6 Focus Areas for CIOs in 2013

Bangalore: The commendable job done by CIOs by aligning IT with business processes deserves more than just a pat on the back. Moreover, the added responsibilities to their transformed role of not only securing IT and cutting costs for the enterprise but also to generate revenue, have more or less cemented their spot in the organizational chart and made them indispensable. But still there are areas for improvement in the IT sector, which needs to be considered for the the growth of the business, reports Chris Murphy of InformationWeek.

For the record, six fundamental zones are identified where IT is found to be lagging behind which needs to be addressed in order to provide a more comprehensive support for the overall development of the business. They are as follows:

1) Going Mobile – According to a survey by InformationWeek Outlook 2013, 53 percent of IT respondents are contemplating mobility policy. This means that almost half of the IT teams are undermining the financial impacts that a mobile device management can bring in the coming years. Moreover, one cannot ignore the fact that it will eventually impact the sales force morale as well as performance.
2) Insensible IT Budgeting – The IT sectors are allocated with more or less identical funds which will initially increase IT costs but eventually decrease operating costs. But the same policy adopted with respect to various projects does not make much sense as budgetary need would vary accordingly. Moreover, the absence of an IT governance board will give rise to improper management of the budget.
3) Keeping pace – Technology is moving at a rapid pace and we come across new technology trends almost on a daily basis. As such, moving with the changing times is going to be a herculean task for CIOs who seem to be engulfed with the ever increasing demand of the consumers as well as that of the business. As such, finding the right set of developers has become a prerequisite for CIOs in order to meet the market pressure within the assigned time frame.
4) Switching to Dashboards - CIOs should consider dashboards which help to accumulate data from numerous enterprise sources for better management of employees, website activity and development projects. It will invariably solve the data integration problems that BI brings forth.
5) Align with Marketing - CIOs who understand the implications of technology must guide the CMOs to overcome technological barriers to generate maximum revenue for an enterprise. Failing to adhere to the technical requests of the CMOs is one of the shortcomings of CIOs which should be taken in due consideration by them.
6) Focusing on the End Customer – The consumerization of IT has made it imperative for CIOs to focus on its end consumers, analyze their needs, meet their demands and keep them satisfied. One should also explore refreshing ways of engaging the consumers in IT related products or services.

These are the six vital areas a CIO should focus on in order to build a more proactive IT in the coming year.