I’ve spent some time now poring over the results of the CIO Insider Survey and speaking with several CIOs about what’s behind some of the responses. Our ‘Frankly Speaking’ breakfast sessions have also provided interesting insights from CIOs who seem to have some of the challenges cracked. As a result, I’m starting to get an idea of what CIO Nirvana might look like in 2005.
1. There are regular — at least annual — business strategy meetings in which the executive team, including the CIO, establish business goals and priorities across the company. An ongoing dialogue among executive team members ensures that any shifts the markets or other circumstances make necessary are communicated throughout the executive team and integrated into the overall plan.
2. The overall business vision is communicated, understood and supported throughout the company.
3. Line of business executives are charged with maintaining an understanding of IT best practices in their discipline and required to consider IT as part of their business toolkit. This equips them for a meaningful partnership with the CIO in which both can contribute to the planning of business initiatives that leverage IT to improve productivity, reduce costs and improve relationships with customers and business partners.
4. All projects have the support and necessary time commitment of an executive sponsor from participating business units. They are equally responsible for identifying and ensuring the availability of required non-IT resources to meet project deadlines and objectives. They are equally responsible for identifying, measuring and reporting on the business values that are the benefit side of the cost benefit equation for investment in this initiative.
5. Infrastructure investments are not project based, but identified by the CIO as part of the business plan.
6. Hardware vendors stop talking about business solutions and enter a meaningful dialogue about specs and the difficulties you might encounter integrating their gear with someone else’s.
7. Software vendors warn your clients of the difficulties likely to be encountered in shifting your business processes and culture to take full advantage of their ‘best of breed’ implementation.
Perhaps you could add to the list?
Email me at jpickett@itworldcanada.com
