Loraine Antrim

What if "The Cloud" visited a psychiatrist? Does Cloud and Cloud Computing need therapy? Are they suffering from split personality disorder? With so many people giving different definitions of what Cloud Computing is, no wonder The Cloud has an identity crisis. Be a fly on the wall and listen in to the Cloud's therapy session. Scene: Office of Dr. Virgil I. Zation, a noted Silicon Valley Psychiatrist. Dr. Zation is having a therapy session with a new patient named Cloud. Doctor: How can I help you, Mr. Cloud? Cloud: You can drop the "Mr." and just call me "The Cloud." Doctor: Ok, Cloud. What brings you to my office? Cloud: Doctor, I think I'm in an identity crisis. I just don't seem to know who I am anymore. On the one hand, I'm "The Cloud." I've got a handle on that identity, but now people are talking about "Cloud Computing," and it's really confusing me, and worst of ... (more)

The CIO as Tarzan

New Media on Ulitzer Today, CIOs are turned on, You Tubed-in and highly social.  They use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  They blog and appear in videos and engage with their constituents via collaborative technologies. Very hi tech but very low touch. Advice to CIOs: Go Primitive The question is: are we relying too much on technology to communicate our messages and forgetting the human element? It might seem blasphemous to even suggest not using technology to connect and communicate, but pull back for a moment.  Have you considered going primitive? . The Urban Dictionary explains g... (more)

Walter Cronkite's IT Career Advice

The late Walter Cronkite as a role model for IT managers? At first glance, we might not see the connection between "the most trusted man in America" and high tech management. But if we pull back the layers of how Cronkite approached his job, there are solid day-to-day career lessons for those working in IT. Seven Best Practices Straight From the Desk of Uncle Walter 1. Explain things in a simple way so everyone can understand. CBS' Bob Schieffer said people "understood Cronkite was guiding you through events." He translated the complex or hard to understand in a way that made you n... (more)

IT Personnel Hit Hard by New Flu Outbreak

The newest target population is IT presenters, and the geographic scope of this nascent disease is now global. Rapid onslaught of symptoms include the inability to focus and then agitation. Physical symptoms are fidgeting, then heavy sighing, culminating in the urge to scream.  The final symptom is Cerebral Mortis: the brain just shuts down. The original or parent disease is DBP: Death by Power Point, but a recent variation, the F5 strain, is gaining strength especially in the IT community. What is this new mutation of Death by Power Point? Embedded  Content The new strain embeds ... (more)

Cracking the IT Da Vinci Code

When non-IT folks listen to technology staff talk about IT, it's a bit like trying to crack the Da Vinci Code. It sometimes seems like a secret language that confuses and maybe even intimidate business users. But by following a few communication best practices, IT personnel can crack "the code" and have an effective and successful dialogue with their business units. Scene one: The CIO walked into her doctor's office complaining of sore throat and a fever.  She was a bit concerned about the rumors of swine flu hitting IT personnel.  "No," her doctor assured her, "You don't have swi... (more)