Leveraging The New Infrastructure

Imagine thinking about your company's information technology in the same way that you think about its investment portfolio: as a bundle of assets that—when managed right—will generate revenues and savings. Here's just such a framework for leveraging IT (technology, networks, data, and software)—one that enables business managers to make the important decisions about the potentially confounding mix of high-technology that influences near- and long-term planning, affects the ability to support customers, and dictates the flow of daily operations. Drawing upon their rigorous research with more than 100 top multinationals, the authors present a rich and varied range of examples of IT investment strategies that have reaped rewards for firms such as Citibank, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Ralston Purina, the Development Bank of Singapore, and Telstra. This hands-on resource, compete with benchmarks and case studies, creates the common ground where both management and IT can meet, communicate their goals, and agree on the best plan for getting there.

One of the most important investments in an organization is its information technology (IT) infrastructure. Yet many managers are ill-prepared to make sound IT investment decisions. Drawing upon rigorous research with over 100 businesses in 75 firms in nine countries, the authors here present a wide range of IT possibilities, enabling managers to take control of decisions that many have relegated to technical staff or vendors.

The design, construction, and upkeep of infrastructure is comprised of a multitude of dimensions spanning a highly complex paradigm of interconnected opportunities and challenges. While traditional methods fall short of adequately accounting for such complexity, artificial intelligence (AI) presents novel and out-of-the-box solutions that effectively tackle the growing demands of our infrastructure. The convergence between AI and civil engineering is an emerging frontier with tremendous potential. The book is likely to provide a boost to the state of infrastructure engineering by fostering a new look at civil engineering that capitalizes on AI as its main driver. It highlights the ongoing push to adopt and leverage AI to realize contemporary, intelligent, safe, and resilient infrastructure. The book comprises interdisciplinary and novel works from across the globe. It presents findings from innovative efforts supplemented with physical tests, numerical simulations, and case studies – all of which can be used as benchmarks to carry out future experiments and/or facilitate the development of future AI models in structural engineering, traffic engineering, construction engineering, and construction materials. The book will serve as a guide for a wide range of audiences, including senior undergraduate and graduate students, professionals, and government officials of civil, traffic, and computer engineering backgrounds, as well as for those engaged in urban planning and human sciences.

As information technology becomes increasingly essential within organizations, the reputation and role of the CIO has been diminishing To regain credibility and avoid obscurity, CIOs must take on a larger, more strategic role. Here is a blueprint for doing exactly that. This book shows how CIOs can bridge the gap between IT and the rest of the organization and finally make IT a strategic advantage rather than a cost sink.

This book presents emerging technology management approaches and applied cases from leading infrastructure sectors such as energy, healthcare, transportation and education. Featuring timely topics such as fracking technology, electric cars, Google’s eco-friendly mobile technology and Amazon Prime Air, the volume’s contributions explore the current management challenges that have resulted from the development of new technologies, and present tools, applications and frameworks that can be utilized to overcome these challenges. Emerging technologies make us rethink how our infrastructure will look in the future. Solar and wind generation, for example, have already changed the dynamics of the power sector. While they have helped to reduce the use of fossil fuels, they have created management complications due to their intermittent natures. Meanwhile, information technologies have changed how we manage healthcare, making it safer and more accessible, but not without implications for cost and administration. Autonomous cars are around the corner. On-line education is no longer a myth but still a largely unfulfilled opportunity. Digitization of car ownership is achievable thanks to emerging business models leveraging new communication technologies. The major challenge is how to evaluate the relative costs and benefits of these technologies. This book offers insights from both researchers and industry practitioners to address this challenge and anticipate the impact of new technologies on infrastructure now and in the future.

Firms with superior IT governance have more than 25% higher profits than firms with poor governance given the same strategic objectives. These top performers have custom designed IT governance for their strategies. Just as corporate governance aims to ensure quality decisions about all corporate assets, IT governance links IT decisions with company objectives and monitors performance and accountability. Based on a study of 250 enterprises worldwide, IT Governance shows how to design and implement a system of decision rights that will transform IT from an expense to a profitable investment.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Electronic Commerce and Web Technologies, EC-Web 2007, held in Regensburg, Germany, September 2007 in conjunction with Dexa 2007. It covers recommender systems, business process / design aspects, mobile commerce, security and e-payment, Web services computing / semantic Web, e-negotiation and agent mediated systems, and issues in Web advertising.

For trainers free additional material of this book is available. This can be found under the "Training Material" tab. Log in with your trainer account to access the material.The BRMP® Guide to the BRM Body of Knowledge is designed to assist the Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) training course attendees and certification exam candidates, but it will also be of great value to anyone looking for a comprehensive foundation-level overview of the art and practice of Business Relationship Management. The book covers the entire BRMP® course syllabus and contains all the information covered in the training and referenced in the exam.What is BRMP®?Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) training is a world-class professional development program designed to provide a solid foundation-level knowledge of Business Relationship Management. The BRMP® exam is designed to test an individual s learning through rigorous examination providing a leading verifiable benchmark of BRM professional acumen and achievement. To learn more about BRMP® training and certification, please visit http://brminstitute.org/.Who Is It For?Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) training and certification program is intended as a comprehensive foundation for Business Relationship Managers at every experience level, with the training and certification designed to provide a solid baseline level of knowledge. BRMP® professional development program provides an excellent Return on Investment (ROI) and is ideally suited for project managers, business analysts, architects, external service providers; representatives of shared services organizations including IT, HR, Finance, Sales, Strategy Planning, etc.; business partners and anyone else interested in business value maximization.Benefits for Individuals and OrganizationsHolders of BRMI Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®) credentials will be able to demonstrate their understanding of: The characteristics of the BRM role. What it means to perform as a strategic partner, contributing to business strategy formulation and shaping business demand for the service provider s services. The use of Portfolio Management disciplines and techniques to maximize realized business value. Business Transition Management and the conditions for successful change programs to minimize value leakage. The BRM role in Service Management and alignment of services and service levels with business needs. The principles of effective and persuasive communication.