The Bloor Perspective: CIO tactics, Hi-Fi using Wi-Fi and free software

Although it has got no worse in recent years, the average CIO tenure remains between 18 and 36 months while, according to Computerworld, the average tenure of a CFO is closer to five years. Although not all CIOs leave because they are sacked they all face the daunting challenges of:

- Managing the increasing influence that business departments have on IT plans and IT budgets
- Delivering programmes of change focused on business results rather than IT projects that are a leap of faith
- Aligning the objectives of the IT department with the often poorly articulated needs of the business.

The strategies adopted by a CIO are not always helpful to their cause. There is, for example:

- The Cost Cutter: A strong-minded CIO who is prepared to bully his IT department into working on a shoestring. The result is chronic under-investment that delivers short-term savings but at a price of a long-term loss of ability to support the business.

- The Egotist: A champion of his or her department above the concerns of the organisation - taking pride in the size of their budget, the number of their staff and the size of the infrastructure investments. This strategy works for a while as long as big vendors and big consultancies support it but eventually the board questions the value for money that it delivers.

- The Beaten Dog: This CIO has been bullied into submission by the business. He has the thankless task of trying to square the circle of uncontrolled user demand and stringent budget limitations and ends by pleasing no one.

CIOs need to get the rest of their organisation on their side by making them part of the solution not part of the problem. This can only be done if the CIO shares relevant and meaningful information about plans and their progress with the business. An IT governance process provides such an opportunity for the CIO to 'raise the veil' or 'open the kimono' by presenting the investment options clearly in terms of the cost, risk, business benefits and contribution to business goals.

IT governance is a key concern today, yet vendors of IT governance software tell Bloor Research that their IT customers are strangely reluctant to expose their plans to the business - perhaps feeling they are giving a hostage to fortune. They feel that sharing information and progress exposes the department to uniformed criticism and reduces the IT department's freedom to act.

If the IT department presents plans that are understandable and relevant to the business they will have greater success in getting agreements and of maintaining commitment and support.

There are many ways to accomplish this. Graphs can be used to plot and monitor ROI versus risk for each project or programme, strategy maps can be used to show how each initiative contributes to the business objectives, and benefit realisation chains can show how each project contributes to cost savings and improved business performance.

This information is produced by an effective IT project portfolio management process. Experience shows that this effort benefits both the organisation and the career of the CIO.

*Hi-Fi over your Wi-Fi*

It didn't seem that long ago that those running DIY home renovation projects would take the re-plastering as an opportunity to run speaker cable and then category 5 networking cable from room to room. Those days could be long gone - wireless data networks in the home are enjoying significant growth, and now it's really beginning to move from just email and web browsing to encompass audio and video.

However, unlike the broadcast media of TV and radio which are becoming more digital in the reception stage, home entertainment networks bridge the digital supply from the PC and internet to the analogue home stereo and TV. They also only broadcast over a short range and hopefully only to those devices within the homeowner's network.

The latest products from Linksys, the consumer and small office/home office division of Cisco, are aimed directly at this crossover point.

The DVD Player connects directly to a TV via standard composite or S-Video links and then makes a fast wireless link using 802.11g to the home PC. The wireless link allows content stored on the PC or accessed from the internet to be played back on the TV.

The second approach provides a similar capability but only for audio. The Wireless-B Media Link for Music is based on the 802.11b standard and uses this to receive digital audio files. It then converts them to playback through a stereo system or optional speakers. Again these could be stored on a PC or streamed through using the PC to access the internet.

Using the PC as a wireless home media server? Wi-Fi yes but is it hi-fi? Unlikely but that's not the point.

The flexibility of ad hoc media connectivity without wires is appealing for audio, especially for difficult to reach places. However, don't expect ultimate fidelity. While the MP3 format is more than adequate for most casual music listening, much internet radio is still poor quality.

Will these media systems appeal to those who already have home Wi-Fi for browser and email access on the sofa? Undoubtedly. Although as this writer sits on a sofa only metres from the access point with the network levels fluctuating for some unknown reason he wonders how much he will be willing to lower the fidelity bar. Still, when content is destined to be seen and heard all around the home, wireless media devices make this simpler to achieve without resorting to a chisel.

*GPL - a licence to print lawsuits?*

As financial opportunities develop so follows 'the legal gravy train'. If there is money in it, it is worth litigating. So too it seems to be the case with free software. Free software has moved from the world of 'the anarchist' to the commercial world. Litigation has raised its head at the same time as some members of the venture capital community are rushing to invest in open source software. Some do this as a means of creating large software companies without having to invest in armies of computer programmers and others as a means of delivering middleware.

Historically, free software has been bought and sold by companies with the payment consideration being for additional services such as training and linked proprietary software. Now, free software being distributed under what is termed a General Public Licence (GPL) has emerged from the closet. As this is an attractive commercial proposition corporations will have to review the risks of infringing intellectual property rights.

It is contended that under GPL 'free software code' may be passed on through improvement and enhancement to anyone but that the transfer is made under the original 'free terms' of the GPL, namely that it is transferred "unfettered " by any intellectual property rights (IPR) derived from improvements and enhancements.

Others would argue that the principles of IPR override any such form of licence. Unfortunately, there are commercial and legal risks in its use. There is no certainty of consistent and clear outcomes for corporations to determine the risks with a strong degree or certainty. This will unfortunately - but undoubtedly - inhibit continuing growth and more extensive use of 'free software'.