CIO key to business and IT transformation

(provoked by : The CIO revolution in the public sector)

If CIOs accepting this challenge will need to consider what solution(s) they need to allow them to function effectively:

• Alignment - of business and IT (how they record, and communicate, manage this)
• Visioning - forward-thinking about how ICT can enable/support achievement of the mission (technology beliefs, scenarios, initiatives etc.) and being clear exactly what roles IT plays.
• Transformations - support the nitty-gritty of this (programme definition, impact analysis, risk analysis etc.)
• Business change programmes - where IT is embedded in approval and management of all business change programmes and investment decisions are clearly seen as the responsibility of the business (how they quickly provide an accurate analysis)
• Value assessment - where proposals explicitly identify the business benefits expected and the investment required (including all: business process change, facilities, infrastructure, applications, recruitment, training, marketing and change management, etc.).

To do this they will need to work out how what their business intelligence solution needs to be i.e. that can tie together all the knowledge about their business and ICT - and present it: to specific audiences on specific topics of interest.

Some extracts from The CIO revolution in the public sector:

"...the rhetoric of business and IT alignment has to become a reality."
"... importance of the CIO role in both central and local government. ..."
"... the overall government vision for IT and service transformation but also practical developments on the ground in terms of how the IT function ..,fit[s] with the rest of the business."
"... the nitty-gritty of transformation still has to be worked out ..."
"... the capacity to engage in more forward-thinking discussions about how ICT can enable and support the organisation to achieve its broader mission..."
"... A standard process for the approval and management of all business change programmes is thus becoming more common in both central and local government. IT issues are embedded in this process from the beginning and the investment decisions are clearly seen as the responsibility of the business as a whole. ..."
"All proposals explicitly identify the business benefits expected and the investment required, inclusive of all the elements, including business process change, facilities, infrastructure, applications, recruitment, training, marketing and change management"

See also:
CIOs 'last three years
Eight roles the CIO must play - "... three roles the CIO needs to avoid: chief inertia officer, chief impediment officer and chief inefficiency officer..."
The life of a CIO: It's not pretty - "I have been to India so often that I have started to understand cricket."; "At the same time, the divisional IT guys are playing this cute game; they give great lip service to having common platforms and cooperating, but when push comes to shove -- they push and they shove."
Multiple Roles Eyed for CIOs - the CIO creates possibilities - new kinds of processes, new kinds of strategies, even new ways to reduce costs.

Business and IT transformation