Healthcare services provider McKesson has transformed the notion of IT by recasting the role of IT. How pharmaceuticals distributor and healthcare information technology services provider McKesson has transformed the very notion of IT. We will see how a shift in culture and an emphasis on being a services provider has allowed McKesson to not only deliver better results, but elevate the role of IT into the strategic fabric of the company.
Let me start with this notion of IT transformation. What allowed you to convince others that this was worth doing?
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Tau Index Global Leaders Updated
Here are the latest leaders—overall, by region, and by income tier from the Tau Institute, founded earlier this year, dedicated to global ICT research, with locations in Illinois and Manila, Philippines.
We now have results for a total of 99 countries, as well as detail on how the rankings are calculated. Earlier today, I wrote a brief description on the topic.
Overall
South Korea
Estonia
New Zealand
Netherlands
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
Vietnam
United Kingdom
Lithuania
By Region
Americas
Canada
Chile
Uruguay
United States
Europe
Estonia
Netherlands
Finland
Denmark
M. East/N. Africa
Jordan
Israel
Morocco
Tunisia
Africa
Uganda
Ghana
Senegal
Kenya
Asia
South Korea
Vietnam
Taiwan
Japan
Tier 1 (>$30K in per capita income)
New Zealand
Netherlands
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
United Kingdom
Germany
Canada
Japan
Belgium
Tier 2 ($13K-$29K)
South Korea
Estonia
Lithuania
Taiwan
Poland
Hungary
Slovenia
Portugal
Chile
Czech Republic
Tier 3 ($6K-$13K)
Bulgaria
Romania
Latvia
Turkey
Serbia
Costa Rica
Malaysia
Brazil
Panama
Colombia
Tier 4 ($2K-$6K)
Jordan
Jamaica
Ukraine
Mongolia
Morocco
Tunisia
Philippines
China
Armenia
Thailand
Tier 5 (<$2K)
Vietnam
Uganda
Ghana
Senegal
Kenya
India
Mozambique
Zambia
Tanzania
Nigeria
Raw Index
Overall
Vietnam
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Ukraine
Ethiopia
Nigeria
Bulgaria
Romania
Morocco
By Region
Americas
Bolivia
Jamaica
Honduras
Ecuador
Europe
Ukraine
Bulgaria
Romania
Serbia
M. East/N. Africa
Morocco
Egypt
Tunisia
Jordan
Africa
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Ethiopia
Asia
Vietnam
Mongolia
China
Philippines
Tier 1 (>$30K in per capita income)
Belgium
United Kingdom
Netherlands
Germany
Tier 2 ($13K-$29K)
Lithuania
Hungary
South Korea
Estonia
Tier 3 ($6K-$13K)
Bulgaria
Romania
Serbia
Latvia
Tier 4 ($2K-$6K)
Ukraine
Morocco
Mongolia
Eqypt
Tier 5 (<$2K) Vietnam Kenya Uganda Tanzania
Canada, Uganda Emerge in ICT In Their Own Ways
We’ve updated some information into our rankings algorithms at the Tau Institute (something we launched this year, focused on global ICT research, with offices in Illinois and Manila, Philippines). We’ve also added a few countries into the mix, now reaching a total of 99 countries surveyed.
As a result, we’ve adjusted the rankings slightly. Most interesting is the rise of Canada in the overall rankings, and the emergence of Uganda within our basic, raw measures. Two countries separated by many thousands of miles literally and figuratively, yet each has its own unique values in our rankings, depending on whether companeis and individuals are looking for sources, locations, or investments.
I’ve provided a description of how we derive our rankings in a previous article. We integrate several publicly available factors into our own algorithm. There is thus transparency in the data we input combined with a specialized weighting system that we believe reveals new insight into the statistics.
As I’ve written before, we can view the datas in more than one way.
The overall ranking integrates all of the technological, societal, and economic factors in our algorithm. This ranking shows what we believe are the most dynamic ICT environments—worldwide, by region, and by income tier.
The “raw” ranking integrates only the technological factors. We believe these to be the countries that have the most potential for dynamic change in the short to medium term. The raw index is also the place to locate diamonds in the rough.
Canada & Uganda
Canada outperforms the US because it has less income disparity, is perceived as less corrupt, has slightly higher Internet speeds with a slightly lower income, and higher levels of overall and broadband Internet access. In fact, Canada now ranks #13 in the world and #8 in its income tier. The US ranks #34 and #13, respectively.
It’s no secret the US needs to do more in developing its ICT infrastructure and in revitalizing its educational system and economy for the 21st century. Canada, with its vast resources and an immigration policy more friendly than that of the US, should perform well economically in the future if it also continues to be a leader in developing its ICT infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in Africa, Uganda has risen to the top of the raw rankings, something that surprised us a bit. The country remains among the world’s poorest, but is developing an ICT infrastructure relatively quickly given its income level. It is aided by a very low cost of living, something we’d expect to see rise as the country develops. I’ll have more to say later about this country and its East African neighbors—many of which also score well in the raw rankings.
As a reality check and benchmark, we’ve created a “Perfect Land” which has optimal statistics in all categories. The idea is that no country should beat Perfect Land in the overall index, although many countries will beat it in the raw index, which is weighted more toward potential than overall performance.
I’ve listed our current leaders in several categories in a separate article. Please send us a tweet if you’d like to know more.
EC May Hand Microsoft Its Head
The European Commission said Thursday that it’s going to take Microsoft to the woodshed and formally charge it with breaching a 2009 agreement to offer European users of Windows a mess of alternative browsers, a deal struck to settle a brewing antitrust case.
Microsoft admitted the oversight blaming it on a technical problem and offered to extend the term of its compliance by 15 months.
Antitrust czar Joaquin Almunia said his people are running up the statement of objections.
Presumably it’ll mean another hefty fine on top of the $1.28 billion Microsoft’s already paid the regulator, especially since it’s the second time the company has failed to comply with an EC order, something no other company has ever done.
Cloud Expo Silicon Valley: "It’s Almost Sexy"
“#CloudExpo looks super interesting (almost sexy),” tweeted Xochi Adamé (@xochiadame) recently, referring to the Cloud Expo due to be held Nov 5-8 in Silicon Valley. “Who’s going?” Adamé continued. She is just one of dozens of IT professionals who are using Twitter right now to connect with other like-minded Cloud & Big Data experts and compare notes as they prepare to attend The Largest Cloud & Big Data Event in the World…11th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo Silicon Valley.
Transformational Cloud Computing for Government
Cloud Computing can be approached purely at a technical level, using it for cheaper IT or for hosting of ad-hoc applications. Or it can be approached at a strategic level, by CIO’s looking to drive innovation and be a leader of organizational change. Transformational Cloud Computing is where the technology is combined with some form […]
11th Cloud Expo: A–Z of Big Data & Cloud Computing Topics
What’s “Cloud 2.0”? Who’s behind “SHadoop”? Why is the Cloud so important to the Big Data boom? Are you turning your data into dollars? Which cloud model is right for your company? Register to attend 11th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo Silicon Valley and get your questions answered November 5–8.
Virtualization as a Differentiator in Southeast Asia
This post is part of our ongoing Parallels Partner Series, featuring the insights of service providers who are growing by meeting the cloud computing needs of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs).
Vodien chose Parallels to be our virtualization partner, and it has been a fruitful partnership on our journey to become a top web hosting provider in Singapore and across the Southeast Asia region.
Our key strengths lie in providing product flexibility to customers along with a superior customer support experience. A significant enabling component of our strategy is based on Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, and we leverage this technology to enable a complete range of web hosting products, from shared hosting to cloud services.
What makes us popular as a provider to web hosting customers is that the virtualized hosting environment helps them immediately scale based on their current needs. As web applications and demand grows, customers can choose to select a higher-tiered web hosting package, and all of this can be accomplished immediately with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers. This allows our customers to enjoy both a cost savings and a more controllable upgrade process, even amidst unpredictable resource-usage.
This flexibility based on Parallels technology, combined with Vodien’s 24×7 Super Support team (who provides 2-hour resolution of any customer issue), and our Service Level Agreements (that guarantee the up-time of our network and hardware) truly differentiates our web hosting offering in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Bill Poh
CEO, Vodien
www.vodien.com
NoSQL Pioneer Pino de Candia Taking Aim at Virtual Networking
Wired has a good article today on some of the geniuses and startups in the Virtual Networking space, and how they might “remake the internet.”
Together with Dan Dumitriu — another Amazon vet steeped in the science of massive computing systems — de Candia is one of the key engineers behind a company called Midokura. Much like the oft-discussed Silicon Valley startup Nicira, Midokura deals in virtual networks — computer networks that exist only as software.
Over the past decade, VMware, Microsoft, and others have helped move the world’s computing applications onto virtual servers — machines that exist only as software — and now, a new of wave of companies is fashioning software for building complex virtual networks that tie all those virtual servers together. That’s a hard concept to grasp, but basically, these companies are moving the brains of the network out of hardware and into software.
SLAs: Are you trapped in the cloud?
Buyer beware
You would consider it somewhat careless to take out a mortgage or buy a new car without fully understanding the extent of the contract – so why are so many companies choosing to outsource their entire IT estate without fully understanding the terms and conditions?
Business would dictate a buyer beware attitude when it comes to purchasing anything and this mentality needs to be adopted when it comes to the cloud.
It is vital that a company looks at its business needs, ascertains what is considered mission critical, and signs a contract that has the SLAs in place to deliver upon those needs.
It is far too simple in the first instance to glance over a contract and assume it matches your criteria, but in reality, the first draft will usually fall in favour of the proposer.
Whilst you may resent the initial cost of employing a lawyer, in …