Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Makeover Time For CIOs
By SiliconIndia |
Monday, February 27, 2012
When it comes to competition, there is a Chinese saying: "Know thy-self, know thy competition, and get it right almost every time. Know thy-self, not know thy competition, and get it right about half the time. Not know thy-self, not know thy competition, and get it wrong almost every time".
This saying fits very well in today's competitive world.
As a leader you've tried almost everything from the suggestion boxes to stimulate staff-sourced innovation to the client referral programme but, still unable to find your way out of the economic turbulence. It's time to turn to your CIO for help.
You know your competitors and a common characteristic of those doing well is the permanent installation of a CIO in the c-suite.
Scrutinize your competitors more closely and you will find that the CIO is not just involved in all discussions, but in some cases drives them. CIOs talks about service rather than projects. When talking about the IT function seems to position himself/herself more as a customer than its manager. Strongly advocates the Cloud or any outsourcing practices that enable his/her people to focus on the users rather than technology. And, seems to treat information as an asset that needs to be governed carefully for maximum return, says Ade McCormack in ft.com.
Remember, your CIO is like a 'diamond in the rough'. He is under tremendous pressure to keep the IT function running on a shoe string budget. And thus can come across as irritating. Has some exciting views on how new technologies could help the organization strategically but is loath to present these ideas for fear it will create further budgetary pressure on his overworked team.
So, as a leader, you need to
* Convince the CFO to review the IT as per business plan.
* Direct the HR director to work with the CIO to help him develop his executive communications skills.
* Make your Chief Marketing Officer the CIO's mentor.
So, what's required is to upgrade your existing CIO. You know who needs to be involved in this, but invite others to play a role as well.
After all, what could be better than growing your own executive-strength CIO tailored to the needs of your organization?
This saying fits very well in today's competitive world.
As a leader you've tried almost everything from the suggestion boxes to stimulate staff-sourced innovation to the client referral programme but, still unable to find your way out of the economic turbulence. It's time to turn to your CIO for help.
You know your competitors and a common characteristic of those doing well is the permanent installation of a CIO in the c-suite.
Scrutinize your competitors more closely and you will find that the CIO is not just involved in all discussions, but in some cases drives them. CIOs talks about service rather than projects. When talking about the IT function seems to position himself/herself more as a customer than its manager. Strongly advocates the Cloud or any outsourcing practices that enable his/her people to focus on the users rather than technology. And, seems to treat information as an asset that needs to be governed carefully for maximum return, says Ade McCormack in ft.com.
Remember, your CIO is like a 'diamond in the rough'. He is under tremendous pressure to keep the IT function running on a shoe string budget. And thus can come across as irritating. Has some exciting views on how new technologies could help the organization strategically but is loath to present these ideas for fear it will create further budgetary pressure on his overworked team.
So, as a leader, you need to
* Convince the CFO to review the IT as per business plan.
* Direct the HR director to work with the CIO to help him develop his executive communications skills.
* Make your Chief Marketing Officer the CIO's mentor.
So, what's required is to upgrade your existing CIO. You know who needs to be involved in this, but invite others to play a role as well.
After all, what could be better than growing your own executive-strength CIO tailored to the needs of your organization?
|
|
Don't Miss
Experts on CIO
Most read CIO news
Whitepapers
This IBM publication provides information about IBM Social Business...