Rebuilding Revenue at the Source: Why CPQ and Revenue Lifecycle Transformation Should Be on Every CIO’s Agenda
CIOs are being urged to elevate configuration, pricing and quoting (CPQ) from a back‑office function to a strategic revenue engine. Companies face bloated product catalogs, subscription‑based pricing and fragmented data that create manual handoffs, revenue leakage, and slower sales cycles. Legacy CPQ platforms struggle to integrate with modern CRM and ERP ecosystems, prompting vendors like Conga to rebuild on cloud‑native architecture. The article outlines a roadmap for CIOs to modernise the revenue lifecycle and unlock margin and speed.
World Back Up Day 2026 – What Are the Takeaways?
World Backup Day 2026 highlighted that backups alone no longer guarantee security. Experts from WatchGuard, KnowBe4, and Keeper urged organizations to move beyond storage and implement fully tested, recovery‑focused resilience plans. The discussion emphasized that data loss is inevitable, ransomware...
High Availability, Disaster Recovery, and Operational Resilience Across SQL Server Environments
DH2i announced the general availability of DxEnterprise v26.0 and DxOperator v2, upgrades that bring advanced high‑availability, disaster‑recovery and resilience features to SQL Server on Windows, Linux and Kubernetes. DxEnterprise adds default database‑level health monitoring, automatic quorum enforcement to avoid split‑brain, and stronger...
LiteLLM Incident: Mitigated and Contained with SAP LeanIX
LiteLLM, an open‑source large language model framework, was hit by a malicious supply‑chain attack that injected compromised code into its dependencies. SAP LeanIX’s security team identified the breach within hours and executed a coordinated response that isolated the threat and...
How AI Will Break the 1–3x ITSM Implementation Cost Rule
The long‑standing 1‑to‑3‑times implementation cost rule for IT service management (ITSM) tools is being challenged by AI‑driven digital workers. By automating catalog configuration, incident analysis, knowledge‑base creation, and documentation, these agents can slash the labor‑intensive phases of deployment. Organizations that...
A Conversation with Denys Nazarenko, Advisor to Kyiv's CIO
In Kyiv, advisor Denys Nazarenko explains how the city’s digital infrastructure, built during the pandemic, became a lifeline during Russia’s renewed attacks on energy systems. The municipal command‑and‑control center aggregates data from sensors and services, feeding the Kyiv Digital app...
Target Architecture Planning 1: Transformation Is Hard
LeanIX announced a new Target Architecture Planning feature that will let SAP‑focused customers map both their existing and future IT landscapes. The tool is designed to simplify the complex process of enterprise transformation by providing visual roadmaps and scenario analysis....
Routers Replace PCs as Primary Threat Vector in Evolving Device Risk Landscape
Forescout’s 2026 Riskiest Connected Devices report shows routers have overtaken PCs as the top enterprise threat vector, accounting for roughly one‑third of critical vulnerabilities. On average, routers and switches now expose about 32 flaws each, and 75% of the riskiest...
Open CTI End of Life: Planning Your Migration to Service Cloud Voice
Salesforce announced that Open CTI will be retired on February 28, 2028, prompting organizations to shift their telephony integration to Service Cloud Voice, now branded as Salesforce Voice. The transition involves moving from a browser‑based CTI panel to a native...
How to Deliver Bad News to Executives? An IT Leader’s Communication Playbook
The StarCIO Bad News Communication Playbook gives IT leaders a step‑by‑step framework for informing executives about outages, security incidents, or missed targets. It stresses assessing impact on revenue, brand and risk, then delivering a concise headline, context, and a clear...
Mitigating the Unexpected Cost Impact of Virtualization: Why CIOs Must Rethink Their Relationship with the Hypervisor
Virtualization, once a cost‑saving foundation, is now generating unexpected licensing fees that strain CIO budgets and stall digital initiatives. Recent shifts in vendor contracts and mandatory feature bundles have turned the hypervisor into a financial liability, prompting leaders to reassess...
GUEST ESSAY: Executives Trust AI Security Even as Security Teams Confront Blind Spots, New Risks
Recent Manifest Cyber research reveals a stark confidence gap: 80% of executives believe their AI systems are well‑secured, while just 40% of application security practitioners share that view. The study also found that 63% of organizations have uncovered “shadow AI”—unaudited...
Why Customer Success Is Becoming a CIO Problem
Customer Success is no longer just a post‑sales function; its biggest retention risk now lies in customers failing to realize product value. This shift places technology, data integration, and outcome measurement squarely in the CIO’s domain. While dashboards may show...
Anthony Anziani Joins AfricaWorks Investment Partners as Co-Founder and CIO
AfricaWorks Investment Partners has appointed Anthony Anziani as co‑founder and chief investment officer. Anziani brings more than 15 years of real‑estate investment and operational experience, including senior roles at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Newton Offices, a KKR‑backed serviced‑office...
SAP LeanIX AI Guides You to Improve Your Architecture
SAP LeanIX has launched an AI‑driven feature that automatically evaluates enterprise architecture models and suggests concrete improvements. The tool leverages machine‑learning algorithms to scan existing data, identify inefficiencies, and generate actionable recommendations. It is built into the SAP LeanIX platform,...
Adora Promotes Software Architect Rohil Bhansali to Head of Engineering
Adora has elevated its founding engineer, Rohil Bhansali, to Head of Engineering as the ad‑tech firm scales its AI‑powered platform for enterprise marketers. Bhansali, who helped build the company’s initial infrastructure since its 2024 launch, will now oversee the engineering...
KnowBe4 Launches AI Agent to Tailor Security Awareness Assessments
KnowBe4 has added a Custom SAPA AI Agent to its AIDA platform, enabling organizations to generate security awareness assessments that reflect their unique technology environments, policies, and workflows. The AI-driven tool creates dynamic, real‑world scenario questions and provides per‑question analytics,...
Starts at the Node
The article advocates starting platform engineering at the node—the smallest unit that delivers value, such as a microservice, developer workstation, or container. By tackling concrete developer pain points like build latency, CI flakiness, and credential handling, teams can create reusable...
Forescout Introduces Automated Security Controls Assessment to Bring Continuous Compliance Visibility
Forescout has added Automated Security Controls Assessment to its 4D Platform, replacing manual spreadsheet‑driven audits with continuous, real‑time evidence collection. The feature leverages live telemetry from IT, OT, IoT and IoMT devices to evaluate security controls against the CIS Benchmarks....
Cloud Strategy Is Being Rewritten in Real Time — Here’s What We Learned This Week
A recent CIO WaterCooler session highlighted a rapid rewrite of cloud strategies as VMware’s licensing overhaul forces MSPs and enterprises to reconsider long‑standing infrastructure choices. Data sovereignty has escalated to a board‑level concern, driven by the Patriot Act, CLOUD Act,...
Why AI Security Is Emerging as the Fourth Pillar of Cybersecurity
The article argues that AI security is becoming the fourth pillar of cybersecurity, driven by the rise of autonomous agents that operate primarily through APIs. Traditional pillars—endpoint, network, and cloud—were built for earlier computing shifts and lack the controls needed...
Cybersecurity’s Need for Speed & Where To Find It
The article argues that speed is the decisive factor in modern cybersecurity, especially as AI accelerates both threats and defensive capabilities. It adapts Stewart Brand’s Pace Layers framework to illustrate how fast‑moving innovation must be anchored by slower, stable governance...
The First 100 Days of the CISO: A Critical Period for Organisational Alignment
Chief Information Security Officers typically stay only two to three years, far shorter than other C‑level roles, which hampers long‑term cybersecurity maturity. The author argues that the first 100 days are decisive for building trust with business leaders and aligning...
Uganda Development Bank Appoints Peter Mukuru to Lead Digital Transformation Agenda
Uganda Development Bank (UDB) has named Peter Mukuru as Director of Business Technology and Executive Committee member, tasking him with leading the bank’s enterprise‑wide digital transformation. Mukuru arrives with over two decades of experience across development finance, government agencies and...
Next Gen Spotlights: Preparing for a Post-Quantum World – Q&A with Cavero Quantum
Cavero Quantum, a University of Leeds spin‑out, has developed post‑quantum cryptography and password‑less authentication that can run on ultra‑constrained devices such as SIM cards. Backed by the UK government’s CyberASAP programme, the startup moved from a funded demo to real‑world...
Keeper Security Launches Native Jira Integrations
Keeper Security announced two native Atlassian Jira integrations that embed security incident response and privileged‑access governance directly into Jira workflows. The Forge‑based Jira ITSM app auto‑creates tickets from Keeper alerts, while the Jira Workflow app lets teams request and approve...
Chief Architect Jim Wilt Talks Discipline and His Successful Career in Technology
James Wilt, a distinguished chief architect with over four decades of experience across aerospace, cloud, and AI, has shaped the enterprise architecture profession through initiatives like the Microsoft Architecture Advisory Board and the Iasa Certified IT Architect programs. In 1999...
Manipulating AI Summarization Features
Microsoft disclosed that dozens of companies are embedding hidden instructions in “Summarize with AI” buttons, using URL prompt parameters to bias AI assistants toward their products. Over 50 unique prompts were identified across 31 firms in 14 industries, demonstrating a...
What the State of FinOps 2026 Means for ITSM
The FinOps Foundation’s 2026 State of FinOps survey reveals that FinOps has broadened from cloud‑cost management to a multi‑technology discipline, now handling AI, SaaS, licensing and data‑center spend. Collaboration with IT service management is highlighted, especially for automating remediation and...
Observability, Governance at Scale
The article outlines how observability, governance, and safe automation together form a resilient IT foundation. Observability leverages metrics, logs, and traces to detect issues before they affect users. Governance establishes policies, RBAC, and compliance monitoring to align technology with business...
Partnerships Framework for Impact
Enterprises that synchronize internal skill development with strategic partnerships can accelerate digital revenue growth, cut costs, and shorten time‑to‑market. The proposed framework organizes outcomes, capability architecture, partner categories, and an operating model that blends cross‑functional squads with Centers of Enablement....
The Top Exposure Assessment Platforms (EAPs) to Watch in 2026
Exposure management is overtaking traditional scan‑and‑patch models, emphasizing unified visibility, context, and remediation across IT, cloud, identity, and OT. The article reviews six leading Exposure Assessment Platforms (EAPs) for 2026, highlighting Tenable One as the market leader, with challengers such...
Talion Expands Governance-Aligned Agentic SOC as Board Cyber Scrutiny Intensifies
Talion, an MSSP spun out of BAE Systems, announced under CEO Keven Knight an expanded governance‑aligned Agentic SOC that embeds board‑level oversight into managed cyber defence. The model integrates automation, human expertise and real‑time governance, giving executives transparency and regulatory...
Is ArchiMate Worth the Effort?
The article evaluates ArchiMate’s practical value for enterprise architecture, arguing that its built‑in meta‑model and shared semantics provide structural clarity that ad‑hoc diagramming lacks. It highlights how a standard notation reduces cognitive overhead, supports repository‑style modeling, and enables tool interoperability...
Professionalism Vs. Profundity
The article contrasts professionalism—consistent, accountable execution—with profundity—deep, transformative insight. It argues that the two are not opposites but complementary virtues that, when combined, produce resilient organizations and effective thinkers. Professional standards provide risk‑mitigation and clear communication, while profound thinking tolerates...
People as Interface
The article frames humans as the primary interface for modern tools, emphasizing how digital technologies amplify human abilities. It highlights key dimensions such as augmentation, intuitive UI/UX, collaboration, learning agility, and cognitive load management. The piece also outlines future imperatives,...
ITIL (Version 5) Explained: What’s New, What’s Changed, and Why It Matters
ITIL Version 5 launches, updating the 2019 framework to address today’s rapid IT complexity, AI adoption, and the human side of technology. The new edition introduces a unified Product and Service Lifecycle, a strengthened Value System with a modular value‑chain model,...
Will Agentic AI Drive the Convergence of ITOps and SecOps
The article examines how generative AI is accelerating the convergence of IT Operations (ITOps) and Security Operations (SecOps) into a unified ITSecOps model. Industry leaders at Tanium and Insight argue that shared data, automated workflows, and AI agents can break...
AWS Security Digest #250 - Objects
AWS’s me‑central‑1 availability zone suffered a fire caused by stray objects, knocking EC2 APIs offline for several hours. The digest also highlights a wave of new AWS security features, including EventBridge notifications for Network Firewall, persistent RAM share handling, an...
IT's Evolving Role in Advancing Organizational Growth
IT is transitioning from a back‑office system provider to a strategic, customer‑facing partner that drives end‑to‑end change. Leaders are urged to co‑create transformation roadmaps, adopt outcome‑based KPIs, and build modular, API‑first platforms that reduce duplication. Lightweight, proportional governance combined with...
Architecting for the IPO: Lessons From the Slack and Eventbrite Lead-to-Cash Transformations
The article examines how Slack and Eventbrite re‑engineered their Lead‑to‑Cash (L2C) pipelines to meet the rigorous demands of an IPO. It introduces the concept of Enterprise Architecture Debt (EAD) and shows how the shift from growth‑centric to governance‑centric systems was...
The Quest for the Best EA Tool
Enterprises now manage 500‑plus applications, creating sprawling, costly tech landscapes that often dictate business direction. The article argues that Enterprise Architecture (EA) tools can tame this complexity, but only if they address core requirements such as visual process‑to‑application mapping, cost‑of‑ownership...
Phishing Attacks Against People Seeking Programming Jobs
A wave of phishing campaigns is targeting individuals searching for programming jobs, using fabricated job listings to harvest credentials. At the same time, North Korean APT37 has released new tools that weaponize removable media, raising concerns about air‑gap breaches. The...
Hybrid Cloud, Simplified and Sovereign: Why Clarity, Control, and Trust Now Define Enterprise Cloud Strategy
Hybrid cloud has become essential for AI‑driven operations, yet many enterprises face mounting complexity, fragmented architectures, and unpredictable costs. A recent CIO WaterCooler session argues that clarity, control and trust must replace chaos, positioning sovereignty as a strategic advantage rather...
Forescout and Netskope Deliver Universal Zero Trust Integration Across Managed and Unmanaged Devices
Forescout Technologies and Netskope announced a strategic integration that unifies Zero Trust security across managed and unmanaged devices, including IT, OT, IoT, and IoMT assets. The solution merges Forescout’s real‑time device intelligence with Netskope’s AI‑driven cloud security to enforce consistent...
AI-Driven Development Fuels Surge in Open Source Vulnerabilities, Black Duck Finds
Black Duck's 2026 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis report finds open source vulnerabilities in commercial codebases have more than doubled year‑on‑year. The average application now contains 581 vulnerabilities, a 107% increase, with 98% of codebases using open source components....
JSM Integration Shines a Light on End-of-Support Tech
LeanIX announced a native integration with Jira Service Management (JSM) that automatically surfaces end‑of‑support technology within service tickets. The connector pulls real‑time data from LeanIX’s enterprise architecture repository, flagging legacy SAP components that are no longer supported. By embedding this...
The Enterprise Architecture Gap Most CIOs Overlook — And Why It’s Costing Millions
CIOs are modernising AI, cloud, and security but often ignore the quote‑to‑cash layer, where pricing and configuration first shape revenue. This architectural blind spot turns the quoting process into a source of margin leakage, forecast errors, and integration debt. Treating...
Interview with Summer Collins, Chief AI and Data Director of One NZ
In a recent MIT CISR interview, Summer Collins, One NZ’s Chief AI and Data Director, detailed the telco’s enterprise‑wide push to embed artificial intelligence into its core operations. The initiative centers on a unified data platform, AI‑driven customer service tools,...
Interview Highlights with Summer Collins, Chief AI and Data Director of One NZ
One New Zealand is undertaking a company‑wide transformation to embed artificial intelligence into every layer of its operations, as explained by Chief AI and Data Director Summer Collins. The initiative centralises data from network, customer, and service systems onto a...