The transition from all-inclusive glass house IT infrastructure to externally housed use of services is accelerating. CIOs are riding this wave of change in their efforts to deliver competitive advantages to their enterprises. Chris Smith, CMO of Zenoss, sees this change in progress and advises CIOs to prepare.
"The bulk of change happening in IT infrastructure during the next two years will be to push the limits of speed and efficiency. To do that, higher levels of automation will need to be achieved. To push the limits of automation, companies must deploy even more private and public clouds along with more converged infrastructure. These elastic infrastructures will allow for software defined everything, resulting in faster, more automated and more efficient processes.
A CIO is responsible for IT systems in support of business goals. While the overall business goals might not change dramatically over the next couple of years, the tactics in support of these goals will, such as shadow IT, public clouds, private clouds or anything that gives an organization more agility and a boost in efficiency. The role of a CIO will continue to evolve into one of a portfolio manager. Key decisions will need to be made on what stays in-house and what gets outsourced without compromising confidentiality or infringing on regulatory mandates.
The next two years will be critical in sustaining and gaining competitive advantages via IT. CIOs will spend a lot of time strategizing and preparing for this inevitable shift."
