In this week's edition of news for IT pros, why CIOs get derailed, and tips for staying ahead of security issues.
The ambiguity of the CIO role
In ZDNet this week, Michael Krigsman writes about the tremendous pressure on CIOs today, when digital transformation is a mandate, yet IT failure rates are estimated between 30-70 percent. Citing a Harvard Business Review paper called "The dynamics of CIO derailment," Krigsman lists five primary reasons CIOs fail to meet business expectations – from misunderstanding their goals, to pushing for change at the wrong pace. Krigsman highlights a need to recognize the ambiguity of the CIO role, and, therefore, clearly and proactively define IT success.
With so much ambiguity, what actually is the CIO's position in the business today? The answer is – it's one that's been steadily evolving as technology has become increasingly essential to business decisions. Ben Rossi does a great job breaking down this evolution in Information Age: “Ten years ago, with the advent of cloud technology and business transformation, the role of the CIO moved from head of IT to the position of key executive and business leader. The future CIO will be expected to understand how every department will use technology tools and ensure a return on investment is achieved.”
A refresher on security basics
Two articles in the news this week review the security basics that every IT leader should know.
Are you failing Security Basics 101? [CIO]: “Security tools are getting more sophisticated. DevOps is bringing us automation in operations, and a more holistic way of looking at how we manage infrastructure. But all too often, we’re not doing basic things to improve security and reliability, like protecting against known vulnerabilities.”
The lowdown on improving mobile data security [TechTarget]: “The mobile data security battle is fought on two fronts: on devices themselves and when data is in transit between devices and apps. Take some time to learn how to strengthen the defenses against mobile security breaches with hardware and software encryption, containerization and more.”
More news for CIOs
IT’s role in digital transformation isn’t a small one [Diginomica]
Don't squander your high potential talent: Hack it [Entrepreneur]
