|
Mapping Out Key Decision Zones |
For CIOs, technology decision making has always been a critical skill. This year, ahead-of-the-curve CIOs are taking things a step further by sharpening the processes that form the basis of decision making. Our research shows that IT leaders at large and midmarket companies differ in their focus on the various segments of the decision-making map.
The Three R's
Larger companies tend to pay more attention to the transformational aspects of the three R's:
- Roles and responsibilities of IT and the business
- Relationships between IT and the business (such as mental models, metrics, financial models and chargebacks)
- Risk management issues (such as risk identification, policy selection, policy implementation, security, privacy and auditing)
The Six S's
Midmarket companies tend to focus more heavily on the six S's:
- Standardization of processes and platforms
- Stabilization of legacy systems and ongoing strategy
- Sourcing concerns ("Should we do captive offshoring? If not, whom should we partner with, and how should we manage the relationship?")
- Software decisions that involve build-versus-buy-versus-download choices (such as striking a balance between off-the-shelf and custom-built software)
- The structure of IT (whether IT should be centralized or decentralized; whether shared services should be established and data centers relocated, etc.)
- Supplier and partner management issues
The Four D's
Finally, both large and midsized enterprises are paying close attention to the four D's:
- Determining IT governance approaches (involving migrating homegrown portfolio management to off-the-shelf software, IT project prioritization, budgeting, crafting IT roadmaps, etc.)
- Decisions about talent (such as, "What skills do we need? Where can we find and recruit talent? How can we train, retain and compensate staff?")
- Disruptive, or game-changing, technologies (such as business intelligence, mobility/Wi-Fi, etc.)
- Delivering on new models for IT initiatives, including on-demand service; service-based pricing; new architectures such as Web 2.0 and service-oriented architecture; as well as supply chain, portals, and bringing more customer-facing business processes to the Web.
-- T.M.
|
A Swinging Pendulum
Trust has a substantial impact on who and how IT decisions are made. A decade ago, CIOs weren't really trusted enough to make these decisions, recalls a CIO from the state of Texas. "Every business unit wanted to have their own IT shops. They were essentially practicing IT without a license. Today we don't have nearly the need or the desire for shadow IT organizations or lack of trust in IT."
This CIO's situation raises an important question: Is there such a thing as too much trust? "We don't have a lot of people second-guessing any decision we make," he acknowledges. His senior business colleagues "trust my guys so much that they do not feel the need to get other people involved."
A CIO of a company division that spends $250 million a year on IT was promoted to another executive role within the company. The division president left it to the CIO to handpick his IT replacement. That showed "a heck of a lot of trust," the CIO says. "Here is a guy running a $6.5-billion business [who] does not feel the need to meet this person because of the trust he has in me and my people."
Several other CIOs noted, however, that extensive business involvement in IT decision making -- independent of trust and track record -- is still considered prudent practice.
Respondents also indicate some notable differences in the decision-making practices and focus of large and midsized enterprises (see "Mapping Out Key Decision Zones," above). Large-enterprise CIOs are focusing on changing the game that's being played; midmarket CIOs, however, are still consumed with playing the current game.
For large-company CIOs, delegation of responsibility is increasingly a must. They generally hand off the day-to-day decisions of running IT to their trusted lieutenants; and in some cases, delegation is a survival technique. A CIO at a Fortune 100 company recognizes he can't do everything; he has to delegate some decision making. "I would be dead if I tried to dive into every decision. I worry about a few big ones and the overall process of decision making. When something goes wrong, the first thing I want to focus on is not how it went wrong, but what do we want to do differently going forward?"
|
 |
|
|
