The Adventures of an IT Leader.

Question: Discuss about the Adventures of an IT Leader. Answer: Introduction The Adventures of an IT Leader is a research article that presents the various areas that are associated with the IT leadership. The article has been written on the IT leadership of the organization, IVK Corporation and its CIO, Jim Barton. The duties and responsibilities of an IT leader are extremely significant for the success and reputation of the organization. It is these responsibilities that make the job of the CIO and other leader a high volatile and high turnover job in the field. The article covers the information on the CIO leadership, cost and value of IT along with emerging technologies, risk management and several other areas (Austin, 2016). Scanning and Analyzing New Technologies Technology is something that keeps on changing and upgrading with each passing day. Information technology is a dynamic field in which there are new entries made to the list of technologies and it becomes necessary to adapt these emerging technologies in the architecture. As per the scenario of IVK Corporation as mentioned in The Adventures of an IT Leader, it is necessary to devote at least 10 percent of the overall revenue for scanning and analyzing the emerging technologies. It would allow the organizations to be at pace with the technology and would also provide it a competitive edge over the other organizations in the same field (Frontiera, 2010). Actions on Blog Issues at IVK IVK Corporation experienced blog leak that led to the violation of the confidentiality and privacy of its information. There are various techniques and processes that may be followed in order to avoid such a situation. Steps to take on the blog entry The blog entry that was made in association with the IVK Corporation should be moved to a restricted page and should be made visible to only the compliant and authorized readers. The blog consisted of some of the private and confidential information and therefore making it available to the public would bring in a lot many security risks for the organization. There shall be a disclaimer uploaded on the blog link of the organization and the blog entry that has already been made should therefore be moved to the restricted links (Marks, Rezgui, 2011). General Policy about Blogging It is necessary to have a restrictive policy on the blogging in general. However, putting restrictions and constraints would not serve the purpose alone. There are a lot many additional steps that shall be involved in associated with the information that is associated with a particular organization. First and the foremost is the knowledge about the legal implications and ethical conduct that must be known to the users and the employees associated with an organization. The employees must be aware of the legal consequences of the violation of the information properties and any sort of misuse associated with the same. There shall also be activity monitors and authentication steps that shall be installed in association with the blogs. For instance, any of the blog entry that is made shall first go to the senior manager for approval and once the approval is made, then only it should be made visible for the rest of the readers. A registration policy along with the restriction on the conten t of the blogs should also be installed (Simpson, 2006). Process for Spotting and Analyzing Emerging Technologies The most applicable process for spotting and analyzing of the emerging technologies shall include the formation of the special groups and teams dedicated for the purpose. These groups shall carry out frequent researches and shall also seek to find out the latest trends in the field of technology. The finding should then be analyzed as per the organizational policies and requirements. The groups shall also include the other departments and employees of the organization through the medium of brainstorming sessions and group discussions to find out their ideas and perspectives (Testa, 2002). Process for Enforcing Infrastructure Technology Standards In order to enforce the infrastructure technology standards, it is extremely necessary to make sure that the overall service delivery model that is followed in the organization is enhanced and strengthened. There can be three options that can be applied in order to enforce the infrastructure technology standards which include the option of doing nothing or making strict enforcements or the last option can be a gradual migration. The option that would suit the best in case of IVK Corporation and with most of the other cases would be a gradual migration of the technology and the standards. It would provide the opportunity to gradually adapt the new technologies and decline the ones that are no longer in use of application (Hutchinson, 2008). Standardization and Innovation Organizations make use of a number of different processes, products, platforms and methods. For example, in case of IVK Corporation, Microsoft is the primary platform that is in used. However, there are services and applications that make use of Linux or Unix. Also, there are various third parties and vendors that are associated with the organization that has their own set of policies and standards. The lack of standards in an organization such as IVK Corporation can therefore lead to a lot of ambiguity. Following and applying the standards is therefore necessary in order to make sure that all of the procedures and components are at the same pace. The process of standardization and innovation can appear as a conflict in case of the involvement of the third parties and therefore the contract management practices shall be used in order to avoid any of the conflicts (Rothberg, 2005). Kids Toolkit Approach to Management As per the kids toolkit approach to management, it was observed that there are known methods, policies and steps for action that are often stored in the toolkits that we use in terms of the projects and decision making activities on a personal and professional level. However, it shall be made sure that instead of sticking to the known facts and beliefs, efforts are made to find out the new forms of methods and policies as applicable to a specific project. The strategy and approach is applicable to the field of management as well (Hartman, 2000). It is often seen that the managers and leaders tend to stick to the know approach and methods of action in case of managing the projects. However, the scenario and the situations of the projects vary from one another. The policies that are applicable in a particular project may not be applicable for the other project. For instance, there are various project management methodologies that have been defined such as PRINCE2, PMBOK, Agile and many more. Managers that are well versed to PMBOK guidelines often refrain from adapting the agile practices and likewise. However, it should be made sure that the management practices and policies are based upon the nature of the project and the project factors instead of the known policies and factors. There shall also be exploration and research activities done by the managers in order to find out the applicable set of practices (Ding, Li, George, 2014). The toolkit approach as described by the kid in the article therefore applies to the field of management as well. Also, in the field of technology and the design and development methodologies that are followed in an organization, a similar approach shall be followed for better strategy and decision making activities (Davis, Dykman, 2009). References Austin, R. (2016). The Adventures of an IT Leader, 1. Retrieved from https://www.hbr.org Davis, C., Dykman, C. (2009). The Managerial Dilemma in CIO Leadership - Part I. The International Journal Of Knowledge, Culture, And Change Management: Annual Review, 9(1), 187-202. https://dx.doi.org/10.18848/1447-9524/cgp/v09i01/49674 Ding, F., Li, D., George, J. (2014). Investigating the effects of IS strategic leadership on organizational benefits from the perspective of CIO strategic roles. Information Management, 51(7), 865-879. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2014.08.004 Frontiera, J. (2010). 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