From “IT Manager” to CIO 2.0: Opportunity or threat?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Information Technology (IT) has revolutionised our society, business and as a consequence, the way we do things.

All areas and functional departments are experiencing a complete transformation and reinventing their work each day. We find ourselves in a globalised, changing environment, highly competitive and where doing more with less has never been so needed.

Everything is a process and teamwork oriented profiles are required to contribute more than what their job description implies.

We should all possess an innovation component within our profiles and this should be apparent through the decisions we make, whatever our functional responsibilities may be.

If we focus on the CIO, I think there is a great opportunity to lead the organisation within this role and to bring the rest of the functional directors (finance, sales, marketing, operations…) to join this orientation towards innovation, change and daily reinvention of the business.

So why the CIO?  Because I am convinced that the business oriented CIO has the necessary qualities to initiate this change:

  • They are aware of the technological possibilities
  • They know how to make the most of it in order to ensure a competitive advantage for the business
  • They are Project oriented (these days everything is a project)
  • They have a vision of the entire business that allows them to consider all areas
  • They are constantly result oriented
  • They lead multi-discipline teams
  • They control costs
  • They negotiate with service providers
  • They externalise

The CIO 2.0 should be perceived by the rest of the organisation as a motor for change, someone who is always ready for a business challenge and who will be capable of proposing a creative, business oriented solution that is feasible and has a return on investment.

In order to obtain this role as a business transforming CIO 2.0, it is necessary that the CIO remove the “IT Manager” role from themselves and should jump straight in contributing all of the knowledge they have (which is a lot!) and be capable of relaying this to the rest of the organisation.  The CIO has to take a risk and step outside their “comfort zone” and not settle for just reducing costs, they need to generate income via new technologies due to not only the value they add by themselves but also their fit within the business.

In that moment, the organisation will perceive the CIO as one of its main assets and before considering any business projects the CIO will be involved from the start, their vision and value proposal will be the key to success.

To summarise, I am convinced that the CIO is one of the most important assets an organisation can have contributing towards change, innovation and constant improvement, but it is necessary for the CIO to take on this role personally and be capable of transmitting this to the rest of the organisation, leading the transformation of the business.

Going back to the post title: From “IT Manager” to CIO 2.0: Opportunity or threat?

For sure: OPPORTUNITY.