In these difficult times, much discussion surrounds the role of the organisation’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). Traditionally, IT has been a cost to the business. Today however, IT should be the competitive edge for the business – and it’s the CIO that should be the agent for change to make that happen.
SOCITM – the professional association for public sector ICT management in the UK – has recently published a report entitled ‘What’s in a name? The practicalities of being a public sector CIO’.
The report touches on the interesting ground of how the role of the individual responsible for IT in an organisation is changing.
It defines CIOs as “digitally literate leaders who understand fully the operational environment in which their organisation works, and can build and interpret strategy at both business and technical levels. They have the skills and attributes to lead their organisations to transform and continuously improve their services by making the best use of technology.”
Cost centres are vulnerable
Traditionally, IT has been seen as a cost to the business so, IT functions have been run as cost centres. In the current climate, that makes them very vulnerable. When operating costs have to be cut throughout an organisation, IT inevitably becomes a candidate for cutting. After all, in the 21st century it tends to be one of the biggest spenders.
The ‘cost to the business’ approach also makes IT an ideal candidate for outsourcing. It’s expensive, it’s got specialist skills that probably can’t be re-deployed elsewhere within the organisation and there is a well developed infrastructure of suppliers out there that could probably do the work on your behalf.
Today, the challenge is to channel the investment and skills in your IT function and turn it into a competitive weapon that directly enhances the core business.
Great theory, but, how do you turn that into practical action? The first challenge has to be the ability to communicate the business value created by IT into language the rest of the board can understand. That implies today’s CIO can talk confidently in business terms with peers responsible for business units.
The 21st century CIO needs a mastery of the interlocking factors illustrated below
There are two sets of stakeholders to deal with; internal functions within the organisation and external interfaces to customers, suppliers and partners.
Then there are the needs to:
- Keep the systems that underpin today’s business processes functioning effectively
- Help the organisation deploy IT to create competitive advantage
- Understand what technology to deploy and how to make that happen
The role of the CIO in 2009 is to use technology to create competitive advantage for the organisation.
The key to all the above is clear thinking and effective communication with all the stakeholders, coupled with an understanding of all the data the organisation possesses and how best to leverage it.
That implies a strong level of strategic thinking. It means having a vision for the future and the ability to translate this into both business and IT strategies. It also means being able to deliver the required services at the right cost.
This is an area with which Procertis can significantly help new model CIOs. Our unique Bizmaps® and AssessiT® methodologies help CIOs frame their business requirements accurately, and then turn those requirements into workable IT solutions. Our related consulting expertise helps organisations determine:
- What is needed
- What the business benefits will look like
- How best to deliver it
- How to shape the change management programme to get there