The Role of the CIO: Just Another Perspective…
Chances are, you’re in the midst or wrapping up your strategy planning for 2007 (as are we at RADirect!). So I thought it would be perfect timing to share my thoughts on this topic.
It’s widely agreed that the CIO role is becoming more and more complex. If you are a CIO or would like to become one, you must consider these three elements as the main drivers:
1. Leadership. You’ve got to be that person with the vision, the one who can articulate goals, garner strong support from your company’s main stakeholders, manage the resources, and have the ability to execute.
2. Business Acumen. Before undertaking any new initiatives, you must have a strong sense of how each initiative contributes to the overall success of your company.
3. Technology. You should certainly understand technology (including emerging ones), and have a strong sense of how these technologies can be applied to, and play a vital role in, your company’s overall success.
In the course of your planning, I am sure that at least some of the following will make it onto your radar:
• Legacy (infrastructure, application) refresh
• Virtualization
• Consolidation
• Regulations/standardization/compliance
• Business continuity/disaster recovery
• Collaboration
• SOA (service oriented architecture)
• Privacy/security
• Information management
• Instantaneous information via increased computing power, bandwidth and storage
• Globalization
• ASP
• Outsourcing
Obviously, each of these high level concepts can and should be translated into more meaningful tasks that are closely related to your own business environment, challenges and strategic planning. So how can this be translated into a meaningful strategic plan?
In my view, each undertaking you consider should be measured against ROI matrices. You should answer and quantify the following questions:
• How will this initiative help my business grow?
• How will this initiative help my business reduce costs (OPEX, CAPEX)?
• How will this initiative help mitigate risks? And the potential loss if I choose to do nothing?
Once you have fully reviewed the various aspects of each of your initiatives, you’ll probably have a better sense of which are most critical, as well as a better understanding of what will be considered a ‘justifiable investment’ to undertake them. Only then is it the right time to start exploring the available technologies and teaming with the right people to execute them.
The good news is, most of the things that will land on your priority list for 2007 will be doable and consistent with your ROI matrices (I call it healthy competition).
Without a doubt, the coming year will bring an even more vibrant economy. If you are comfortable with change and are as excited as I am about technology and its potential to improve our respective businesses, I think we can all expect an outstanding 2007!