In this week's news roundup for IT pros, we bring you a links from around the web on IT topics from the Internet of Things to the gig economy.
Making the future of IoT exciting and safe
This week we asked IT leaders what excites them about the future of the Internet of Things. They spoke of the unlimited opportunities to improve the customer experience, and new and exciting gadgets for tech enthusiasts. What's not exciting about the future of IoT, they say, is the potential for cybersecurity issues. The Next Web rounded up 10 entrepreneurs to find out how IoT companies can adhere to data security best practices as they continue to push these exciting new products out the door. Responses ranged from hiring a hacker to make products unbreachable, to providing better education to users and staff.
Fundamentals for CIOs
When veteran CIOs are asked to provide advice for the up-and-coming generation of IT leaders, their responses typically serve as a good reminder for all CIOs, regardless of how long they've been in the game. Martha Heller's column in CIO this week proves this yet again, as she outlines seven CIO best practices from Thomas Lord, CIO of UGI Utilities. Among his advice, Lord says, “You have to have a way to validate a shared understanding of the business problem and the technology solution with your business colleagues. If you look back over the history of when IT has gotten the solution wrong, it's because we haven't understood the business context of the problem.”
What do DevOps and the gig economy have in common?
The gig economy is getting a lot of attention as a new way to structure work and to ease some of the pain of the IT talent war. In an article this week by Christopher Tozzi, he explores the interesting parallels between the gig economy and DevOps. He points to the ways that DevOps makes software delivery scalable, modular and faster, and argues that the gig economy provides similar benefits to companies that hire freelancers and contract workers by delivering on-demand, efficient, and specialized skills whenever they need them.
More news for CIOs
How culture change fuels digital transformation: Lessons from Westpac New Zealand [Forbes]
Keeping control when you're not in the office: Five tips for managing a dispersed team [ZDNet]
IT leaders share their strategy for creating authenticity [CIO]
