For several years now I’ve been a client of Gartner, an IT research and advisory company providing expert advice to all sectors. Today’s first session was given by a Gartner VP on what Gartner think should be on a successful CIO’s agenda. The talk wasn’t just aimed at Higher Education, as many of Gartner’s clients are from industry, but many of the issues are the same. A number of key themes were explored including:
Successful organisations will be looking for distinctive solutions to come from IT to make “the difference”, ie increase competitiveness or organisational efficiency
The CIO therefore needs to create an environment where innovative people can work in the business identifying opportunities
Growth of IT budgets is accelerating but modest. It’s still about more for less. Operational budgets will have to be squeezed to put more into innovation. Organisations will only invest in IT that delivers distinctive solutions. ie more business value.
The IT strategy must be linked to the organisation’s strategy and plans if it is to deliver real value.
Have people embedded in units – they’ll find out what’s going on and feed it back to you.
The CIO must have a partnership with the CEO.
Remind people when you’ve done something that has had an effect, otherwise how will they know
Get rid of the old IT attitude of not doing something until someone asks for it - be proactive
IT is becoming more of a people business, and softer skills must be invested in
CIOs must get out there, have influence in areas outside of IT. Get known
Performance is the key to credibility, responsibility, resources and value
Network, network, network (the people kind, not the cable kind :-) ). Use your lunch hour productively to talk to people, not sit at your desk eating a sandwich……
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