even so, it is a missed opportunity in most organizations, or at best, restricted to a unidimensional coalition. Successful digital enterprises define alignment between business and technology along multiple dimensions. They invest in this alignment at the level of their culture, strategy, structure, process, intellect (innovation), function, and tactics. A systematic understanding and embracement of these seven dimensions of business technology alignment is at the core of a successful digital enterprise. Using familiar workplace paradigms and relatable examples, this book builds on each dimension of business-technology alignment towards strengthening the foundation on which a successful digital enterprise stands, using tricks and tips not found in textbooks and classrooms. If you are, or aspire to be, in an organization that relies on a convergence of business and technology to achieve success, this book is meant for you. It builds upon fundamental ideas in a manner designed to strike a chord in everyone—from interns to entrepreneurs.