Journal: Return on Investment Missing from IT World

Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, InfoOps (IO), IO Sense-Making, Methods & Process
Full Blog Online

BI implementations fail because they are sold to the IT departments and not to the business users. The use case and ROI needs to be built with the business users. If that is not done, it results in:

  • high probability of self-ware
  • lack of ROI for the business user
  • a pure IT project not driven by the needs of the business

Phi Beta Iota: For decades we have been railing against the substitution of technology for thinking; the absence of processing power and analytic desk-top tool-kits, and so on.  We have also pointed out that “BI” is nothing more than data mining, that competitive intelligence ignores context, and that only commercial intelligence with a 360 view as well as historical and future forecast aspects will do.  Peter Drucker said in Forbes ASAP on 28 August 1998 that we have spent the past 50 years focused on the T in IT, and need to spend the next 50 focused on the I.  That is what this web site and the Earth Intelligence Network, a 501c3 seeking donors, are focused upon.  The World Brain and Global Game, connecting all minds to all information in all languages all the time, is achievable.   Paul Strassmann was the first to point out in a very credible documented way that the ROI for most IT investments in the Fortune 500 is negative to neutral.  IT is not pulling its weight because IT has no strategy and no intellectual frame of reference, e.g. connecting dots to dots, dots to people, and people to people so as to achieve specified outcomes.

See Also:

Steele Brief to NSA in Vegas 2000

Journal: Systems Design & “Reverse Innovation”

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Key Players, Policies, Threats
Zuckerman vs Bloomberg
Zuckerman vs Bloomberg

We are fascinated to see Mort Zuckerman bidding against Bloomberg the company for Business Week.  He spoke to OSS '96 to great effect, and with Paul Strassmann has been one of our most dynamic speakers “jacked in” to the real world with real world bottom-line seriousness.

We admire all parties concerned, along with TIME Magazine and Forbes, and we dare to hope that whoever wins, they might try Systems Design & “Reverse Innovation,” two elements of this week's Business Week as issued in Europe.

Continue reading “Journal: Systems Design & “Reverse Innovation””

Military Archives on Public Intelligence (1992-2006)

Military
Archives 1992-2006
Archives 1992-2006

2005

US

Military Steele US Army Conference: E3i: Making the Revolution

2005

US

Military USA Army Modernization Briefing

2004

US

Military Simmons Foreword to the Draft SOF OSINT Handbook

2004

NL

Military Wiebes SIGINT in Bosnia

2003

US

Military Hardee OSINT in Support of Special Operations

2003

US

Military Harrison OSINT Requirements, Collection, & Production Management

2003

US

Military Steele SOUTHCOM: Strategic Threat Assessment

2003

US

Military Steele AFCEA Texas: C4I Revolution and National Security

2003?

US

Military Steele To SecDef: Force Structure Trade-Offs and the Real World

2002

US

Military Hardee Growing an Open Source Intelligence Program

2001

US

Military Steele AUSA: Intelligence Support to a Transforming Army

2001

US

Military Steele AWC: Welcome to the Real World: Force Structure Trade-Offs

2000

CA

Military Cox OSINT at SHAPE…Some Musings

2000

FR

Military Debat The Challenge of Informing European Defence Decisions

2000

US

Military Hughes Open Sources and Intelligent Solutions

2000

Austria

Military Mueller Austrian Military Intelligence Thoughts on OSINT

2000

UK

Military Regan The UK Ministry of Defence OSINT Program

2000

US

Military Reynolds U.S. Transportation Command OSINT

2000

US

Military Steele Briefing to NATO/PfP: One World Ready or Not

1999

US

Military Clark EAGLE VISION: USAF Initiative for Tactical Receipt of Imagery

1999

US

Military Connors PACOM Additional Slides on VIC

1999

US

Military Connors U.S. Pacific Command’s Virtual Information Center (VIC)

1999

US

Military Dearth Intelligence in the 21st Century

1999

US

Military Lee Summary of Military Map Availabililty for Iran

1999

US

Military Myers & Madison Virtual Information Center Concept Refinement

1999

US

Military Prinslow & Bond Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies

1999

US

Military Steele Overview of OSINT Issues & OSINT Utility to DoD

1999

US

Military Steele Setting the Stage for Information Sharing in the 21st Century: 3 Issues

1999

US

Military Steele What Do We Need to Know and Where Do We Get It? (Slides)

1999

US

Military Steele Expeditionary Environment in the 21st Century

1999

US

Military Wirtz Bridging the Culture Gap: OSINT and the Tet Offensive

1998

US

Military Beavers & Shanahan Operationalizing IO in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Book Chapter)

1998

SE

Military Bjore Open Sources and Methods for the Military

1998

SE

Military Bjore OSINT Lessons Learned

1998

UK

Military Rathmell Assessing the IW Threat from Sub-State Groups

1998

US

Military Steele INFORMATION PEACEKEEPING: Purest Form of War (Outline)

1998

US

Military Steele Skeptical Assessment of USN-USMC Based on Real-World OSINT

1998

US

Military Steele TAKEDOWN: The Asymmetric Threat to the Nation

1998

UK

Military Tyrrell OSINT: The Challenge for NATO

1997

US

Military Alger IATAC: Building a Knowledge Base of Emerging IAT

1997

US

Military Clark EAGLE VISION: Tactical Downlink Station for Imagery

1997

US

Military Clinton Managing Complex Contingency Operations

1997

US

Military Molholm DTIC: Building a Virtual Knowledge Warehouse

1997

US

Military Necoba The Marines and OSINT

1997

US

Military Pedtke National Air Intelligence Center Science & Technology OSINT

1997

US

Military Steele CINC Brief: The One that Got CINCSOC (Now CSA) to Buy In

1997

US

Military Steele Creating a Bare Bones OSINT  Capability (Slides)

1997

US

Military Steele Creating a Bare Bones OSINT Unit for DIA

1997

US

Military Steele CINCSOC 10 Minute Brief on OSINT

1997

US

Military Vesely Striking A Balance: National, Operational, & Tactical Acquisition

1996

US

Military Smith Defense Mapping Agency and the Commercial Sector

1996

US

Military Steele Open Source Intelligence Handbook, Chapter 5, OSINT and Military

1996

US

Military Steele DIA/JMITC: National Knowledge Strategy & Revolution in Intelligence

1996

US

Military Stein Mapping, Charting, and Geodetic Needs for Remote Sensing Data

1995

SE

Military Bjore Six Years of Open Source Information (OSI): Lessons Learned

1995

US

Military Dandar Army Intelligence XXI, Open Source Status Report

1995

US

Military Dandar OSIF Exploitation for Army Intelligence XXI: Summary

1995

UK

Military Garfield Update on the UK MoD OSINT Programme (Slides)

1995

UK

Military Garfield Update on the UK MoD OSINT Programme (Text)

1995

US

Military Ricardeli OSINT in Support of Haiti Invasion (Slides)

1995

US

Military Ricardeli OSINT in Support of Haiti Invasion (Text)

1995

US

Military Steele The Military Perspective on Information Warfare: Apocalypse Now

1995

US

Military Steele AWC: Open Source Intelligence for the Military

1994

US

Military Brooks & McKeeyer Split-Based Ops in DESERT STORM: Glimpse of the Future Digital Army

1994

US

Military Munro INFORMATION WARFARE: Snake Eaters Meet Net-Heads

1994

US

Military Pedtke NAIC & The Intelligence Community Open Source Architecture

1994

US

Military Steele DIA/JMITC: NS via the Reinvention of National & Defense Intelligence

1992

US

Military Clift Military OSINT Requirements, Capabilities, and Contracting Directions

1992

US

Military Pedtke et al NAIC S&T Open Source Intelligence Requirements & Capabilities

1992

US

Military Petersen New Roles for the U.S. Military

1992

US

Military Schwartau Introduction to Information Warfare

1992

US

Military Steele Intelligence Lessons Learned from Recent Expeditionary Operations

1992

US

Military Steele Comments Prepared for Future War Roundtable

1992

US

Military Strassmann Forcing Innovation, Cutting Costs, and Increasing Defense Productivity

1991

US

Military Steele Defense Intelligence Productivity in the 1990's

1990

US

Military USMC & Steele Expeditionary Environment Research & Analysis Model

1990

US

Military USMC & Steele Expeditionary Mission Area Factors Summaries

Review: Business Value of Computers

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Information Operations, Information Technology

Amazon Page
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge Capital and Calculating Shareholder Value,

May 29, 2000
Paul Strassmann
This is the definitive book on “knowledge capital” (his trademarked term) and how to calculate shareholder value in the New Economy. In general, one should buy this book to be persuaded of Paul's brilliance, and then hire him to implement the ideas as a strategic consultant. Not for the weak-minded CEO or CIO, as it impales most corporate oxes and concludes that in general, there has been either a negative return on investment, or no discernible contribution to corporate profit, from steadily increasing information technology budgets.
Vote on Review
Vote on Review

Review: Information Productivity–Assessing Information Management Costs of U. S. Corporations

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Information Operations, Information Technology

Amazon Page
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Report Card for CIOs: D- InfoTech is NOT Profit-Maker,

April 8, 2000
Paul A. Strassmann
Paul documents the fact that “a very large share of U.S. industrial firms are not productive in terms that apply to the information age.” He evaluates and ranks 1,586 firms, and the results are both surprising and valuable.
Vote on Review
Vote on Review

Review: Information Payoff–The Transformation of Work in the Electronic Age

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Change & Innovation, Complexity & Resilience, Information Operations, Information Society, Information Technology

Amazon Page
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Five “Must Read” Books on Information Age,

April 7, 2000
Paul A. Strassmann
Paul, former Chief Information Officer for Xerox and later Director of Defense Information, used this book to address the basic issues of employee productivity in relation to information technology. This is one of a very few books, including those by Carkhuff, Cleveland, Kelly, and Toffler, that I regard as fundamental-required reading for anyone with any authority over anything.
Vote on Review
Vote on Review