IT Digital

Stereo de Luxe are two Berlin producers, guitarist Tom Krimi and writer/DJ Kassi. Together they collaborate intermittently with various singers and musicians including vocal-juggler Hartmut Lippstueck, Agent Annie and Sol. They produce a tight, highly polished, funky and somehow very German sound IT Digital.

Back in 1994, Stereo de Luxe began life in the newly re-united Berlin where DJ Kassi gave audiences the nightclub soundtrack to experience the rediscovered and constantly evolving German “Hauptstadt” by. Kassi went on to tour under the name Stereo de Luxe across Germany, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the US spreading the message of unity at a plethora of hip international clubs.

In 1998 Stereo de Luxe finally became a duo with the arrival of Tom Krimi. Together they recorded the highly acclaimed album Glam-o-Rama on Germany’s Bungalow Records. A track from the album even found its way onto a compilation by Freshly Squeezed boss Nick Hollywood for his former label Club Montepulciano.

Further sporadic releases followed on Freddy Fresh’s Howlin Records (USA), Plastic Raygun (UK), Escalator (Japan) and Pussycats (Spain) amongst many others. When Kassi recently relocated to London he unexpectedly found himself DJing the same club as Nick from Freshly Squeezed. A deal was swiftly forged and new and unreleased material by Stereo de Luxe was snapped up to form the basis of their on-going EP series.

Kassi continues to travel the globe DJing of tech-house, electro-funk and breakbeat or touring with his rock-band Electric Airline. Tom Krimi has been laying down tracks for his first solo-album. In between all this, they occasionally meet up in their studio in a disused Berlin factory and forge new beats, vibes and sounds for Stereo de Luxe.

Technology doesn't care

technology has grown in power and ubiquity, companies have come to view it as evermore critical to their success; their heavy spending on hardware and software clearly reflects that assumption. Chief executives routinely talk about information technology's strategic value, about how they can use IT to gain a competitive edge. But scarcity, not ubiquity, makes a business resource truly strategic--and allows companies to use it for a sustained competitive advantage.

You gain an edge over rivals only by doing something that they can't. IT is the latest in a series of broadly adopted technologies--think of the railroad or the electric generator--that have reshaped industry over the past two centuries. For a brief time, these technologies created powerful opportunities for forward-looking companies. But as their availability increased and their costs decreased, they became commodity inputs. From a strategic standpoint, they no longer mattered.

That's exactly what's happening to IT, and the implications are profound. In this article, HBR's Editor-at-Large Nicholas Carr suggests that IT management should, frankly, become boring. It should focus on reducing risks, not increasing opportunities. For example, companies need to pay more attention to ensuring network and data security. Even more important, they need to manage IT costs more aggressively. IT may not help you gain a strategic advantage, but it could easily put you at a cost disadvantage.

Information Technology and the Board of Directors

Ever since the Y2K scare, boards have grown increasingly nervous about corporate dependence on information technology. Since then, computer crashes, denial of service attacks, competitive pressures, and the need to automate compliance with government regulations have heightened board sensitivity to IT risk.

Unfortunately, most boards remain largely in the dark when it comes to IT spending and strategy, despite the fact that corporate information assets can account for more than 50% of capital spending. A lack of board oversight for IT activities is dangerous, the authors say. It puts firms at risk in the same way that failing to audit their books would.

Companies that have established board-level IT governance committees are better able to control IT project costs and carve out competitive advantage. But there is no one-size-fits-all model for board supervision of a company's IT operations. The correct approach depends on what strategic "mode" a company is in--whether its operations are extremely dependent on IT and whether it relies heavily on keeping up with the latest technologies.

This article spells out the conditions under which boards need to change their level of involvement in IT decisions, explaining how members can recognize their firms' IT risks and decide whether they should pursue more aggressive IT governance. The authors delineate what an IT governance committee should look like in terms of charter, membership, duties, and overall agenda.

They also offer recommendations for developing IT policies that take into account an organization's operational and strategic needs and suggest what to do when those needs change. Given the dizzying pace of change in the world of IT, boards can't afford to ignore the state of their IT systems and capabilities. Appropriate board governance can go a long way toward helping a company avoid unnecessary risk and improve its competitive position.

Information Technology Puts Power in Control Systems

Faster and more flexible information technology can be converted into positive programs to help get and keep customers. It can revitalize the traditional corporate control functions. While the new technology offers managers new options for gathering, organizing, and using data, it opens new horizons for new results. Companies can get constant updates on field operations. Organizations confined by historic accounting or reporting formats can now arrange information however best suits their purposes. Technology has the power to transform the information and control function.

Information Technology and Tomorrow's Manager

Technology now develops faster than before, in the future managers will be able to choose the kind of organization they want. New structures, associated with adhocracies, networks, or "cluster organizations," will spring up around old ones. Information technology will enable cluster-type organizations to have the benefits of small scale and large scale simultaneously. Teams will accomplish most work, with leadership shared among members, and workers will be better trained, more autonomous, and more transient. Finally, expert systems will make decision making better understood, and computers will allow control to be exercised separately from reporting relationships

The Story of Success

There is something profoundly wrong with the way we look at success. We cling to the idea that success is a simple function of individual merit and that the world in which we grow up and the rules we choose to write as a society, don't matter at all."

Information Technology India`s Tomorrow

Information Technology India`s Tomorrow

Information Technology (IT) has emerged as the centre of attraction and attention of not only the industry but also the political leadership, business and above all the youths of this country who are launching into their professional career. Recently India has enacted the Information Technology Bill paving the way for creating a structure of cyber laws. The book highlights India's vision on Information Technology in the New Millennium. It analyses the key issues like IT Application in Government Departments,Usage of IT for the Masses, Computerisation of Basic Services, Application of Internet to Business, Venture Capital for IT industry, Talent Export & Technology Import, Challenges Ahead for Software Industry, National Information Infrastructure etc.

Welcome Tomorrow's It

If you feel your time might be better spent focusing on your business rather than worrying about IT management, then perhaps we can help.

Tomorrow's IT Challenges Today