Cost – Risk – Benefit
Whilst it is uplifting to see more and more CIOs taking a proactive role in driving business strategy, there are still significant pockets of ‘old school’ strategy victimisation.
It plays out as follows:
- The c-suite determines strategy.
- The c-suite tells the CIO what to do and how much budget they have to do it.
And this is why so many CIOs today are measured purely on cost and service uptime.
Smart CIOs (and smart business leaders) need to look at the broader picture of cost, risk and benefits to the organisation. This will lead to better decisions when it comes to important matters such as:
- Acquisitions.
- Embracing Byod.
- Migrating to the cloud.
Business leaders who just focus on cost are unlikely to survive in the digital economy. CIOs who allow this practice to continue will likely be driven out by IT staff who will no longer tolerate a spineless leader.
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The CIO should by definition be a member of the “C Suite” and therefore contributing to the strategy discussion. In any case there needs to be a feedback loop so that the CIO can comment and influence strategy, whether through formal or other methods.