There are many who profess to know what goes on within the mind of the CIO and across the IT organization as a whole. The challenge is: If you have not been responsible for the role, it is increasingly difficult to truly understand the complicated world that encompasses enterprise IT organizations. Could they be simplified? In a word, yes. But that is easier said than done. One needs an appreciation for the demands coming from not just technology, but also from other organizations within the company and the IT organization itself. But even that statement does not provide the full depth of the complexity facing today’s CIO.
The CIO balancing act
Today’s CIO is facing a balancing act between legacy solutions, methodologies and the modern-day buzzword bingo. Whether from cloud computing, big data analytics, data center complications, new architectures, new programming languages or just simply (relatively) the changes in the business direction, the complication is far and wide. And even if a CIO agrees and wants to move to a new solution like cloud, there may be other limiting factors to consider.
IT as a strategic weapon
Strategy is not a new or foreign concept to the IT organization. The vast majority of CIOs and IT organizations have a well-defined strategy that outlines how the IT organization supports the company as a whole. At times however, strategy becomes a victim to the interrupt-driven nature of IT requests. Always being one to want to please, the latest request becomes the newest focus for the team.
One opportunity missed by many organizations is how to transition from being the “hero” to being the sought-after strategic weapon for a company. There is a big difference between the two and it resonates greatly on IT’s intrinsic value to the company. The modern-day CIO is shifting from problem solving to providing business leverage. That is not to say that the IT organization gives up the problem solving. It remains, but is table stakes in today’s IT requirements.
Spanning the industries
The shift in thinking is not relegated to a specific region or industry. Silicon Valley, including its wide geography from San Francisco to San Jose, is not alone in the opportunity. Neither are new upstarts in the web scale category. Every single industry and region has the same challenge. Recall that companies operate in a global economy and need to respond accordingly. Eat or be eaten. Even the incumbent is not immune to the changes sitting at the front door.
Cloud implementation v2.0
One way IT organizations are changing the conversation between IT and Line of Business (LoB) teams is in the introduction of cloud computing. Beyond the common use-cases (CRM, HRIS, Email, etc), the implementations vary greatly. One trend coming up is a move to ‘cloud implementation v2.0’. Organizations were quick to try cloud-based services with very mixed results. In many cases, the attempt was fairly haphazard. IT organizations are now stepping back and rethinking their approach to cloud in a more holistic fashion. Where does it apply, how, why and when? But it goes much broader than that.
Shifting gears to focus on data
In order to understand where to apply cloud, understanding the larger objective is critical. This is where data-centric conversations come into play. In the end, it is not just about the application and data, but also about the value to the company. Add in conversations like Big Data, Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet and one can see how the complexity just grew exponentially.
The clock is ticking…
The growing complexity for the CIO and IT organization does not translate to more available time. Quite the contrary. The demands that companies are placing on their IT organization are increasing exponentially. This is where a new strategic vision is needed. In order to respond in a timely manner, CIOs will need to rethink their organization, processes, focuses and technology in a holistic manner. It will take time to evolve to the new model. But timing is of the essence. The demand is here today and is only increasing.
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