10. Changing environment " When we asked both CEO’s and CIO’s in the same companies to rank their top five priorities for the business for 2009, on average there was only 45% agreement .” — Colleen M. Young, VP Distinguished Analyst, Gartner
Good Morning everyone. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to meet with you today. Now I need your help with my presentation this morning. I‘d like you to pretend that you’re CIO’s and prospective EXP members . OK?
So today, I want you to walk away with two main points. Firstly, I’ll explain why YOU need to transform yourself from a solid IT leader to a respected business leader. And secondly, I’ll be sharing with you some tips on how to do it
So as successful CIO’s you delivered on the fundamentals. You’ve modernized and virtualized your data centre's
You’ve optimized your IT services and driven business process re-engineering across your companies
And your PMO is delivering IT projects on time and to budget
You’ve helped mature the business supply channels
And turned your databases and documents into valuable information ASSETS. They’re: Available S? S? Easy to use Trusted & Secure
You’ve even tackled Enterprise Architecture initiatives and built effective governance structures and policies
And you have led your team to create some truly creative and satisfying technology solutions
But things are changing. Don’t just take it from me though. Here’s some “hot off the press” research from Colleen Young that highlights something very interesting. Today’s unprecedented economic environment means you, the CIO, must produce operational savings like never before. Also, you are expected to lead the changes that drive innovation & business growth
These new business expectations mean you need to be: A Super CIO
You need to develop a much broader business role. Understanding how every part of the business and what what makes it tick.
And your CEO wants you to sit at the Executive table and help solve the big, complex business issues that are facing your companies
The Super CIO also expected to use your IT leadership and resources to create new products and services or extend the reach of of you’re existing sales channels
You have to regularly deliver new competitive advantages and be able to articulate “how your business will really succeed”
Not only for today. Our economic conditions won’t last forever. The Super CIO needs to plan and prepare the business for future growth.
Yeah Yeah. So What I hear you say.
What do Super CIO’s need? And how do I learn to be one?
So knowledge = power right? Well, not really. Technically, Applied knowledge = power. And what you want this knowledge to do is take you from what you do know to what you don’t know
So where do you get this Super CIO knowledge? Could do it yourself I guess? Well OK, maybe not. It’s time consuming It’s difficult to find recent, quantitative research and who do you believe anyway?
Today, Super CIO’s are tapping into new delivery channels from leading IT research companies like Gartner getting their up to the day research by Podcasts and tweets on their iPhone
They are also finding the right information about their investment decisions in near real-time - wherever they may be. This research is usually derived from Gartner - the IT industry’s most comprehensive survey of CIO priorities, vendor solutions and technology trends
Super CIO’s get industry expert analysts to give them the advice they need to make the quick decisions. Firms such as Gartner, with around 650 technology analysts and executive partners often provide the necessary mentoring.
How many time have you written a business case but needed some final validation by a trusted source to get the Boards approval? Again, Super CIO’s are able to demonstrate to their boards that their proposed technology investments have been risk assessed and validated by some of the most talented pool of analysts in the world.
Do you know if you’re getting the best deal with your purchases and tenders? Well Super CIO’s will have their quotes reviewed by firms such as Gartner who check and record vendors best pricing from the thousands of members that work with them.
Credibility – Gartner brand 65% of the Fortune 1000 and 80% of the Global 500 support their key technology decisions with Gartner insight.
Another way the Super CIO’s grows his super-hero powers is by networking with his peers. The most effective of these will socialize within specialized networks such as Gartner who have 60,000 clients world wide and around 3,600 CIO’s - world’s largest CIO community.
Symposiums, Expo’s, Summits and Seminars
Well, finally, here’s that tip I promised you. Some recent Gartner research into the CEO/CIO relationship has found 2 interesting things. Firstly, CEO’s want good working relations with their business unit managers And secondly, you need to focus on how YOU can make the CEO personally successful – whether that’s getting his name in the papers – or maybe keeping it out
So when you Google your name
TBL So how will you learn to be a transformational business leader? Unleash the business leader within.