A couple of months ago I was talking with some of my colleagues at ITKO, an application lifecycle optimization company acquired by CA Technologies in 2011. We were discussing different trends they were seeing in their market space, and one they highlighted was the tremendous amount of software development going on in companies that are not traditional tech companies. As the ITKO Chief Technology Officer John Michelsen said in his post here last month, “Customers often joke that they have more developers on staff than Oracle or Microsoft.” Increasingly, no matter what your business, you ARE in the business of technology innovation. In many ways, being agile at leveraging technology to deliver new innovative business services is essential for survival. If you don’t do it, your competitors will. 
This notion was re-enforced in the post below from Rob Preston in InformationWeek entitled “IT as Profit Maker.” As he asks: “Is Ford a car and truck manufacturer, or is it the operator of one of the world's most sophisticated supply chains, requiring a wide range of IT competencies from start to finish?” And if it is the latter, is there a way to profit from this while at the same time not giving away your competitive advantage? These are some pretty tricky issues for CIOs to navigate, but if successful, they can prove their value and that of IT overall to their organization as never before.
Here’s what was in the IT consumerization news in the last two weeks:
June 13: Consumerization of IT, social business: a view from Latin America by Michael Fauscette
What CIOs in Latin America have to say about IT Consumerization and other key challenges, courtesy of IDC’s Michael Fauscette, from their recent roadshow.
June 12: How Ancestry.com is using big data by Derrick Harris via Gigaom
It has an astounding 4-petabyte data store with 10 billion genealogical records.
June 11: Social software emphasis shifts to getting work done by David Carr via Brainyard
Preview of some of the insight from Gartner’s Larry Cannell to be discussed at the Enterprise 2.0 Boston 2012 conference. Enabling employees to leverage an enterprise social environment will take focus by IT.
June 10: How CIOs can pilot the untethered enterprise by Irving Wladawsky-Berger via CIO Journal
As we transition from the tethered, connected world of PCs, browsers and classic data centers to the untethered, hyperconnected world of smart mobile devices and cloud computing, what strategies should CIOs employ? Interesting perspectives from a recent MIT Sloan CIO Symposium.
June 8: Why marketing goes rogue IT by Minda Zetlin via CIO
Marketing wants things fast, and vendors are lining up to support them. The CIO and CMO really need to get on the same page.
June 8: Mobile devices bring cloud storage and security risks to work by Lucas Mearian via Computerworld
The risks are growing, and some are recommending a “bus stop” policy: If an employee wouldn't be comfortable leaving company information at a bus stop, they shouldn't be willing to store it in an unsanctioned public cloud.
June 8: How hashtags and social media can bring mega corporations to their knees by Jeff Howe via The Atlantic
Social media and high technology are subverting the economy's traditional, top-down hierarchies. As consumers gain leverage, corporations are learning to obey.
June 8: 5 reasons Massachusetts will lead in Big Data by Peter Cohan via Forbes
Besides having more than 120 big data-related companies, my next-door neighbor state has a rich history in all the crucial ingredients to making big data a reality.
June 6: Five "Internet of things" articles worth reading via Digi
If you are interested in learning more about what this trend is all about, here is a great blog post with links to several articles that will help explain it all.
June 6: The cloud computing forecast is increasingly hybrid via Delimiter
No need to choose between public and private clouds - why not deploy both in an integrated approach - to take advantage of the strengths of each model and consider developing your applications the same way.
June 5: Next up: the consumerization of business processes by Nicolas Evans via Computerworld
Four paths to mobile-oriented business process redesign.
June 5: Handling the BYOD surge: 5 assumptions for IT pros by Scott Ashdown via ZDNet
You would think this topic is getting old and we have moved beyond it, but you would be wrong.
June 4: How Big Data Gets Real by Quentin Hardy via NYTimes
Interesting insight from a recent forum hosted by the University of California, Berkeley, iSchool on what’s happening with big data and which vendors are doing what.
June 1: IT as profit-maker by Rob Preston via InformationWeek
Many non-IT companies have patented, trademarked or copyrighted at least one tech innovation, generating profits for their companies.
NEW from CA Technologies This Week:
• Latest Chief & Chuck cartoon asks whether cloud computing can help prevent paper jams! See it here: HERE.
• Great new post by Greg Valdez on IT leadership challenges in the face of consumer driven IT.
• Interview with Peter Griffiths on why Big Data will make the cloud more important.