Check Out InformationWeek's "10 Lessons In IT Strategy From Ex-HP CIO Randy Mott"

The July issue of InformationWeek offers interesting advice from ex-CIO at HP about tech development. While this blog generally looks at issues related to traditional and social media, there's still an interest in understanding our clients' customers, often CIOs within the organization.

 Check out the article, but here are some key lessons that can apply to communications functions as well as IT:

• The Revenue of IT: companies need to establish metrics for IT projects, and meet them, in order to have credibility with higher ups.
• It's Tough to Imagine Fast Enough: You need to think about getting the technology into people's hands faster. Sometimes the same is true about project updates.
• Fewer Projects at Once, Finish Them Faster. When you're working on too many projects, it can take more time to complete all of them. Instead, orgs should focus on fewer, but get them done sooner.
• Time Doesn't Make it Better. Extending deadlines doesn't necessarily improve project outcomes. As is often quoted, sometimes "good enough" (that's delivered on time) is better than "perfect" that's delivered late.

Mott makes some other fine points, which are worth checking out here from a communications management perspective.

Why Did an Unlikely Media Land Ahead of Forbes and BusinessWeek on a List of Top B2B Outlets?

Back in May (I’m playing catch up), BtoB Magazine presented its annual list of top media. Some of their picks are not surprising – like Wall Street Journal (1), Google.com (2), The Economist (3), Yahoo! (4), Forbes/Forbes.com (7), and BusinessWeek (9).

My nine-year-old could’ve come up with that list (since he’s seen me read most of them or search for info on them).

But a re few are surprising, like TechTarget (6) and InformationWeek (10).

Please keep in mind: BtoB editors and reporters used “both objective and subjective criteria” in compiling their lists. “They evaluated data such as ad revenue and audience, and interviewed top media buyers, advertisers and industry analysts for their opinions on the most powerful and targeted b-to-b advertising venues” so these may not be the best outlets for every B2B client, but it’s a decent starting point.

As for why TechTarget scored higher than Forbes or BusinessWeek, here’s what BtoBOnline noted: “With the recession putting tremendous pressure on marketers to deliver ROI, “we've been focusing more than ever on helping advertisers prioritize leads and nurture them,” said Greg Strakosch, co-founder and CEO of TechTarget. “We're giving advertisers much more information about those leads so that they can take the proper actions and get revenue more quickly.”

TechTarget is also helping its customers get to know their IT customers better. “We've partnered with Google on research on how IT professionals use search and how their search habits change at different stages in the buying process,” he said. TechTarget held half a dozen regional meetings to disseminate the findings and produced two annual Online ROI summits for high-level technology marketers and agency people.

Interesting.

Here are some other sections to check out:

• General News
• General Business
• Information Technology
• Vertical Media
  
• Websites, social media