If your plan is to put a product out there that people can see and understand, then by golly, we're going to get along just fine.
In simple terms, we are aligning our business today with the way we believe future systems are going to be designed, acquired and maintained.
A lot of deals are done or not done because chief executives are not fully aligned to shareholders.
Siemens is keen on all the same things the UAE is keen on.
CIOs have to be able to lay out a clear path in concert with the business leader - I used to make the business guy responsible for the apps and force them to answer the question of why they feel they need non-standard apps when they know that's how the costs skyrocket.
Strategy and culture should have breakfast together.
Do you have the same vision of where industry is going as the target of your acquisition? If visions differ, you might get together economically for a while, but then you are going to have problems.
CIOs have earned a strategic seat at the table, but now they've got to hold that seat - and the only way they can do that is to converse in the language of business value and business benefits and business outcomes that all align perfectly with the strategic agenda of the company.
Although NFL teams have common interests such as promoting the NFL brand, they are still separate, profit-making entities, and their interests in licensing team trademarks are not necessarily aligned.
Modern, effective leadership means moving beyond the 'grand illusion' to engage the mass population and to align business with societal goals.
Whatever you do in your business comes out of a state of inner alignment with life and the source of life itself, so peace flows into whatever you do.
There's certain companies that line up with what the brand represents. There are other things that are more investment-focused.
It is not a coincidence that Fusion middleware and applications have the same name. We knew what we needed it to be.
