Yes – IT is Still Relevant

We had a great discussion recently on the topic “Is IT still relevant”, where I was joined with Tim Crawford, Mark Thiele and Bob Egan on a Google Hangout and Twitter chat (#CIOitk), and a few themes came out that I think are worth highlighting:

The Consumerization of IT has changed our expectations of enterprise systems, and has raised the bar on what technology should be like in the
work place.  These expectations, the speed of change in today’s business environment, and the ability for the business to obtain cloud services themselves, has turned the IT organization upside down.

The challenge for today’s IT leader is to recognize this change and adjust accordingly.  Many CIO’s have already done this, but there are still quite a few who haven’t.  There is no “model” that CIO’s can just pick up and follow, but they can follow a few simple guidelines to improve their standing with the business and ensure relevance:

• Speak the language of the business. You can’t focus on providing business value if you aren’t talking to the other business departments and executives in their language.   See my previous blog post on this subject.
• Get out and understand the challenges your employees are facing. IT leaders must be outward looking, fully understanding the business challenges facing the organization from within and externally.
• Embrace shadow IT. This  means embracing how the cloud is helping bring innovation into your organization faster (and better) than you can do it yourself.  There is a need for IT to be involved, but not everything has to go through a centralized IT department.
• Focus on customer engagement. The customer is king and this is what drives the future of your business, so understand the customer needs.  Think ahead and ensure that the IT organization is doing things that can improve customer engagement.

Culture Matters

Another point that was brought up on Twitter was about culture and how that affects IT’s perception. This is a very important point and something that can’t be overlooked.  Culture really does matter.  Yes, technology has become a big part of everyone’s business but not all organizations have completely caught up to this thinking throughout the C-suite. Without a culture of valuing and leveraging technology, IT leaders face headwinds on change. Change is hard for many organizations and for those that are slow to adopt, they’ll likely be left behind.  Just ask Blockbuster.  So, all the hard work can easily be met by cynicism and doubt, but you can’t give up.

The IT Organization and the CIO of the Future

The future of the IT organization was also discussed, and a common theme was that staffing is an issue.  Cloud adoption, embracing shadow IT, and an agile mindset change the way IT organizations operate and think and the skills are different. I went through these in a presentation last year on the Future of the CIO, but the highlights are that IT leaders need to be:

• Consultants to the business
• Conductors vs builders
• Entrepreneurial
• Social
• Evangelists for innovation and agility
• A business enabler, focusing on what’s core and strategic to the business

Many thanks to Tim for moderating the session, Mark and Bob for their great insight, and Amy Hermes for her drive and unparalleled PhotoShop and marketing skills.  Keep an eye out for the next CIOitk (in the know) chat session.