CTIO 101 Podcast

Customer-centric agile is a methodology that combines agile practices and customer-centricity to create products and services that meet customers' needs. In this approach, the customer is placed at the centre of the product development process, and their feedback is used to inform every aspect of the product or service.

The customer-centric agile methodology emphasizes collaboration between cross-functional teams, including designers, developers, and product managers, to ensure that customer needs are met at every stage of the development process. The approach also emphasizes the importance of rapid iteration and continuous improvement, with regular feedback sessions and testing to ensure that the product meets customer needs.

Customer-centric agile also emphasizes the importance of creating a culture of customer-focused innovation within the organization. This includes creating a shared vision and purpose around the customer, empowering employees to make decisions based on customer feedback, and creating a culture of experimentation and learning.

A customer-centric agile methodology is a powerful approach to building products and services that meet customers' needs. By combining agile practices with a customer-centric mindset, organizations can create products that are innovative and effective and meet their customers' needs and expectations.

Robert Kerbeck's book is a fantastic mix of serious social engineering and a parallel journey in the Movie business.   If you want to learn about how social engineering happens without falling asleep, then this is a great book as it truly is both educational and entertaining.

Connectivity as a service (CaaS) is a model in which businesses outsource the management and provision of their network connectivity to a third-party provider. The promise is to free up companies from the burden of managing their own network infrastructure and allows them to focus on their core business operations.   Like making beer or generating electricity - but no need to do both.

CaaS providers offer various services, from basic internet connectivity to more advanced networking solutions like virtual private networks (VPNs) and software-defined WANs (SD-WANs). CaaS might be a cost-effective and flexible solution for businesses looking to improve connectivity and keep up with the ever-evolving digital landscape.  Is it right for everyone?

There is no doubt that backups are an essential part of any data management strategy, but equally important is the ability to restore data quickly and efficiently. Many IT professionals will argue that restore time is even more critical than backup time. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Downtime is expensive: When data is lost or inaccessible, it can lead to costly downtime for businesses. The longer it takes to restore the data, the more money and productivity are lost.
2. Customers demand fast recovery: In today's fast-paced business environment, customers expect near-instantaneous recovery times. If a system outage or data loss occurs, customers will require a quick resolution to avoid disruptions to their operations.
3. Compliance requirements: Many industries have strict regulations around data retention and disaster recovery. If data cannot be restored quickly and accurately, it can put a business at risk of non-compliance and potential legal consequences.
4. Reputation: In the event of a data loss or system outage, a business's reputation can be severely damaged. If customers lose trust in a company's ability to protect and recover their data, it can lead to long-term consequences for the business.

These factors highlight the importance of restoring time in a comprehensive data management strategy. While backups are essential, they are only one piece of the puzzle. To ensure that data can be fixed quickly and efficiently, businesses must invest in technologies and processes prioritising restore time as a critical component of their disaster recovery plans.

Emotional intelligence and soft skills are crucial for CTIOs The IT industry is competitive and continues to evolve rapidly. It’s no longer just about technical skills; leaders must be able to communicate effectively, collaborate across teams and manage change effectively. These skills can help them navigate the challenges of the digital age with ease and ensure they get results from their teams.

The CIO role is changing. The CIO role is changing and evolving to meet the demands of a digital world. As a result, IT leaders must be able to communicate clearly, collaborate with their teams effectively and manage change efficiently in order to get results.

These are the reasons CIOs need to consider coaching.

A cloud computing strategy is an essential element of any business technology strategy

Cloud computing is here to stay, and it has had a dramatic impact on business technology strategies. In this video, Ben Scowen and I walk through basic cloud concepts and why businesses are eager to take advantage of cloud-based applications. 

We then transition into the history of cloud computing and what it can do in the present day. 

Finally we finish with debunking some common cloud myths and briefly discuss where the technology is heading in the near future and how best to exploit this technology in your business technology strategy.

00:00 Part 1 of 2: Cloud Strategy
00:14 Introducing Ben Scowen
00:32 Birth of the Cloud Native business
01:49 Can we define "Cloud"?
02:54 How it started:  Leveraging un used capacity 
03:31 Prime Time Technology:  Cloud is about 10 years old now
04:13 Keeping everything up to date is a massive task
05:01 Evolving constantly and continuously
05:38 32-bit Noughties Apps
07:13 Setting up for a business: Exploiting APIs
07:56 Constraints most businesses face
08:19 Every company needs to become a software company
08:50 Decide on the fundamental extent of attainable automation
09:33 There are not enough software engineers to meet current demand
10:17 A small core of focused engineers
10:43 Decide on what the business will be famous for
11:41 Everyone's writing stuff that's already been written
11:55 Do we have enough engineers to move humanity forwards?
12:59 Not all software engineers are the same
13:41 Let's talk Platforms
14:56 The core team
15:38 The core platforms will be available to buy in the future
16:21 Technology half-life
19:11 Beware:  Engineers love building stuff
20:15 Engineers must work within applied constraints
21:12 Build (and make distinct) the stuff you make money from
21:36 Team structure for scale-ups
23:52 Quick Recap
24:18 Lets talk about automation
26:01 Loose Coupling High Cohesion
27:59 Automation and open chords
28:35 A quick recap
29:05 Accelerated evolution - a nod to Ray's singularity
29:47 API as a product
31:55 The 10,000 Page Restaurant Menu
33:34 I just want Baked Beans
34:15 Business Technology
34:45 Borrowing from nature
36:18 Cloud Providers: Modules full of Modules
36:33 How many cloud providers should you have?  It's a bit like going to Switzerland
39:07 Managing Stress: Avoid Dead Ends
41:30 Cloud and economies of scale
42:12 Big companies need to think like small companies
43:11 SaaS is levelling the playing field for business technology
44:04 End of Part 1