Information Technology

Those who dismissed cloud computing a couple years ago as a passing fad are quickly learning that the cloud is here to stay. Just like Twitter and Facebook evolved from a college student “fad” to key marketing tools, cloud computing is a viable business solution. CIOs and CTOs who embrace the cloud and create a plan for their company’s transition to the cloud will provide a valuable asset to their company. Those who don't will soon fall behind and find themselves replaced by someone who knows how to incorporate the cloud.

It doesn't matter how much data you can store or process if your analysis isn't yielding valuable business insights. Yet it seems many businesses tend to put all of their time and resources into storing and maintaining their data rather than improving their analysis process. These are seven warning signs that you may have fallen into the data collection trap and are not gaining the insights that you need and want.

Acquia, a Drupal solutions provider, announced today that it has received a second Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Authorization to Operate (ATO) for federal customers using Acquia Cloud. FISMA compliance provides a path for government agencies to develop next-generation digital experiences with Drupal that incorporate the web, mobile and social communities. 

"The real problem we're up against is not technology, it's that management DNA in companies.... When you concentrate the responsibility for innovation at the top, you're holding your capacity to change hostage. It disempowers the little people."

- Gary Hamel, quoted by Lucas Mearian, The next corporate revolution will be power to the peons, Computerworld, June 4, 2013.

"The last thing you want your IT department to be is a joke because you waited too long to make changes. The easiest thing in the world to do is to play it safe, but it's probably not the best strategy for your professional development or the bottom line of your organization. You have to push new technologies that are going to propel your company forward or you risk being the IT equivalent of a company that waited too long to move to the next generation of technology."

- Ron Miller, "What your IT department could learn from Sony's disruption", CITEworld, May 17, 2013.

At the 2013 CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference I have the privilege of moderating a panel focused on the Cloud. That's actually a broad topic, but I think it's a topic that is increasingly becoming well understood by the CMS community. Last year, I moderated a similar panel and, in my opinion, we spent way too much time trying to define the Cloud.

I've been pitching one of Canada’s largest and most interesting brands for about 5 years now. It’s one of those dream customers that every CEO has. They are the perfect fit for our unique mix of capabilities and I was fully convinced that with a little patience, we would be given the chance to prove it to them. My systematic, persistent relationship building and follow-ups finally paid off early this year when a they emailed me an RFP for a new CMS.

I became giddy as I read through it as it basically described the features of Agility in minute detail.

Editor's Note: Petr Palas, founder and CEO of Kentico software, lets his voice be heard to in this week's CEO Corner. In this article, he provides rebuttal to an earlier CEO Corner written by Agility's Michael Assad. Where Assad favors a "best of breed" approach and questions the validity of CXM, Palas believe the future is in fully integrated CXM solutions. Which CEO is right? We'll let you decide...