Powerful Visualizations ( I am sure you can be as creative!)

We all need to find powerful (and intuitive) ways to represent multi-dimenional data.  Here's one that I found that is intuitive and powerful to depict the historical trends in browser market share.

I am sure many have you have not only seen such creative ways to depict data to make key points succinctly. I want to encourage you to think about constructing such visualizations as part of your work in the course and beyond.  We have the processing power to make it happen now and share it with others as well.

Of course, the reference point for elegantly presenting data and information is still Ed Tufte.

Apple as the 'Largest Mobile Devices Company'--Nokia Disputes the Claim

When launching iPad on Wednesday, Steve Jobs claimed that Apple is "the leading mobile devices company" by using a very broad definition of the market that include iPods, iPhones and Macbooks (which are all portable devices). But that definition is too broad for Nokia that has now lashed out at Apple for the claim. In a blogpost, Nokia claims that it is bigger when we use the more conventional yardstick, namely: the number of devices (units) sold. In the same blog, Mark Squires notes

"We all agree that size matters in business. It’s not everything, but it counts for a lot. It has allowed Nokia to spread mobile communications technology at ever more affordable prices to people in every corner of the world."

Bragging rights are important but more seriously, is Apple right in claiming that it is the biggest mobile devices company based on revenues by including iPods and Macbooks in addition to the more narrowly-defined definition of mobile phones?  How relevant is it for strategic analysis and comparison? 

CIO Priorities

Hello All,

This post might not directly relate to our discussions that we have had in class till now. Still, I thought it would be a good idea to share a series of blogs on "CIO Priorities" that I initiated in Fall '09 with Sramana Mitra, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur on her website. The series deals with understanding the current priorities of CIOs of top organizations in the context of the tough economic climate.

Blog Link

Best,
Narayanan

Welcome to IS714 (Spring 2010)

I look forward to informed and reasoned discussions on IT Strategy during the semester. Good Luck.