Why CEOs and CFOs get frustrated with CIOs (Feb/15/2007) By Bruce Skaistis I recently said during an interview that the move away from technical CIOs was being driven by CEOs and CFOs who are frustrated with CIOs who focus too much attention on technical issues and not enough on addressing critical business issues.
After the interview, I was thinking about why CEOs and CFOs get frustrated with CIOs. I don't think the move to CIOs with business backgrounds will solve the problem. I'm convinced that most CEOs and CFOs want the same thing from the CIO. They may say it in different ways, but they want the CIO to use enterprise IT capabilities to produce maximum value for the enterprise at the lowest possible cost. It's that simple -- produce maximum enterprise IT value for minimum cost. After agreeing that maximizing the value or benefits produced by enterprise IT while working to minimize IT expenses should be the primary objective, the next step is to lay out an overall plan to make it happen. The actions in the plans vary based on specific circumstances, but here are the key factors most CEOs, CFOs and CIOs agree to do to get maximum value from enterprise IT at minimal cost: 1. Target enterprise IT resources to produce maximum value -- This seems very obvious, but many organizations do not have effective processes in place to ensure it happens. The best way to ensure enterprise IT resources are being used to produce maximum value for the enterprise is to tie IT resources to the activities or functions that use the resources and then monitor resource usage on an enterprise-wide basis. 2. Maintain strong focus on optimizing IT cost effectiveness -- There are two ways to optimize enterprise IT cost effectiveness. One way is to get the same performance from enterprise IT resources while reducing costs. The other way is to improve the performance of enterprise IT resources without increasing costs. The best way to create a strong focus on optimizing enterprise IT cost effectiveness is by establishing clearly defined cost and performance accountabilities, setting aggressive cost and performance objectives, and monitoring critical cost and performance factors. 3. Ensure that IT Initiatives are on schedule, within budget and deliver targeted benefits -- The best way to ensure that critical enterprise IT initiatives are successful is to have effective IT project management processes in place for justifying projects, defining project requirements, identifying and mitigating project risks, controlling project scope, managing project resources, monitoring project status and resolving project problems. 4. Ensure that IT is able to respond quickly to changing conditions and requirements -- Another key to maximizing enterprise IT value and minimizing IT expenses is making enterprise IT more agile. The need to be more agile is driving efforts to streamline enterprise IT planning and decision making processes, limit long-term IT resource and financial commitments, find more flexible staffing and software solutions. 5, Ensure that IT risks are effectively managed -- This does not mean eliminating all risks, but it means having processes and structures in place to identify and quantify potential risks, mitigate critical risks, and monitor risk management efforts. If a CIO with a technical or business background is delivering maximum enterprise IT value and minimizing IT expenses, it's a good bet the CEO and CFO are going to be strong supporters. Bruce Skaistis is the founder of consultancy eGlobal CIO, which provides specialized support to help companies maximize IT performance www.eglobalcio.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -- www.itcenter.or.id - Komunitas Teknologi Informasi Indonesia Gabung, Keluar, Mode Kirim : [EMAIL PROTECTED] ## Jobs: itcenter.or.id/jobs ## Bursa: itcenter.or.id/bursa ## ## Jaket ITCENTER tersedia di http://shop.itcenter.or.id Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums & communities. Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ITCENTER/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ITCENTER/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums & communities. is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
