Mistakes happen, and no one is immune. As smart as any CIO might be, if they haven’t experienced a gut-turning error, they haven’t been in the job long enough. And while high-level errors are a danger across the C-suite, the CIO finds his or herself in an area of particular sensitivity and low error tolerance. Add to that the high demands of the job and a virtual jungle of potential pitfalls, and the CIO starts looking like an accident waiting to happen. While they are expected to come to the table with visionary solutions, they also need to be deep in the weeds of projects and daily decisions, all the while staying conversant on virtually every technology choice. Ultimately the CIO’s job is to drive the company forward, all the while mitigating risk. So when a security threat hits the network, it’s the CIO who will need to explain the breach and how to contain it. It’s a heady responsibility, not for the feint of heart.
With these challenges in mind, we’re looking at some common mistakes CIOs make and ways to avoid them.
Making Technology Decisions that Do Not Drive the Business Forward
There’s a balance between implementing new technology to win a competitive edge and fully leveraging the tools that are already in place. Business units are always reviewing their systems to do things better and faster. But are their business requirements clear? Are they in line with the business strategy? Are the problems or frictions in the system being properly identified? There’s often a “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” sensibility when it comes to new technology. It’s easy to be sold on the promise of a wholesale change, but it’s good to remember that every solution comes with it’s share of new problems.
On the flip side, staying loyal to a certain technology for too long can cause issues, not just for efficiency, but for a security and risk management aswell. Any combination of old, out-moded or inflexible systems can hamstring an organization. Putting off hardware and software upgrades or replacements can create security risks that can seriously jeopardize the business.
Underestimating the Importance of Customers
Needless to say, customers are essential to every business, and there are more of them than you may think. For CIOs and everyone else in the company there are those customers that buy the products and services and keep the lights on – external customers. What is the user experience your organization delivers and how could it improve? What are your customers needs and priorities? As CIO, you need to ensure that the necessary communication channels are in place to respond to requests and suggestions to IT.
Nearly as important, and critical to coddle are your internal customers, and those change depending on your role. For CIOs, internal customers would include the rest of the C-suite, finance and most importantly from a operational perspective, the good folks in DevOps and QA. The CIO that underestimates or neglects their needs does so at his or her own peril. They are not only essential allies on the path to increased efficiency and shorter Dev and QA cycles, they also play a key role in swaying budget allocation.
Not Knowing When to Step Back or Step In
Much time and energy is spent by HR, recruiting and company stakeholders to hire the best IT candidates and build a talent culture in an organization. A newly-arriving CIO needs to have faith that the job was done correctly and trust that his or her team are stars that are all up to the job. This is a good time to take a step back and focus on working with and nurturing the assets you have. Of course issues may arise and not all hires work out for the best, but it’s essential to allow the team time to grow and gel and get used to your leadership
And then, of course, there are those times when you must step in very directly to drive a change or outcome. While it’s not always easy to know when it’s the right time, situations that demand immediate attention are usually pretty easy to spot if you keep your eyes and ears open. And when a situation does arise, be it technological, human, health and safety related, the CIO must respond quickly, fairly and resolutely. Personnel issues should not be left to fester. What is the issue? Poor Performance? Lack of training? Verify and validate what is the root cause and rectify. If someone is having performance issues, remove the person from the task or project. It is imperative to have the right personnel in place because this is what allows teams to succeed.
Taking on Too Much
With so many needs to be met and a fixed budget, a CIO needs to be realistic about what the teams can accomplish over a given period. While the business unit may think that new system can be implemented in three months, the IT team feels that it will take six. It is important to sit down with all the stakeholders to understand what their requirements are and find solutions that will meet all of their expectations.
Taking on more than what can be accomplished leaves IT teams feeling frustrated and overworked. But taking a project and breaking it down into manageable chunks allows the teams to build on completed components and feel continuous sense of accomplishment
Focusing on the Wrong Metrics
And last, though certainly not least are the metrics. What’s really driving your organization’s growth and success? Are the metrics you use demonstrating the value technology brings to the business? If not, maybe it’s time to rebuild your dashboard. Focusing on the wrong metrics could leave a CIO struggling to identify and solve issues, and ultimately struggling to keep their job.
What is the investment per customer and how does this translate into the value per customer? These types of metrics support the decision-making process and indicates where the budget should be spent and why. Executives want to see metrics that support operational efficiency and how technology generates revenue for the business.
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