What Tech Trends Do CIOs See As Overrated?

From Chris Murphy, Editor at InformationWeek.com: "7 Tech Trends CIOs Call Overrated."

Trend #4: "Big data over small data."

(Says) Ken Harris, Shaklee CIO: "I'm not convinced that big data for most companies is a promising investment right now. We haven't learned how to handle small data well, let alone throw big data on there. That isn't to say there aren't some companies for whom big data could be a game changer, but most companies don't even effectively handle small data."

Harris is entirely correct, especially regarding healthcare's provider organizations - hospitals and physician groups - who, despite much talk about evidence-based practice, remain too often stuck in patterns of deliberate, consensus-to-a-fault decision-making. 

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Think that's harsh?  One AHRQ study found that "...(t)ranslation of research findings into sustainable improvements in clinical outcomes and patient outcomes remains a substantial obstacle to improving the quality of care. Up to two decades may pass before the findings of original research becomes part of routine clinical practice."

It's not for lack of data, big or otherwise, that this pattern remains.  No, it's culture trumping data. 

What happens when your Chief of Cardiology says "Nah.  I disagree with those research findings.  That's not what I learned in medical school and I'm not gonna do it."  Who wins?  Her or the data?  I think we've all been around hospitals (and cardiologists) long enough to know the answer.

So work on that culture thing first.  In fact, get the culture right and the rest follows.  Otherwise you're just writing big checks to big IT companies, expecting big things and setting youself up for big disappointments.

1:07 PM