…for fun and limited exercise. GSOH absolutely essential.
This isn’t an online dating exercise, but it is a call for more men. Me and some of my middle-aged mates play in a 5-a-side league in Wanstead on a Sunday evening. We are, in short, rubbish.
There are only six teams in the league at present. However, it’s pretty professional – games are arranged and results displayed on our own league web site. It’s not only the set-up that’s professional, either. Some of the teams are mustard – The Unknows (who caned us twice) are basically semi-professional. They are everything we are not: fast, energetic and talented.
We managed to win two games all season. The first was a stunning 5-2 victory over fellow strugglers League of Asians. Our second win – an unexpected 10-0 triumph – came last weekend as the result of a no-show. That sneaky tactic lifted us to the glories of fifth (and in the Premier League, that would be an automatic Europe League place).
But this isn’t the Premier League, it’s the Sylvestrian Football League. And we stink. Still, there is hope – and a new round of games is set to begin in just two weeks. By way of a season round-up, special mention must go to the following players:
- Steve Wilson (captain) – Organiser, goalscorer and often goalkeeper (by default, rather than choice)
- Richard Walsh – Looks like a rugby player; scores like Zico
- Adrian Mason – Essex boy that bangs on endlessly about a volley he scored earlier in the season
- Greg Demetriou – Late starter; scores regularly but always picks up an injury
- Mark Samuels – Another late starter; scores very, very infrequently
- Ben Lock – Specialist in ankle injuries
- Niall Magennis – Fellow IT journalist with a mean line in tackling
- Cathal O’Donoghue – Good at missing the middle part of the season, basically
- Kevin Malone – Mysteriously absent for later matches
If you’re in Wanstead and want to get stuffed at football, check out the league web site – matches are on a Sunday evening and your team is almost guaranteed two wins against the Villa (Wanstead, not Aston).
Silicon has just published my analysis piece which suggests there should be no such thing as an IT project. The article quotes a number of CIOs and a link to the full article can be found beneath the following introduction:
“IT projects never really work,” says Mike Day, CIO at fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. That seems like negative talk from a technology chief but there is sound method in the apparent madness.
More technology chiefs are waking up to the need for IT projects to be sponsored by the business. In cost-constrained times, CIOs are trying to avoid driving into a technology cul-de-sac. So rather than simply implementing IT projects, many CIOs are aiming to understand what executives need from the outset and meet agreed outcomes.
“The best ideas are sponsored by the business,” says Day. “Technology is now so pervasive through the organisation; it’s end-to-end. The CIO has to communicate to the business what is possible and why.”
For the full feature, click here.
Just over three quarters (78%) of CIOs think that business intelligence equals better decision making, according to this week’s CIO Connect poll.
The endorsing level of support tallies with IDC’s European Software Survey 2010 (see further reading, below), which suggests European organisations are planning an increase in spending on business intelligence (BI) products in 2010 compared to last year. The analyst says a third of companies will spend more on analytics than they did in 2009, although UK organisations are generally spending more on the basics of BI, rather than more advanced analytics.
That was a theme picked up by IT leaders responding to this week’s CIO Connect poll, many of whom noted the importance of analytics and analysis: “Data is turned into intelligence which can support effective decision making,” responded one CIO. “The quality of the analytics will certainly have a bearing on the quality of the decisions that it drives.”
Click here to read more…
The summer 2010 edition of CIO Connect should be hitting IT leaders’ desks this week. Cover star is Deloitte UK partner and CIO Mary Hensher, a people person with a passion for the potential of IT to change business. Other articles include cloud computing, innovation, governance and a review of IT leadership from India.
As ever, thanks to all the CIOs, business leaders and technology experts who contributed their time and opinions. Below is a full list of featured participants:
- Mary Hensher, Deloitte UK partner and CIO
- Richard McGrail, head of IT at Baillie Gifford & Co
- Steve Webster, IT director at Admiral Group
- Peter Ingram, IT director at Addison Lee
- Martin Ferguson, head of strategy at Socitm
- David Hopkins, manager of business development at Siemens Enterprise Services
- David Wilde, head of IT at Westminster City Council
- Patrick Smith, local government client executive at IBM
- Richard Mahony, director of telecoms research and analysis at Ovum
- Philip Virgo, secretary general of the European Information Society Group
- Ian Wilcox, principle IT consultant at Hampshire County Council
- Peter Bassill, chief information security officer at gambling giant Gala Coral Group
- Chris Head, principal associate at Socitm Insight
- Robin Johnson, global CIO at Dell
- Peter Breunig, CTO at Chevron
- Mike Bevil, manager of IT Innovation at Merck
- Ruth Spellman, chief executive at Chartered Management Institute
- Zafar Chaudry, CIO at Alder Hey
- Peter Bauer, chief executive at Mimecast
- Rajendra S. Pawar, chairman of technology company NIIT
- John Suffolk, UK government CIO
- Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of CA
- Filippo Passerini, president of global business services and CIO at Procter & Gamble
- Dana Deasy, group CIO at BP
- John Torrie, UK chief executive at Steria
- Michael Gogola, director of information services at HCA International
- Francis Jellings, head of IT at Virgin Trains
- John Robinson, group IT director at Morse
- Mark Foulsham, head of IT at insurance specialist esure
- Stuart McGill, CTO at Micro Focus
- Maurice van Sabben, president of National Geographic Television International
- David Head, director of LFA
- Adrian Joseph, Google’s European managing director
- Dominic Batchelor, partner at Ashurst LLP
- Inbali Iserles, professional development lawyer at Ashurst LLP
- Danièle Tyler, solicitor at Ashurst LLP