TY - JOUR T1 - Using a Capability Perspective to Sustain IT Improvement JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2014 A1 - Paul E. Renaud A1 - Sheppard D. Narkier A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - capability improvement KW - capability maturity model KW - change management KW - competency capability KW - enterprise architecture KW - IT function KW - organizational culture KW - organizational learning KW - process capability KW - shadow IT KW - technology capability AB - A firm’s dependency on the information technology (IT) function is increasingly central to its ability to innovate. The IT function must balance this need for change with sustaining consistent, highly reliable operation of all existing services. A firm’s ability to rapidly change IT is impeded by its legacy portfolio of applications and infrastructure because changes need to be very carefully managed and understood in order to avoid unintended consequences leading to system failure and process breakdown. The change imperative for IT is urgent and often determines how IT is valued by the rest of the firm. Improving the IT function’s agility requires improvement in IT capabilities, which can be categorized into three broad classes: technology, process, and competency. This article identifies the critical success factors for creating sustainable change for each of these three capability classes. It draws on the practical experience of the authors and leverages appropriate standards that provide grounding for change within the IT function of the firm, along with the roles and tasks that will be involved in this change agency. The article is of primary benefit for IT executives seeking to sustain an ongoing, systematic transformation of the IT function to enable IT entrepreneurship and agility. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 4 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/802 IS - 6 U1 - The Lanigan Group Paul Renaud is Chief Executive of The Lanigan Group, which specializes in customer-driven product strategy and business-aligned IT service delivery. He is an advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs in the technology community and he is a member of industry advisory boards, including Queen’s University’s Innovation Council for the School of Computing and Ubiquity’s Chairman’s Advisory Board prior to its acquisition by Avaya. His previous roles include VP Business Intelligence Development at Cognos, Director of Computing & Networking and the Advanced Computing Research Lab at Bell Northern Research, Director of Nortel’s Public Network Switching Capacity program and Chief Architect at SHL Systemhouse. Mr. Renaud is a co-author of several patents and authored Introduction to Client/Server Systems, which was published in four languages and widely used as a university textbook. He has a BSc degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Queens University. U2 - Sheppard Narkier is a business-driven, senior information technology executive who generates business value where investment in enabling technology is an integral part of a company’s business strategy. Sheppard’s experience spans roles as a senior executive, enterprise architect, systems engineer, and developer. He has been recognized for building strong, diverse, and motivated teams that have delivered measurable business value in diverse IT environments. He has implemented mission-critical systems, reusable assets, and technology roadmaps in premier financial services institutions such as the American Stock Exchange, S&P, and UBS-IB. Sheppard was a co-founder and Chief Scientist of Adaptivity, which was acquired by EMC. Sheppard is responsible guiding EMC’s application transformation portfolio strategy. Sheppard has a BA in both Mathematics and Anthropology from Oswego State, NY. He is the co-author on several patents, has written thought-leadership blogs for Network World, Adaptivity, and EMC InFocus, and has ghost-written the book Next Generation Datacenters in Financial Services: Driving Extreme Efficiency and Effective Cost Savings. U3 - Sonia Bot is an accomplished operational executive who has experienced a wide range of climates in businesses, from unprecedented extreme highs and lows through to various stages of lifecycle development, transformation, and turnaround. She is an entrepreneurial-minded leader and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. Ms. Bot is the Chief Executive of The BOT Consulting Group Inc., where she partners with executives and entrepreneurs of global technology companies in to assist in building, growing, and transforming ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Ms. Bot is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, and industry executive member of university and business acceleration boards. Her prior work experience includes Research In Motion (BlackBerry), Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - An Ecosystem-Based Job-Creation Engine Fuelled by Technology Entrepreneurs JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2013 A1 - Tony Bailetti A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - accelerator KW - economic development KW - entrepreneur KW - incubator KW - job creation KW - Lead To Win KW - startups KW - technology entrepreneurship AB - Job creation is at the centre of the rationale provided by governments and publicly funded organizations for investing in services purported to support entrepreneurs to launch and grow technology startups. However, little is known about how to design and build the engines that convert these publicly funded services into jobs in a region. In this article, we argue that the architecture of a job-creation engine fuelled by technology entrepreneurs is important and that it should be made visible to the stakeholders of a regional venture system. The manner in which the components of a job-creation engine are organized and integrated determines the effectiveness and efficiency of the conversion of public funds into jobs. Making visible the architecture of a job-creation engine enables individuals and organizations to: i) better understand the link between the investment made to service technology entrepreneurs and systematic job creation; ii) utilize the regional venture system more effectively; and iii) set the performance benchmark for capability improvement and rapid adjustment to environmental changes. The experience gained from operating Lead To Win since 2009 is used to describe the architecture of a job-creation engine fuelled by technology entrepreneurs that operate in Canada’s Capital Region. Lead To Win is an ecosystem designed to help a technology venture generate sufficient revenue to create six or more knowledge jobs in the region within three years of inception. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 3 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/658 IS - 2 U1 - Carleton University Tony Bailetti is an Associate Professor in the Sprott School of Business and the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Professor Bailetti is the Director of Carleton University's Technology Innovation Management (TIM) program. His research, teaching, and community contributions support technology entrepreneurship, regional economic development, and international co-innovation. U2 - Lead To Win Council Sonia Bot is an entrepreneurial-minded leader/executive and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. She specializes in new venture creation, product management and delivery, business transformation and strategy, and leading organizational change. She is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed published articles, and industry executive member of the Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization Council at Carleton University. Ms. Bot currently partners with executives and entrepreneurs of small-medium enterprises and large entrepreneurial companies to assist in building, growing, and transforming new ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Her prior work experience includes Research In Motion / BlackBerry, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. In November 2012, Ms. Bot received the honour of "Innovators & Entrepreneurs" by the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Enabling Sustainable Improvement in IT Entrepreneurship JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2013 A1 - Paul E. Renaud A1 - Sheppard D. Narkier A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - capability maturity assessment KW - IT capability KW - IT entrepreneurship KW - IT function KW - process ambidexterity KW - process maturity KW - sustainable metrics AB - Firms must embrace processes that enable the information technology (IT) function to become a strategic partner to the business functions it serves. Process ambidexterity is a way for processes to be augmented to improve alignment and adaptability to new markets and technologies. By applying the principles of process ambidexterity, the key elements required for sustainable change within the capabilities that comprise the IT function of the firm are identified. Furthermore, the scope and depth of the dysfunction that is widespread across large firms that depend upon IT are outlined to provide a contextual basis for presenting a solution framework to address sustainable change. This framework for sustainable change is of primary benefit to IT executives seeking to systematically transform the IT function and enable IT entrepreneurship. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 3 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/694 IS - 6 U1 - The Lanigan Group Paul Renaud is Chief Executive of The Lanigan Group, which specializes in customer-driven product strategy and business-aligned IT service delivery. He is an advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs in the technology community, and he is a member of industry advisory boards, including Queen’s University’s Innovation Council for the School of Computing and Ubiquity’s Chairman’s Advisory Board prior to its acquisition by Avaya. His previous roles include VP Business Intelligence Development at Cognos, Director of Computing & Networking and the Advanced Computing Research Lab at Bell Northern Research, Director of Nortel’s Public Network Switching Capacity program, and Chief Architect at SHL Systemhouse. Mr. Renaud is a co-author of several patents and authored Introduction to Client/Server Systems, which was published in four languages and widely used as a university textbook. He has a BSc degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Queen's University. U2 - Sheppard Narkier is a business-driven, senior executive in information technology who generates business value where investment in enabling technology is an integral part of a company’s business strategy. Sheppard’s experience spans roles as a senior executive, enterprise architect, systems engineer, and developer. He has been recognized for building strong, diverse, and motivated teams that have delivered measurable business value in diverse IT environments. He has implemented mission-critical systems, reusable assets, and technology roadmaps in premier financial services institutions such as the American Stock Exchange, S&P, and UBS-IB. Sheppard was co-founder and Chief Scientist of Adaptivity, which was recently acquired by EMC. Sheppard is responsible for designing the rules engines that enable better system-design decisions. Sheppard has a BA in both Mathematics and Anthropology from Oswego State, NY. He is the co-author on several patents, has written thought-leadership blogs for Network World and EMC InFocus, and has ghost-written the book Next Generation Datacenters in Financial Services: Driving Extreme Efficiency and Effective Cost Savings. U3 - Sonia Bot is an entrepreneurial-minded leader/executive and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. She specializes in new venture creation, operational excellence, business transformation and strategy, leading organizational change, and evolving entrepreneurial ecosystems. She is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, member of the Lead to Win Council, and industry executive member of the Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization Council at Carleton University. Ms. Bot currently partners with executives and entrepreneurs of small-to-medium enterprises and large entrepreneurial companies in the information and computing technology sector (namely healthcare, mobility, telecommunications, software, Internet, IT) to assist in building, growing, and transforming global ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Her prior work experience includes BlackBerry / Research In Motion, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Enabling Process Alignment for IT Entrepreneurship JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2012 A1 - Paul E. Renaud A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - exploitation KW - exploration KW - IT function KW - process alignment KW - process ambidexterity AB - All firms use information technology (IT). Larger firms have IT organizations whose business function is to supply and manage IT infrastructure and applications to support the firm's business objectives. Regardless of whether the IT function has been outsourced or is resident within a firm, the objectives of the IT organization must be aligned to the strategic needs of the business. It is often a challenge to balance the demand for IT against the available supply within the firm. Most IT organizations have little capacity to carry out activities that go beyond the incremental ones that are needed to run the immediate needs of the business. A process-ambidexterity framework for IT improves the IT organization's entrepreneurial ability, which in turn, better aligns the IT function with the business functions in the firm. Process ambidexterity utilizes both process alignment and process adaptability. This article presents a framework for process alignment in IT. This is useful for understanding how the processes in Business Demand Management, a core component of the process-ambidexterity framework for IT, relate to those in IT Governance and IT Supply Chain Management. The framework is presented through three lenses (governance, business, and technology) along with real-world examples from major firms in the USA. Enabling process alignment in the IT function, and process ambidexterity overall, benefits those who govern IT, the executives who lead IT, as well as their peers in the business functions that depend on IT. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 2 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/626 IS - 11 U1 - The Lanigan Group Paul Renaud is Chief Executive of The Lanigan Group, which specializes in customer-driven product strategy and business-aligned IT service delivery. He is an advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs in the technology community and he is a member of industry advisory boards, including Queen’s University’s Innovation Council for the School of Computing and Ubiquity’s Chairman’s Advisory Board prior to its acquisition by Avaya. His previous roles include VP Business Intelligence Development at Cognos, Director of Computing & Networking and the Advanced Computing Research Lab at Bell Northern Research, Director of Nortel’s Public Network Switching Capacity program and Chief Architect at SHL Systemhouse. Mr. Renaud authored Introduction to Client/Server Systems, which was published in four languages and widely used as a university textbook. He has a BSc degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Queens University. U2 - Sonia Bot is an entrepreneurial-minded executive and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. She specializes in new venture creation, product management and delivery, business transformation and strategy, and leading organizational change. She is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, and industry executive member of the Technology Innovation Management Council at Carleton University. Ms. Bot currently provides consulting services by partnering with executives and entrepreneurs of small-to-medium enterprises and large entrepreneurial companies to assist in building, growing, and transforming new ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Her prior work experience includes Research In Motion, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - An Overview of Four Issues on Technology Entrepreneurship in the TIM Review JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2012 A1 - Tony Bailetti A1 - Sonia D. Bot A1 - Tom Duxbury A1 - David Hudson A1 - Chris McPhee A1 - Steven Muegge A1 - Michael Weiss A1 - Jonathan Wells A1 - Mika Westerlund KW - creative destruction KW - global entrepreneurship KW - journal articles KW - social entrepreneurship KW - technology entrepreneurship KW - theory AB - The field of technology entrepreneurship is in its infancy when compared to other fields such as economics and management. Articles on technology entrepreneurship have been published in at least 62 journals, of which only 18 contribute to technology innovation management or entrepreneurship. Less than a handful of these 62 journals are considered to be "good" journals and none can claim a leadership position in technology entrepreneurship. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the 20 journal articles published in the February, March, April, and May 2012 issues of the Technology Innovation Management Review (TIM Review). PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 2 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/557 IS - 5 U1 - Carleton University Tony Bailetti is an Associate Professor in the Sprott School of Business and the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Professor Bailetti is the Director of Carleton University's Technology Innovation Management program. His research, teaching, and community contributions support technology entrepreneurship, regional economic development, and international co-innovation. (See end of article for further author biographies.) ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Process Adaptability in the IT Supply Chain JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2012 A1 - Paul E. Renaud A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - exploitation KW - exploration KW - IT function KW - process adaptability KW - process ambidexterity KW - supply chain AB - The continuous pressure to minimize IT costs challenges the IT function to achieve a balance between its own effectiveness and the productivity of the users in the business functions that it serves (i.e., user effectiveness). In many cases, user effectiveness is sacrificed to ensure IT function effectiveness. Process adaptability improves the IT organization’s entrepreneurial ability by balancing these conflicting productivity and performance objectives. This article applies a process-ambidexterity framework to examine how process adaptability in IT is affected by the choice of different strategies for IT Demand Management as well as different fulfillment strategies for IT Supply Chain Management. Alternative fulfillment strategies are presented, along with criteria and indicators that impact IT and user effectiveness that have been applied within major firms. IT and senior business executives will find this article valuable for helping understand how they can influence the balance between IT and user productivity through their choice of different Demand Management and IT fulfillment strategies. Academic readers will discover that, while process adaptability in IT is an important enabler for implementing dynamic alignment between business and IT function objectives, there may be circumstances where IT process adaptability is not a priority for the business. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 2 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/627 IS - 11 U1 - The Lanigan Group Paul Renaud is Chief Executive of The Lanigan Group, which specializes in customer-driven product strategy and business-aligned IT service delivery. He is an advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs in the technology community and he is a member of industry advisory boards, including Queen’s University’s Innovation Council for the School of Computing and Ubiquity’s Chairman’s Advisory Board prior to its acquisition by Avaya. His previous roles include VP Business Intelligence Development at Cognos, Director of Computing & Networking and the Advanced Computing Research Lab at Bell Northern Research, Director of Nortel’s Public Network Switching Capacity program and Chief Architect at SHL Systemhouse. Mr. Renaud authored Introduction to Client/Server Systems, which was published in four languages and widely used as a university textbook. He has a BSc degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Queens University. U2 - Sonia Bot is an entrepreneurial-minded executive and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. She specializes in new venture creation, product management and delivery, business transformation and strategy, and leading organizational change. She is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, and industry executive member of the Technology Innovation Management Council at Carleton University. Ms. Bot currently provides consulting services by partnering with executives and entrepreneurs of small-to-medium enterprises and large entrepreneurial companies to assist in building, growing, and transforming new ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Her prior work experience includes Research In Motion, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Process Ambidexterity for Entrepreneurial Firms JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2012 A1 - Sonia D. Bot KW - business management KW - exploitation KW - exploration KW - performance improvement KW - process ambidexterity KW - technology entrepreneurship AB - Technology-based entrepreneurial firms must effectively support both mainstream exploitation and new-stream exploration in order to remain competitive for the long term. The processes that support exploitation and exploration initiatives are different in terms of logistics, payoff horizons, and capabilities. Few firms are able to strike a balance between the two, where mainstream exploitation usually trumps new-stream exploration. The ultimate goal is for the firm to operate effectively in a repeatable, scalable, and systematic manner, rather than relying on good luck and hoping either to come up with the next innovation or for the product to function according to its requirements. This article builds on the author’s years of experience in building businesses and transforming medium and large-sized, entrepreneurial technology firms, leading large-scale breakthrough and sustained performance improvements by using and evolving Lean Six Sigma methodologies, and reviews of technology innovation management and entrepreneurship literature. This article provides a process-based perspective to understanding and addressing the issues on balancing mainstream exploitation and new-stream exploration in medium and large-sized entrepreneurial firms and extending it to startups. The resulting capability is known as process ambidexterity and requires disciplined, agile, and lean business management. VL - 2 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/547 IS - 4 U1 - Sonia Bot is a business executive who specializes in strategy and business execution for technology innovation and corporate entrepreneurship ventures. She has extensive experience in the high-tech industry, including business transformation and strategy, product management and delivery, and new venture creation within multinational technology companies. Her work experience includes Research In Motion, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Process Ambidexterity for IT Entrepreneurship JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2012 A1 - Sonia D. Bot A1 - Paul E. Renaud KW - business demand KW - business value chains KW - exploitation KW - exploration KW - IT KW - IT supply KW - process ambidexterity AB - All firms use information technology (IT). Larger firms have information technology organizations whose business function is to supply and manage IT infrastructure and applications to support business needs for IT. While some firms have chosen to outsource the IT function, the majority rely on an internal IT organization that is focused on running the IT infrastructure and optimizing IT operations and applications by exploiting technology improvements over time. Most IT organizations have little capacity to carry out transformational initiatives because they are focused on incremental improvements needed to run the business. As the global economy contracts, growing cost pressure on firms escalates the need for the IT function to behave in a more entrepreneurial manner that accelerates the availability of new technological solutions to enhance productivity and lower cost of doing business. This article provides a process-based perspective for understanding and addressing an IT function’s ability to implement entrepreneurial practices that better align the IT function to business functions. This is done by developing the capability of process ambidexterity. Improving an IT organization’s entrepreneurial ability results in improved productivity, shorter time to market, and lower operational costs – as validated by recent practice with major firms in the USA. Developing process ambidexterity in the IT function benefits those who govern IT, the executives who lead IT, as well as their peers in the business functions that depend on IT. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa VL - 2 UR - http://timreview.ca/article/596 IS - 8 U1 - Sonia Bot is an entrepreneurial-minded executive and strategic thinker with extensive experience in technology innovation and global business management. She specializes in new venture creation, product management and delivery, business transformation and strategy, and leading organizational change. She is an accomplished industry presenter, author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, and industry executive member of the Technology Innovation Management Council at Carleton University. Ms. Bot currently provides consulting services by partnering with executives and entrepreneurs of small-to-medium enterprises and large entrepreneurial companies to assist in building, growing, and transforming new ventures and to solve wicked business problems. Her prior work experience includes Research In Motion, Nortel, Bell-Northern Research, IBM, and TransCanada Pipelines. She holds degrees in Computer Science with Systems Design / Electrical Engineering (BMath) from the University of Waterloo and Biomedical Engineering (MASc) from the University of Toronto, and she is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. U2 - The Lanigan Group Paul Renaud is Chief Executive of The Lanigan Group, which specializes in customer-driven product strategy and business-aligned IT service delivery. He is an advisor to CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs in the technology community and he is a member of industry advisory boards, including Queen’s University’s Innovation Council for the School of Computing and Ubiquity’s Chairman’s Advisory Board prior to its acquisition by Avaya. His previous roles include VP Business Intelligence Development at Cognos, Director of Computing & Networking and the Advanced Computing Research Lab at Bell Northern Research, Director of Nortel’s Public Network Switching Capacity program and Chief Architect at SHL Systemhouse. Mr. Renaud authored Introduction to Client/Server Systems, which was published in four languages and widely used as a university textbook. He has a BSc degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Queens University. ER -