[kictanet] IT posts for full circle

[S.Murigi Muraya]

Excellent notes.. by Phares

It is not that ICT does not have money, it is that we do not implement /
support Information Systems as much as we should to increase transparency /
accountability / good (profitable) behavior in our organizations / societies
/ governments.

Beware: When an IT Pro becomes an Enemy of Fraud.. He becomes an enemy of
the Corrupt State..

CEO's and CFO's who keep CIO's from doing their work -- that is to increase
efficiency (reduce wastage and grow profits), business intelligence and
transparency within organizations -- should be penalized / punished by their
employers / shareholders.

After financial scandals in the USA, messaging (not just accounting) systems
in Corporate firms, are being developed to help compliance with their
Sarnabanes Oxley (SOX) and other Acts..

http://www.cbe.wwu.edu/dunn/rprnts.SOXGoals.pdf

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchange2010/thread/d2398d2a-03bf-446b-877c-7d9a58040b89/

Three or so years ago, a technical associate (MS Exchange Technology
Specialist) was available for consulting and could not find / get good
consulting work. This with all the cooperative societies / government
parastatals that could have benefitted from his expertise in setting up and
managing Corporate messaging systems. He got hired by an American
organization that set up their regional HQ in Nairobi and is managing their
IT (including Google Apps) in a number of African countries..

Colleges / Universities should not mislead their students into believing
FOSS will help corporate career development as much as major IT brands do.

:)


On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 10:23 AM, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 2:17 PM, Charles Maye <cmaye at ke.nationmedia.com>wrote:
>
>> Actually, IT on its own cannot create profits.
>>
>
> I choose to strongly disagree. Equity Bank credit's a large chunk of
> it's profitability to good use of IT. Will give a basic example, Business
> Intelligence. A forte of IT which enables a business to make informed
> decisions e.g. Starbucks previously had an issue with declining coffee
> sales. BI enabled them to figure out *which* demographic was not buying
> coffee and they started positioning the lot for coffee consumption (move
> them from the regular milkshake to frappuccino to cappuccino to latte and
> hopefully espresso enthusiasts). IT can lead to new services that can create
> profits, the CIO's job is to create these...
>
>
>> ****
>>
>> Airtel Kenya has a network that is as good as any. But they are losing
>> cash. Same goes for Telkom Kenya. Africa Online was a great idea born by IT
>> experts. It was ahead of its time and never made money. When a technology is
>> new to the world, it can generate profits. The moment it is duplicated and
>> commoditized and for the rest of its life, it needs another set of skills.
>> That set of skills is what makes organizations select people other than IT
>> experts as CIO’s.
>>
>
> This is actually a failing of business, not technology. Correct me if I'm
> wrong but Airtel had the best *technology* circa 2001, but the problem was
> that they chose to go for per-minute not per-second billing, the CEO, not
> the CIO was at fault in this case....
>
> We have some brilliant CIO's in Kenya and beyond, the issue, in my opinion
> is a HR issue (i.e. getting the right CIO for your organization with the
> right blend of technical and commercial skills).
>
> I find it ironical that we claim to be a country that is aiming to be at
> the bleeding edge of technology that has no hope for the role of CIO or jobs
> in the IT sector in general....
>
>
> --
> With Regards,
>
> Phares Kariuki
>
> | T: +254 720 406 093 | E: pkariuki at gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype:
> kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
>
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