fruITion: Creating the Ultimate Corporate Strategy for Information Technology (Perfect Paperback)

by Chris Potts (Author) "Juliette's reaction to our IT Strategy was even harsher and more provocative than I'd expected..." (more)
Key Phrases: total business investment, internal investments, investment culture, Strategy Manager, Business Partnerships, Enterprise Architecture (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Part entertaining novel and part enlightening textbook - FruITion takes the reader through a discovery process revealing indispensable messages about the next generation of strategies for Information Technology.
- Jeremy Hall, Managing Director, IRM UK Strategic IT Training

FruITion brings vividly to life the issues of being a CIO in todays corporate world and how IT, when properly integrated into the objectives of a business can drive massive value creation. His insights into how to win the engagement war and bring technology strategies alive for the non technical are absolutely spot on.
- Steve Adams, COO and Managing Director for Card Services, Euronet Worldwide

The modern CIO is to be seen as part of the business rather than a service provider to the business. Chris Potts is at the forefront of thinking that will put us all there if we act on his inspiration.
- David Brown, CIO of Scottish Water

How will Ian as the CIO react when the management team explores a very different relationship with IT? The strategy that emerges has major implications for the CIO and everyone in the IT department.

About the Author
Chris Potts works with executives and CIOs in industry-leading companies around the world, formulating and executing the new generation of corporate strategies for exploiting IT. He delivers public seminars that are founded on his own breakthrough work with clients, and has provided training to some of the worlds leading consultancies.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Technics Publications, LLC; 1st edition (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977140032
• ISBN-13: 978-0977140039
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #307,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must read book, February 10, 2009

By	Scott Stewart (Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a must read book for CIOs who want to be relevant and be counted amongst the next generation of business aligned executives. Turning traditional views of IT on its head this book will make you rethink how you see your role and position in the company. Are you a service provider or a business leader who best understands how the business can become a better customer of IT? Be the one that helps your business to exploit maximum value out of its technology investment. Buy this book and share it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book On Strategy That's A Real Page-Turner, August 1, 2008

By	M. S. Farrar (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Let me start by saying that I had the pleasure and privilege of working directly with Chris at the last company I worked for.

The work that Chris undertook with my colleagues and me was ground-breaking, and even though it turned our world upside down, for all of the right reasons, it was an enjoyable and illuminating journey.

This book, which is an inspired piece of writing, bears absolutely no resemblance to any other book on strategy, IT or otherwise, that I have read. Most of these books are long, dry and, I have to say, almost unintelligible. FruITion, on the other hand, is an easy read - maybe even too easy, as the narrative style reads more like a good novel than a serious business book. And, of course, this was the intention, and it succeeds beautifully.

It would be easy to miss the important lessons this book teaches you, were it not for the fact that Chris summarises the key points at the end of each chapter.

I would therefore recommend reading it at least twice - once for the pleasure of a well-written book with a central character you really do care about, and once (or more) to make sure you take note of the real messages, which are all about realising the value of a company's investments, not only in IT but in all business change activities.

Having worked in that corporate environment for nearly 20 years, many of the characters and roles were too life-like for this book to be anything but the results of a great deal of experience and first-hand knowledge. In fact, I even sort of recognise people like me in there somewhere, as well as some that remind me of past colleagues, managers and directors, although it's clear that Chris has wisely invented his characters after working with so many people over the years.

When we worked together, it was back in 2000, and while this book neatly summarises much of what he brought to the company at the time, it also demonstrates a continual advancement in thinking as his already significant experience has grown.

I can testify that those elements of this book that were put in place as a result of his work altered and improved everything - what started as a reinvention of a very small team of people ended up affecting almost the entire company and the way they conducted and thought about their business.

It may be a cliché, but I really do wish this book had been available not only to me, but to many people at the company, all those years ago.

For those steeped in the traditions of the "IT department", this book will both shock and surprise you - the core message represents a quantum leap in thinking that will make you wonder why you haven't thought of it yourself.

And for those "normal" people who have always been outside of IT, and wondered what they all do, this book will be an eye-opener and a revelation in how to make IT work with and for you in your organisation.

This is one book that you really won't want to put down, and it has my highest recommendation!

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice story-like read to illustrate a concept., May 18, 2009

By	Susan Earley (Bensenville, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kind of like the book Five Dysfunctions of a Team, this story uses characters and situations to illustrate the concept of removing the barriers between IS/IT organizations and the rest of the business. It's a quick read, with a lot of concepts to ponder through the allegory.