World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs (Wiley Desktop Editions Wiley Desktop Editions) [Hardcover]

Peter A. High (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470450185 | ISBN-13: 978-0470450185 | Edition: 1

World Class IT

Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs

Peter A. High

Foreword by John Boushy, former CIO of Harrah's Entertainment and former CEO of Ameristar Casinos

Praise for World Class IT

"Technology and business leaders alike must understand how to use IT to their advantage. Today, all businesses are technology companies powered by people; it is simply a question of degree. Failure to understand this and to harness technology to a company's advantage will result in one's company being a follower in an industry as opposed to a shaper of it. In World Class IT, Peter High distills the key principles for business and IT leaders to follow to ensure that your company is a leader rather than a laggard."
—Robert Willett, CEO, Best Buy International

"World Class IT taps the experience and advice of the world's greatest thinkers in corporate technology and marries it with a simple, yet powerful working framework. Peter's access to the best-of-the-best CIOs and his ability to boil their learnings down to the essentials is invaluable."
—Gregor Bailar, former chief information officer, Capital One, and former chief information officer, NASDAQ

"Peter High has made a valuable, highly practical, and rigorous contribution to principles-based IT resource management. Peter has observed accomplished CIOs transforming IT management in their organizations from narrow 'spectator support' for their senior management teams to a 'participative sport' resulting in a strategic IT asset. This is an important read for CIOs and their IT management teams."
—Richard Nolan, the Philip M. Condit Endowed Chair in Business Administration at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business, and the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School (emeritus)

"Peter High has uncovered and illuminated important principles that are relevant to any IT executive. We find that many of our most successful IT strategies are reflected in his framework, and I certainly learned from his research, as well."
—Randy Spratt, executive vice president, chief information officer, and chief technology officer, McKesson

"Following the principles and subprinciples of World Class IT offers invaluable insights and will improve performance no matter the company."
—Tim Harvey, former executive vice president of shared services and chief information officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation

Editorial Reviews

Review

Chosen as third among "The Best IT Business Books of 2009." 
—CIO Insight

"What’s unique about this book is that it’s not only a must-read for the CIO (and everyone else in an IT department); it’s for anyone associated with the technology industry. If you are a manufacturer, seller, or service provider of technology, you will gain insight into what makes an IT department world class."
—CIO Digest

"The new book World Class IT (Jossey-Bass, 2009), by consultant Peter A. High, provides solid, timeless advice for CIOs trying to manage IT for business success."
— Mitch Betts, ComputerWorld Book Review

From the Inside Flap

Technology is all around us. It is so pervasive in our daily lives that we may not even recognize when we interact with it. Despite this fact, many companies have yet to leverage information technology as a strategic weapon.

What then is an information technology executive to do in order to raise the prominence of his or her department? In World Class IT, recognized expert in IT strategy Peter High reveals the essential principles IT executives must follow and the order in which they should follow them whether they are at the helm of a high-performing department or one in need of great improvement.

• Principle 1: Recruit, train, and retain World Class IT people

• Principle 2: Build and maintain a robust IT infrastructure

• Principle 3: Manage projects and portfolios effectively

• Principle 4: Ensure partnerships within the IT department and with the business

• Principle 5: Develop a collaborative relationship with external partners

The principles and associated subprinciples and metrics introduced in World Class IT have been used by IT and business executives alike at many Global 1000 companies to monitor and improve IT's performance. Those principles pertain as much to the leaders of IT as they do to those striving to emulate them.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wiley Press/Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (December 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470450185
• ISBN-13: 978-0470450185
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter High is the founder and president of Metis Strategy, LLC, a business and information technology strategy consultancy founded in 2001. His experience lies in corporate strategy, business-unit strategy, information technology strategy, and all of the areas covered by the principles of World Class IT.

Peter and his colleagues have implemented the World Class IT methodology at many companies in a wide range of industries, including financial services, insurance, business process outsourcing, retail, pharmaceuticals, health care, travel and transportation, and media. Peter has advised business and information technology executives in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Peter has lectured at a number of leading business schools, including Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business and the University of Washington (Seattle) Foster School of Business. He also hosts a widely heard podcast called "The Forum on World Class IT." Peter has been an ongoing contributor to Information Week and CIO Digest.

Peter graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in economics and history. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife and their two sons. He can be reached at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tighter integration of IT with other aspects of the business, December 6, 2009

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs (Wiley Desktop Editions Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

The author points to a common feature of many firms - a gap between an IT department and the rest of the firm. Not just at the executive suite, but also extending several layers down in management. One typical reason is that IT management often hails from an engineering or scientific background, while non-IT management comes from a financial, business or legal background. The book tries to bridge the gap by furnishing a few best practices.

One that I found especially cogent was a tighter partnership between IT and the other departments. Often the latter might simply not be aware of what IT can do for them. Ignorance can be cured! Another advantage of this stronger coupling is that it helps IT protect portions of its budget during regular reviews, when other departments can come into bat for it.

The book also talks about infrastructure. This can be considered a factorisation of the narrative, so that it cleaves cleanly between discussing infrastructure and the other uses and activities of the IT department. Regarding the former, the author has found that many firms simply neglect it. When infrastructure is working, it is usually meant to be invisible, and hence the tendency to overlook and underfund its maintenance. The book advocates a more proactive approach that can ultimately improve the overall firm's performance and adaptability.

You can also choose to use this factorisation in a pragmatic way. It is difficult and hence risky to try to change too many things in the firm at the same time. An alternative is to perhaps build up the infrastructure using the book's recommendations. Then, if this is successful, you can turn to the other sections of the book about the IT department.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best EVER book on how to manage IT successfully!, April 28, 2010

By 

James R. Mercer (Hopewell Junction, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs (Wiley Desktop Editions Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

Ok... this has to be the best, cleanest roadmap to building a world-class IT department I've ever seen. It comprehensively covers EVERYTHING. I'm taking this with me as my "bible" wherever I go.

Brilliant book, simply brilliant - a must -read for senior IT and non-IT executives alike, if they want to learn how to make the most of their IT!!

No doubt, I'm going to use this book as a practical guideline... and no doubt, I'm going to recommend it to all my management team members in IT, and possibly my peers as well.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important piece of the puzzle..., June 29, 2010

By 

Chris Gibbons (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs (Wiley Desktop Editions Wiley Desktop Editions) (Hardcover)

I had the pleasure of meeting the author prior to reading this book and was able to receive a nice primer as to the purpose of the work and a little background as to what went in to writing it. By the time I completed the book, I was already back at the beginning preparing to read it again. What a wonderful read! I keep only a handful of books in my office as reference material since I am not a believer of stocking my shelves with my reading accomplishments. I can tell you that this is one of the few that I actually keep on my desk with the pages folded at the corners and post-it notes everywhere. I have been able to successfully apply many of the practices prescribed already and plan on continuing to utilize this book as my department expands and matures. It has been an invaluable resource and has definitely enlightened my thinking. It is very straight-forward and provides practical solutions to what many technology executives struggle with daily. I highly recommend this book.