Developing capabilities and tools

The second area of focus within their IT organisations

for evolving CIOs has two parts. One is comprised of

the processes, methods and tools used by the IT team.

The other part is the skills and capabilities of IT staff.

Deploying a Highway Code

If leadership describes the journey to the IT organisation s

ideal, evolved destination, then the Highway Code that helps

road users understand how to get there is the IT processes,

methods and tools creating the guiding principles of driving

convention. They also draw the map. The evolving CIO will

ensure all of these are in place to support the evolution of

his own and his IT organisation s roles.

Developing deep partnerships with customers and

suppliers, and streamlining its sourcing model can give

the IT organisation the experience and credibility needed

to guide the enterprise itself through an equally radical

transformation of business processes, methods and tools.

The IT function is now in a position to hold up a mirror to

the rest of the enterprise and say, Look. We ve proven our

ability to do this very effectively in our own organisation.

Now let us do it for you.

Processes grow organically in most enterprises, layered

one over the next rather than carefully stripping out the

old as the new ones go in. Consequently, it is rarely easy

to establish new processes or the tools and methods

that support them which are rich and flexible enough to

support the strategic intent of the enterprise. Nonetheless,

this is the task that CIOs must embrace if they are to

successfully evolve their role. If they do not lead the effort

themselves, CIOs will delegate it to experienced process

specialists with an excellent understanding of the business,

leveraging approaches such as Lean Sigma.

The CIO will also need to secure sponsorship for, and active

buy-in from, his Board level peers in order to define, agree

and deploy new processes enterprisewide. Leading by

example, evolving CIOs are visible and vocal sponsors for

developing and deploying agreed standards across the full

breadth of their enterprise.

The result is a more consistent and effective service to the

business, with processes, tools and methods aligned to the

retained part of the IT organisation. IT staff are encouraged

by the evolving CIO to take a continual learning approach,

which the CIO is also active in advocating throughout the rest

of the enterprise. The business and the IT organisations work

together effectively to develop and deploy a seamless result.

Broadening scope

Traditional IT teams tended to deal with a defined

set of customers and were responsible for ongoing

maintenance as well as enhancements or new work.

In contrast, an evolving IT organisation is service

orientated, with broader capabilities ranging from business

processes to IT infrastructure. Its role is designed to

deliver to multiple customers and to interoperate with

other components. Service-aligned federated units

have an autonomy allowing for agile response locally,

with shared centralised governance to maintain a

well orchestrated portfolio of services overall.

The CIO s ability to evolve his own role will depend on how

well he nurtures the capabilities and skills of his IT team.

Developing technical, hard skills will remain important;

equally so is a new parallel focus on soft and people skills

that support the succession strategy for those below the

CIO whose roles are also undergoing evolution.

In building this organisational capability, evolving

CIOs place emphasis on achieving expertise within

their teams for a wide range of technical and non

technical areas. They will seek to create a T shaped

skills/experience profile in their staff, where broad

skills are complemented by in-depth knowledge and

experience in niche areas needed by the business.

The CIO needs to be able to spot and

nurture the talent needed to build

and sustain high performing teams.

   Carl Urbania, Senior Vice President and Global Chief

   Information Officer, Thomson Reuters

It s likely that IT will need to able to

set the vision and develop the roadmap

for future business development.

   Gareth Jackson, CIO, Honda UK

In IT development the growth

areas are technical architecture,

project management and

change management.

   UK CIO, Manufacturing Enterprise