Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

I love this book! I've been leading IT organizations and departments for years and wish I had read this 20 years ago. Business leaders and IT leaders alike will benefit from this book.

A very easy read, I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days. Usually, I give up reading IT books which are often boring, difficult and rehash the same old stuff. The author made this book interesting, practical and shares fantastic insight for all levels of leadership.

It is like getting enormously valuable consulting for the cost of the book. I read on my kindle and I have highlights and notes all over the place!

This is a book which aligns the essentials of IT and business to describe World Class IT. Peter High's book is not new revolutionary ideas but is packaged well and articulate as it lays out the pieces of a successful organization. The book describes how IT can be effective to enhance and grow the organizations in the world of ubiquitous technology. The text describes the revolution of the CIO as a business person who is an essential partner in a flourishing modern business environment.

Peter describes five areas of focus to contribute to World Class IT; People, Infrastructure, Projects and Portfolios, Partnerships/Relationships and External Partners. The area that was most enlightening and provided good ideas to implement is principle 3, Manage Projects and Portfolios Effectively. This is an area that no matter how well an IT organization is, ways to perform and communicate better in this area is essential. Peter has excellent insight in this area that is well worth the study.

Peter also describes the need for good relationships at all levels, in all parts of the business to enable innovation and success. The business - IT relationship is a focus in most of the principles. World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When It Flourishes contains information in tables, graphics and defined metrics that help in executing the concepts.

Business focused technology leadership in an organization is an essential component of an organization in the technological advancing flat world. Peter does a great job of describing the relationships and essential areas of focus. Well worth the read for any business leader whether you are a technology leader or not, you need to understand and excel at this portion of the business.

I've had the pleasure of working for a large company that Peter was brought in to perform his World-Class IT Strategy and other components he discusses in his book. I was thrilled to see not only his new material but his core basics that every IT organization needs to consider outlined in detail with examples. The frameworks he describes here were not only implemented at the company I worked for but also to this day in practice. They are tried (proven) and true and I would encourage any business or IT leader to read and begin to consider his frameworks for this successful practice of World-Class IT. What you see in Peter's book is his passion for linking IT to the business units but also the Business to IT. Pick up this book read it and move your organization to World-Class!! Great job Peter!

I met Peter High early one winter morning at a local Hotel in downtown Toronto as he moderated a CIO panel on Innovation. As the audience asked questions, he would skillfully direct them to the various panelists and confidently inject his wisdom into the responses. He referred to areas in his book where he had covered certain topics which eventually led me to later go buy the book and read it. The subtitle for the book says it all, "why businesses succeed when IT triumphs". Peter lays out five principles that a CIO and his team of leaders should master, then he goes deeper into sub principles to these principles and offer priscriptive guidance on how to implement these and with the appropriate metrics. Follow these and you will realize "sustainable IT excellence". The five principles are quite simple and if taken seriously and practiced diligently will show exceptional results. I have worked in various organizations where some of these were done well and some not so well. We recieved accolades in those areas recommended in the book when we did them well and sometimes felt shamed in the other recommended areas that we did not do so well. Without giving away the detailed theme of the book, four out of the five recommended principles and their resulting subprinciples can be used in the business. Therefore as he indicated, "today's World Class IT leaders will be tomorrow's successful CEOs". Peter High has written an excellent reference that IT leaders can use to become world class in their own right.

For anyone who has been in IT for any amount of time, you already know that, in general, IT has a long way to go. This book provides inspiration with a number of excellent examples of IT organizations who are now invaluable to the business - no longer overhead, but key to the success of the organization - and this book gives the reader a framework of the work needed to get its IT organization there as well. With a prioritized list of principles, broken down into actionable subprinciples, and concrete metrics that allow IT to measure its progress, this book will help any organization to truly begin to realize the value of IT. I've read a lot of IT books in my 18+ years of working in IT and this one is the best.

This is a one-stop shop for IT Managers & CIOs ,can be used as a road map to successfully achieve great IT results.Excellent easy to comprehend material

Like every great business book, Peter has distilled a complex subject into some easy to understand concepts that IT organizations can follow. His 5 principles are the base under which organizations can build their IT Strategy. I have leveraged this book with my global team to drive consistiency and a common understanding of the role of IT in the organization. I provide a copy of this book to all my employees who attend my IT Leadership training.

Gregory Fell

Chief Information Officer - Terex Corporation