February 27, 2015 - A new e-book published today by The Economist Intelligence Unit advises CIOs and IT executives to lead a culture of mutual communication and cooperation as new technologies, especially the cloud and advanced applications, rapidly change how enterprises operate.
CIOs in the lead: Aligning business and IT in the age of cloud, sponsored by NetApp, a data storage and management company, outlines recommendations for tackling challenges that may keep companies from realising the business value of enterprise technologies. The e-book is also accompanied by an infographic that summarises key recommendations including:
- IT must work strategically with the business; it is no longer a separate supporting service
- CIOs and IT executives should lead a culture of mutual cooperation as new technologies, especially the cloud, rapidly change how enterprises operate
- IT execs face challenges of ensuring network integrity with a patchwork of different systems and little budget
- Business fluency must be a priority—and it is easier for a CIO to learn about other aspects of the business, than business units to understand IT
Employees today are eager for technology answers to their business problems. But despite the increasing velocity of business activity and a growing role for data, driven by the adoption of new technologies, the budgets of IT departments are not increasing significantly. As a result, IT executives must find ways to do more with fewer resources. Most importantly, this means ensuring that security and the integrity of the IT networks stay intact while avoiding pitfalls created by a patchwork of different systems.
Business fluency creates faster IT responsiveness to business needs, and must be the priority for both the CIO and their department. It is easier for the CIO to learn about the other aspects of the business than it is for people in other business units to understand what an IT department does.
IT must work strategically with the business, rather than operating as a separate, supporting service. The e-book recommends setting expectations that communication be a two-way street: when business people ask their IT colleagues for specific technology solutions, they need to be aware of how to communicate those needs and what they are trying to accomplish, and be open to alternative solutions.
Erica Klein, editor of the e-book, said: “CIOs are extending their influence within their organisations because technology has become so central to running companies today. The research found that in several companies, they are no longer just managing their IT departments but being expected to provide the decision-making capabilities needed to align these technology opportunities with business needs. For these CIOs, the next challenge is to execute on these opportunities, and make sure that the rest of the organisation follows.”
