A Chief Information Officer of your company is one of the most important persons for your business. He is the one who determines the IT strategies for your company. He is also the in-charge of the computers, servers and other IT infrastructure in you organization. However, a CIO also has to make sure that the IT department works well with the rest of the departments in the company. Here are some CIO strategies for their IT department so that they not only work in synchronized way; but also benefit their organization.
Three CIO strategies for IT department:
1. Prioritize the projects based on priorities of senior teams:
One of the first CIO strategies is to prioritize the tasks based on their importance. Doug May, regional CIO at Safran Landing Systems says that the leadership team presented him with a top ten of technology issues they wanted sorted out when he was appointed. He first analyzed the list and found most concerns were related to day-to-day IT operational issues, and he was keen to take a higher-level view.
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For this he discusses with the senior leadership team to demonstrate how technology can help improve the business. It is one of the best CIO strategies that Doug has been implementing since he joined firm in early 2015. He says,
“I wanted to push responsibility for decision making back to the business. My view is that IT leaders are often not transparent enough about the work being completed by the technology team. Too often, CIOs must make a judgment call. We’ve changed the process so the business is fully engaged and that our IT people only work on the projects that the senior team prioritizes.”
2. Explain the importance of investment in technology:
This is the second important thing to remember from CIO strategies for IT department. Andrew Marks, the former CIO and now UK and Ireland managing director at Accenture Technology Strategy, says IT leaders need to be bullish. He says,
“CIOs need to be confident. They need to say when a new trend is coming, rather than sitting back and being reactive. Their opinions will carry more sway if they’re able to demonstrate how an investment in technology will lead to a return. If you can’t do that, then you might be in the wrong job.”
3. Thinking about opportunities is also CIO’s job:
IT department should not be only a supporting department. Rather it should also participate in identifying the opportunities in business. And a CIO can work on this front very effectively. This is also one of the important CIO strategies to grow the business.
AstraZeneca CIO Dave Smoley says that close interaction between executives is highly beneficial. He mentions,
“The top 250 executives in the company can see what’s happening, ask questions and make connections. It’s all about creating debate and stimulating discussion. We run multiple initiatives with each of these IT companies and they will have many new technologies that could be used across our business.”
These CIO strategies will certainly help the IT department to gain confidence of the rest of the organization.
Date: 17 May, 2017