The following post was inspired by a TechRepublic's "10 mistakes CIOs should not make."
That's worth checking out, but I thought I'd compile a counter (and random) list of 10 things CIOs should do, based on my experience covering them for several decades.
- Use IT performance metrics to prove your value. This is not always easy, but there are many tools out there such as Key Performance Indicators to measure IT performance. The CFO, who is important to have in your corner, will appreciate this. Conversly, he or she will not take you the least bit seriously if you cannot prove your mettle.
- Agility is key. The ability to do things quickly will make the typically opportunitistic chief marketing officer happy. Check out this post by former CIO Mike Hugos "How CIOs can become business heroes." It explores a pay-as-you go approach to IT and puts a spike in big IT capital outlays that drive CFOs nuts.
- Be a player in political battles. Ok, I stole this from the TechRepublic post, but it's spot-on advice. "Your staff is depending on you to know which way the wind is blowing...."
- Operational excellence is key. Keeping the lights on, which used to be much of the CIO's job, is assumed. If you're constantly putting out fires, you won't be in the job for long because playing first responder won't give you time to innovate and focus on strategic initiatives.
- Have Big Data strategy. Yes, it's a grossly overhyped technology and much has to play out, but you will be asked about it. Click here for my deeper dive on the topic.
- Retired CIO Joel Dobbs has a wonderful four-part series about why innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit are critical for today's CIOs. The series begins with this Peter Drucker quote: "This defines entrepreneur and entrepreneurship - the entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as opportunity." Innovate or die!
- Embrace consumerization and BYOD because it’s happening regardless of you. So figure out what’s the right way to go in your organization.
- Constantly review and rejuggle your organization. Does it make sense for IT resources to be in business units? Who should do development? Are outsourcing and the cloud good options? If you'll notice, many top companies reorganize every year or two as a way to leverage fresh talent.
- Be a leader, which means taking risks and acting on the direction set by the CEO and board. This may sound obvious, but many IT departments have existed outside the business mainstream. That's not acceptable anymore.
- Focus on strategic initiatives first, and technology fifth. As one CIO told me recently, "There are no IT projects anymore, only business projects that have technology elements." Selling technology internally should be done only in support of strategic initiatives, not that you can't have casual conversations about promising technologies.
John Dodge is the community manager at the Enterprise CIO Forum, an online community for CIOs sponsored by Hewlett Packard and produced by IDG. You can also follow John Dodge on Twitter.