Aaron Erickson [email_address]

Thou shalt eradicate the term “The Business”, and replace it with “Our Business”

Thou shalt stop treating Agile and Waterfall as equivalent methodologies

If IT is still a cost center, thou shalt either fire your CFO, or fire your CIO

Thou shalt not enter into fixed bid custom software development contracts unless you are willing to bend on scope or bend on quality during the project.

Thou shalt not treat users of line-of-business software as a captive audience.

Thou shalt use the current employer’s market as an opportunity to upgrade your people.

Thou shalt end the practice of purchasing technology services purely by hourly rate.

Thou shalt demand better business intelligence.

Thou shalt outsource non-strategic IT functions.

Thou shalt not cower in fear – as though the world is going to end – and use the downturn as an opportunity for your business to expand its piece of even a shrinking pie.

Underlying Principles: Reduce costs – Stop spending “stupid” money. Stop throwing money at non-performing people and investments. Take savings from cost reduction – Invest in high ROI projects opportunistically. Stop pretending – Demand transparency in software development projects, demand visibility into the projected and realized return on investment. Your users are customers – Stop forcing software on users as though they are a captive market Head over heart – Being fearful and over-reacting will not lead you to good decision making. Look for opportunities to take advantage of others fear to improve your company’s competitive position.

Reduce costs – Stop spending “stupid” money. Stop throwing money at non-performing people and investments.

Take savings from cost reduction – Invest in high ROI projects opportunistically.

Stop pretending – Demand transparency in software development projects, demand visibility into the projected and realized return on investment.

Your users are customers – Stop forcing software on users as though they are a captive market

Head over heart – Being fearful and over-reacting will not lead you to good decision making. Look for opportunities to take advantage of others fear to improve your company’s competitive position.

About the Author Blog: http://blog.magenic.com/blogs/aarone/ Email: [email_address] Phone: 630-640-6991 Aaron Erickson is a speaker, author, and thought leader, helping companies around the world discover new ways to use technology, as well as leverage the technology they already have. Contact information:

Blog: http://blog.magenic.com/blogs/aarone/

Email: [email_address]

Phone: 630-640-6991