Technical Impact: Making Your Information Technology Effective, And Keeping It That Way [Paperback]

Al Kuebler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2011

"This new Amazon bestseller edition of Technical Impact will provide IT professionals and general managers with four things:
• Proven ways to make the contribution of the IT function as beneficial as possible to the business it serves;
• Proven ways to ensure that the IT function is fully recognized for the positive impact it has on business performance;
• Enough explicit examples to instill confidence that these approaches are doable in any IT organization; and,
• Advice on how to get started, even though you have no buy-in except your own.
The collective application of these lessons has an important outcome: an IT function that is continuously improving its effectiveness to the enterprise.
More importantly, the book explains how IT professionals and general managers can use collaboration, communication and persuasion to do that.
More than technology, it is about continuously improving IT-business relationships through active interest, involvement and initiative. Unlike the ever-changing world of technology, these principles do not change.
Technical Impact is intended for IT professionals and general managers who wish to make their IT management function more directly responsive to the businesses they serve.
It will also give IT professionals insight into ways to make their IT career last and make it count, remain enthusiastic about their contributions and improve their sense of accomplishment and reward."

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Al Kuebler's book, 'Technical Impact' will help you keep your IT relevant and make your career count.” --CIO Magazine

“The first 5-6 chapters really hit home. I bought 3 more copies and sent them to my VP, CIO, and President. The great insight on pages 12 and 13 reinforce the great strategic solutions provided.” --Jerry Morin, Account Executive - More Direct Inc.

“I recently picked up your book, Technical Impact, from Amazon and I can't put it down. I especially enjoy your approach to improving the quality of IT Service Delivery. I refer to it often when I need understandable and practical IT management guidance that I can actually use.” --Patrick Cooper, Manager, IT Client Services - Cole Capital

"This book breathes life into the concept that IT is not about bits and bytes. It lays out an excellent roadmap to help any business transform IT from a cost center to a cost avoider and value adder. It also provides sage advice on a personal level for career development: including how to pick the right employer! It is a must read not only for IT professionals but for any business leader (or soon to be leader)." --Chrys Varnes, Principal - Xerox Global Services

“This tremendously useful guide shows us how to foster collaboration and empower IT professionals to actively contribute to business strategy and leadership.” --Abe Eshkenazi, CEO, APICS - The Association for Operations Management

“The reader gets a rare opportunity to understand IT's true role in the business world and how it breeds it own success by focusing on the success of the businesses it serves.”--Gary Langmeyer, Business Programs Manager - IBM Global Services

“Every chapter contains valuable insights into being a partner with the businesses that we in IT serve and how to initiate beneficial changes for their customers. Required knowledge for every IT Manager.”--Jim Bishopp, JB Consulting

“His is advice that transcends industry specialty or professional discipline. The knowledge in this book will make your cost for IT ever more productive.” --Preston Blevins, CFPIM, FBPICS, CIRM, CSCP - Author of "Food Safety Regulatory Compliance"

“This is a fun book, but its well-reasoned lessons range from the need for client focus to the perils of vendor management, from tactics for political gamesmanship to the dangers of arrogance. They address individual issues, such as career management, team issues like empowerment and organizational issues including best practices. It's a primer for IT managers and executives.” --William Richmond, Ph.D., Professor - Information Systems and Economics - Western Carolina University (WCU)

“Thank you for taking the time out to write this book. I'm an IT professional, and although you don't claim it to be, I feel this will be my blueprint for attaining my CIO goal. I've learned so much from your experiences. Again, Thank you!” --J.C. Brillant, EyeBottomLine.com

From the Author

C-level executives increasingly believe that the IT function must take the initiative to introduce beneficial change into their business and actively help target it and lead it, especially due to its cross-functional view and its knowledge of emerging technologies.
And, at least from my experience, they aren't likely to think much of IT managers who don't believe that themselves.
So, to try and help accelerate IT's ever more strategic leadership role as an equal partner in the business (and some of what I've learned took me several tries), I've found practical and proven ways to:

• Improve IT professionals' understanding of the vital role that IT plays in business success;
• Communicate this understanding effectively to business professionals at all levels, in business terms;
• Engage in an ongoing collaboration process with all aspects of the business through active interest, involvement and initiative;
• Actively support the IT team so that it is comfortable enough to routinely lead the business to better ways; and,
• Develop a "part of it, proud of it" attitude within a strategically integrated (not aligned) IT asset management function.

More importantly, the book explains how IT professionals and general managers can use collaboration, communication and persuasion to do these things.
In summary, I would offer you this guidance: building and keeping linked-destiny business relationships is how an effective IT asset management program is best achieved.
The principles involved, unlike our changing world of technology, are constant.

--Al Kuebler

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 3rd Revised & Enlarged edition (August 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451536844
• ISBN-13: 978-1451536843
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO) for the McGraw-Hill Companies, Alcatel-Lucent and AT&T Universal Card services, Al reported to the COO or CEO of these enterprises and was responsible for the planning, building and running of enterprise IT services. He was also CIO for Los Angeles County.

IT management objective: Improve the IT business value proposition to customers, employees and stockholders and make the IT management function:
* An equal partner in shaping enterprise strategy;
* Target and lead beneficial business change;
* A powerful resource which guides business units on how emerging technologies can be applied to gain competitive advantage and industry leadership.

While at AT&T Universal Card, he was also part of the management team awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the Service Category by the US Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the President of the United States.

Learn more at www.technicalimpact.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Collection Of IT Management Learning Experiences May 16, 2013

By Doug Olson

Format:Paperback

I was in the process of selecting books for a course on business intelligence for students in our master's degree program in Information Technology Management. The theme for the course was to examine the contribution that business intelligence can make towards the effective management of the information technology (IT) function. Having already found a text that provided reasonable coverage of using of business intelligence for performance management, I wanted to find a book that would help students fully appreciate the importance of connecting the performance of the IT function with the overall performance of the organization.

When I came across Al Kuebler's little gem, I had found what I was looking for, and more. This book is a compelling collection of IT management learning experiences. The knowledge Al accumulated working through these various challenges coalesced in an IT management philosophy emphasizing the importance of communicating honestly and effectively with stakeholders and always evaluating strategic IT options from the perspective of business value.

During the first session of my course, when I was making some introductory remarks regarding the books I had chosen, my students informed me that Al's book had also been recently used in a course on IT strategy. If I had needed validation for this book selection, the students had just served it up. While I was immediately struck by the improbability of another instructor selecting the same book for a related, but different subject, that common book selection was understandable since inherently, and by design, business intelligence is connected with strategy.

As valuable as the wisdom provided by this book is, these nuggets are not available in your typical academic text.... The reader, especially younger IT professionals, can benefit greatly from the important lessons learned by the author over his unusually rich career. The reader vicariously gains many years of experience reading through the vividly illustrated challenges IT managers face on the path to understanding how their organization can provide the most benefit to the enterprise. Paradoxically, I think that the more experienced one is, the more appreciation one has for Al's book. The anecdotes are documented with enough detail that they read like someone's journal. The purposeful reflection is consistently on the mark.

Doug Olson
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Reference Material for any I.T. Professional July 18, 2010

By Steven M. Jeffery

Format:Paperback

Technical Impact is a must read from one of today's thought leaders in I.T. Strategy and Management, Al Kuebler. Al shares his lessons from the front line with informative anecdotal examples. The examples make Technical Impact a fast delightful read. Each chapter provides it's own unique educational experience in how to achieve a "commercial grade" I.T. organization. Technical Impact is an essential reference material that I find myself re-reading the chapter that is applicable to my current situation.
Steven M. Jeffery - Principal, SDP Associates, Inc. - An I.T.Vendor Management consulting and training firm.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My CIO vision is "clearer" March 26, 2013

By Tim @timzat

Format:Kindle Edition

This is one of the best books I have come across that really helps IT professionals , Leaders , managers , CIO's e.t.c. bring value to their organization by helping them realize how much influence IT has on enabling and supporting the business strategy, vision and mission.

I recommend this book for any one in IT who wants to unleash his true potential and be "one" of those who will add and drive true value to the business by making sure that his activities are aligned to the business objectives.

I also recommend this book for CEO's , COO's CFO's as they are the main business strategists of any organization / business . This will help them understand and empower them with knowledge on how to engage IT to drive their business Strategy.

I will use the lessons learnt from this book to wow the business leaders and obviously help the organization I am working for forge much more stronger relations with IT.

I know one day I will be a CIO. Thanks to Al.

Thank you Al for this informative and very helpful , career building book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book March 14, 2013

By vusi

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am absolutely loving this book.

First of all This is not a technical manual. I like to think of it as power nuggets.

Author does a terrific job of articulating subject matter in a very captivating and engaging way in a few words. I love the Charts in the chapters.

Top book for professionals at any level.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be titled "Total Impact" March 5, 2013

By Bassam Fawaz

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As the IT profession evolved over the last 30 years, so have the role and focus of the CIO. The once techie custodian of the back-office and infrastructure, is now expected to also be a business "totalist" who can drive the transformation of his/her company as it responds to an increasingly changing business logic. To my knowledge, there is no academic program that prepares fully-groomed candidates for this sort of work.

Technical Impact is a practical guide from an IT sage who describes, with practical examples, how to navigate the often treacherous road of IT success: managing the day-to-day business of IT while keeping it focused on business and strategic objectives; building and managing relationships inside and outside the business; and staying in step with the advancements in technology and deciding what is right for the business.

IT professionals who aspire for IT leadership will find in this book ideas and inspirations from a senior peer who's been in their shoes and knows first-hand their challenges. Non-IT professionals will see the full picture of IT: it is not simply about keeping the trains running, but managing the rapid pace of technology, responding to increasingly demanding business imperatives, attracting and motivating the right talent, keeping the IT budget in check - and their own role in all of that (what we call IT Governance).

This is a huge return on a tiny investment. Read it!