This blog is intended for the course IT Governance (with service-learning component) which aims to integrate business and IT concepts into actual scenarios in education, business, and government.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
IBM, The Essential CIO: Insights from the Global Chief Information Officer Study
Hi guys! You can download the material at this url:
http://www-304.ibm.com/businesscenter/cpe/download0/218842/2011mmciostudy.pdf
As indicated in the IBM website, the findings in the "The Essential CIO: Insights from the Global Chief Officer Study, Midmarket Perspective" were insights gathered through face-to-face conversations with 622 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from midsize organizations around the world.
In the study, both public and private sector CIOs described the challenges and opportunities confronted by their organizations in a highly competitive business environment and how they helped their organizations adapt to rapid change and complexity to achieve organizational success.
As noted by the study, the primary differences among the CIOs lie in their organizations' business needs and goals, and how CIOs can achieve those goals through business and information technology. As such, beyond where CIOs are responsible for delivery of essential services—managing digital infrastructure and enforcing security, data integrity and system availability, the research identified four distinct "CIO Mandates" that are based primarily on how each organization views the role of IT.
The CIO Mandates identified are as follows:
Leverage: streamline operations and increase organizational effectiveness
Expand: refine business processes and enhance collaboration
Transform: change the industry value chain through improved relationships
Pioneer: radically innovate products, markets, business models
It was also emphasized in the study that the most successful CIOs are those who understand the goals of their organization, how those goals define their specific mandate, and what their organization expects of IT leadership as a result.
Thus, the results of the study further underscore the vital and evolving role of the CIO.
Questions:
1. Do you have a CIO in your organization? If yes, what is the primary role of your CIO? If not, do you think that there is a need to formally appoint a CIO and why?
2. Can you identify specific IT initiative/s that your organization has implemented based from the identified 4 CIO Mandates of the study?
Chief Information Officers play a vital role in today's business organizations given by the competitive economic environment brought about by globalization, digital workforce and all other external factors. In a traditional organization structure, you would not be able to see this position given that its major responsibilities are shared among top management. However, in today's hybrid organization structure, this position is now easily identified and comes in various names. In my previous company, Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corporation, this position is referred to as the Information Technology Executive Director. As to the question whether there is a need to appoint a CIO, I believe it would be necessary in today's business environment given that almost all the business processes are done with the aid of technology, which should be managed carefully. I would recall the full implementation of our new HRIS (Human Resource Information System) in Pioneer way back 2008 where all HR activities became integrated online. It made things easier for us especially on concerns that affect the organization internally.
True as expected, IT corporations are the front liners in adopting an systems-integrated framework governed by CIOs. As their systems are technologically-oriented and processes coherent. It’s amazing how processes are evaluated respect how company strategies perform may simplified and information (statistics) made as transparent as the presentation in the IBM website. Ideally, all these innovations will lead to simplicity of organization complexity and thus leads to efficiency and infallible judgment. However, I still see PROs and CONs in lieu of adoption. I still believe that some aspects of realities could not be measured through statistics alone so the applicability of such may be limited such as in the realm of the arts where aesthetic components may be programmed but only to a limited extent as compared with a real artistic eye.
As for the presence of CIOs in the three academic organizations I am currently connected with, the answer is none. Though these organization have started working toward improving organizational effectiveness, the status is still far from ideal.
As for the other private organizations I was previously connected with, particularly in the areas of R&D, manufacturing and Quality Assurance, truly the presence of IT played significant roles toward meeting our strategic objectives. In the field of R&D, after successful product development and innovation, translating our finally developed prototypes into large scale made us benefit from economies of scales. To ensure quality of process and output, critical statistical process parameters are installed to regularly check quality and avoid wastage.
Similarly, in manufacturing, computerized statistical process controls are at hand to detect deviation from standard of quality outright, maintain the optimal environment (relative humidity, cell count, temperature, etc.) and automatically make computerized adjustments to prevent defective or poor quality products resulting from poor process controls.
In quality assurance, chemical and microbiological analyses of products are performed using computer-assisted systems for stringent and efficient monitoring and keen assessment of every stage of the process. At this age, even though the application of IT has infiltrated to cover all other departments, it still only serves to enhance manufacturing processes and improve controls to assure quality, efficiency and security in all lines of duties. Though IT officers are now in better command, they still do not perform the role of a global CIO.
I just want to throw this particular question to everyone. Do you think at some point, the roles of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer could be in conflict given the four identified mandates of CIOs identified in the study? I would appreciate getting your two cents worth. Thanks
Just a little thought..Based on what I have read so far, the focus of CEOs and CIOs are more or less showing signs of becoming more similar through time (p. 13-14). In addition, the kind of thinking of CIOs has become more and more synchronized with the thoughts of a CEO (p. 6). I think the respective roles do not change despite the differences of which mandate they each belong to. Because for CIOs, understanding the needs and the goals of a specific organization (p. 9) is one of the basic steps to take. Further more, goals and needs are usually identified by the C-suite executives but the CEOs would usually have the final say. Thus, looking at the statistics and the discussion by the author, it seems to be more consistent with the observation that conflicts should not arise between CEOs and CIOs as we move on through time.
I kinda agree with you Joo. At the end of the day, I feel that it is still the CEO who heads the entire organization and CIOs are responsible to report to him directly as to the management of information. Yes, there should be no conflicts between these two positions.
This is also an interesting read which we can relate with our first discussion on Leadership in the Information Age and our current topic.
Part 1:
Redefining the IT firm’s CIO as change agent By Marge C. Enriquez Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:32 am | Monday, June 3rd, 2013
MANILA, Philippines—It used to be that the Information Technology Department was at the back of the office making sure that the systems were up and running. Got a virus? Can’t log on?
Today, it’s the go-to place that manages data and helps companies make life-changing decisions.
“IT is in a unique position in the company. IT can see end-to-end from sales, marketing, finance, supply chain. We added a responsibility to IT—to be a change agent in the company. At Dell, we’re shifting to a more strategic IT. That’s where IT not only handles technology but also helps with our business strategy. It can help the company drive innovation and, at the end of the day, improve bottom line results. The line between business and IT is now blurred. IT’s new role is expected to be more strategic,” says Justin Mennen, Dell’s regional Chief Information Officer for Asia-Pacific and Japan.
At the recent Dell Solutions Tour at the Hotel InterContinental, he came to Manila to spread the word on the CIO as a change agent.
Through the years, data or information and the IT that steers it have become vital organs in company. Hence, the chief information officer or CIO position was created to manage the processes in supporting the information flow in the organization. With all the data on hand, CIO can help in formulating strategic objectives for the company. He can analyze information, redesign workflow, determine and create new tools, remake the company’s facilities and systems and maximize the data resources.
“In the past, the work force wasn’t inclined to understand technology. Now everybody knows cloud and BYOD (bring your own device). It’s not an IT thing anymore. That is where expectations from IT have shifted. We can use technology to drive results,” says Mennen.
With his eye on the future, the CIO adds value by using technology to understand the business and applying it.
He says Dell formed a business architecture team, composed of senior executives from different areas, it included IT. “They define the future of our company. In the past, IT would have never been in their discussion. Now it is an integral part of the strategy. We bring a different lens to it.”
Traditionally IT has maintained the organizations systems and infrastructure. “From a business perspective, they logged on and did what they needed to do and logged off. It’s always going to be important but we added things to it. We’ve moved from operations to consultative. We just don’t talk about how to keep things running, but to talk about the future.”
Mennen adds that IT can drive innovations in the company through business strategy.
When Dell envisioned its future in the next five years and the means to make it more profitable, the company looked into its various tasks (referred to as applications). It turned out that the company had too many apps with overlapping functions.
With the help of IT in analyzing the business processes and re-engineering the infrastructure, Dell cut down its apps from 8,000 to 2,400, standardized its processes, reduced costs and increased productivity. The savings were re-invested in other business areas.
Mennen underscores that the IT has the responsibility to give full transparency. “That scares some IT organizations because if you provide full visibility, the business could use that information. ‘Why scrutinize?’ ’Why are you spending so much money here, etc.’ We welcome that at Dell. We want the business to understand where we are spending the money so we can drive the right changes in the company. It’s a mindset shift. IT used to be a black box. It has become close to the business. That is where strategy comes in and where industry trends are. IT has come close to the business to the point where we want to share our insights.”
Thanks for sharing this article Agnes dear. The role of CIOs is clearly being transformed especially in today's digital world, where almost everything is connected online and that boundaries are becoming inevitable. It is just up to organizations on how to maximize this to their advantage.
Mennen has been touring the region to know more about the other Dell companies. On his job, he described, “We handle all strategic partnerships with business to make sure our global team understands what is happening. We are partnering with our key leaders. How in the region I can best align the team for success with our future? We are focused on our people.”
Mennen notes the strong team spirit and talent in the regional Dell workforce. “Loyalty is good and attrition is low. There are certain skill sets where they excel. There are opportunities for us to come up with.”
In the Philippines, Dell is strong in the enterprise market with servers, networking, software, and services. The business is focused on contact centers and BPO for customers in the US and Europe. Thus, Dell’s 1,600 employees require access and secure data quickly.
“The CIO’s role is critical for us to support our clients. He has to understand our client,” says Richard Teo, president of Dell Philippines. “For example, if I am a bank and I need to outsource my call center to Dell, we will take the services job. The bank has specific IT requirements which I may not be able to help. For them to connect and for us to run their contact center, we are going to need their technology. That is where we are going to be dependent on the CIO.”
He adds that in the light of competition, a BPO’s success lies in speedy and competent service. “The CIO has to come up with new tools and innovations so we can do the work for the customer more efficiently and more cost-effective and faster,” says Teo.
“When a call comes in, they listen to the customer’s issues, and help them. The system has to be stable and ready. The CIO ’s role is critical not only for smooth operations. We have to plan ahead as we grow. We have to make the CIO understand how we are growing, what areas we are growing so he can anticipate and plan for our growth.”
Teo notes the trend of BYOD in the workplace as employees prefer to use their smartphones and tablets. The CIO’s job is to help find solutions in helping the employees secure customer data without any risking confidentiality.
Teo adds that since Dell is involved in diverse industries, the CIO’s role is vital. “The needs of these clients are different. We depend on the CIO to help us design solutions to meet our customer’s need. Apart from keeping our systems stable so our employees can handle the existing businesses, we are going after new accounts and new clients. Each client will have his own requirements, be it security, data management. We need the CIO to help us formulate and work on the solution so we can respond to our client’s business needs.”
Technological innovation is definitely a great leap for most organizations in the country. Putting CIOs in the strategic light even more rotates the organizations' vision to 360 degrees. However, the ideal promises brought by this CIO study are truly overwhelming.
Unlike previous trends, with organizations becoming more and more decentralized with growth, the CIOs role in modern corporations overturns the need to do so. IT brings back the clear control and closer monitoring to one highest strategic decision maker, the CIO. Marketing, finance, supply-chain etc. in the past required compartmentalization as size grows thereby headed by different individuals who are eyeing at varying strategic visions. This time all information can be integrated altogether despite the vastness and complexities in the organizational structure.
I am really interested with the gradual and natural alignment between how the CEO (the business) and the CIO (the ICT) perceive the role of IT in business and the role of business in IT. This business strategy and IT strategy alignment can be attributed to the pervasive role of ICT in the government, in the business, and even among individual users. My guess is that, as we draw closer to more innovations, the overlap between the two will undeniably become narrower.
Such being the case, I am strong in my opinion that ICT is a potent enabler that can fuel an economy as reflected in how the networked readiness indexes are identified as fluid indicators of competitiveness.
As indicated in the IBM website, the findings in the "The Essential CIO: Insights from the Global Chief Officer Study, Midmarket Perspective" were insights gathered through face-to-face conversations with 622 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from midsize organizations around the world.
ReplyDeleteIn the study, both public and private sector CIOs described the challenges and opportunities confronted by their organizations in a highly competitive business environment and how they helped their organizations adapt to rapid change and complexity to achieve organizational success.
As noted by the study, the primary differences among the CIOs lie in their organizations' business needs and goals, and how CIOs can achieve those goals through business and information technology. As such, beyond where CIOs are responsible for delivery of essential services—managing digital infrastructure and enforcing security, data integrity and system availability, the research identified four distinct "CIO Mandates" that are based primarily on how each organization views the role of IT.
The CIO Mandates identified are as follows:
Leverage: streamline operations and increase organizational effectiveness
Expand: refine business processes and enhance collaboration
Transform: change the industry value chain through improved relationships
Pioneer: radically innovate products, markets, business models
It was also emphasized in the study that the most successful CIOs are those who understand the goals of their organization, how those goals define their specific mandate, and what their organization expects of IT leadership as a result.
Thus, the results of the study further underscore the vital and evolving role of the CIO.
Questions:
1. Do you have a CIO in your organization? If yes, what is the primary role of your CIO? If not, do you think that there is a need to formally appoint a CIO and why?
2. Can you identify specific IT initiative/s that your organization has implemented based from the identified 4 CIO Mandates of the study?
Chief Information Officers play a vital role in today's business organizations given by the competitive economic environment brought about by globalization, digital workforce and all other external factors. In a traditional organization structure, you would not be able to see this position given that its major responsibilities are shared among top management. However, in today's hybrid organization structure, this position is now easily identified and comes in various names. In my previous company, Pioneer Insurance & Surety Corporation, this position is referred to as the Information Technology Executive Director. As to the question whether there is a need to appoint a CIO, I believe it would be necessary in today's business environment given that almost all the business processes are done with the aid of technology, which should be managed carefully. I would recall the full implementation of our new HRIS (Human Resource Information System) in Pioneer way back 2008 where all HR activities became integrated online. It made things easier for us especially on concerns that affect the organization internally.
DeleteTrue as expected, IT corporations are the front liners in adopting an systems-integrated framework governed by CIOs. As their systems are technologically-oriented and processes coherent. It’s amazing how processes are evaluated respect how company strategies perform may simplified and information (statistics) made as transparent as the presentation in the IBM website. Ideally, all these innovations will lead to simplicity of organization complexity and thus leads to efficiency and infallible judgment. However, I still see PROs and CONs in lieu of adoption. I still believe that some aspects of realities could not be measured through statistics alone so the applicability of such may be limited such as in the realm of the arts where aesthetic components may be programmed but only to a limited extent as compared with a real artistic eye.
DeleteAs for the presence of CIOs in the three academic organizations I am currently connected with, the answer is none. Though these organization have started working toward improving organizational effectiveness, the status is still far from ideal.
DeleteAs for the other private organizations I was previously connected with, particularly in the areas of R&D, manufacturing and Quality Assurance, truly the presence of IT played significant roles toward meeting our strategic objectives. In the field of R&D, after successful product development and innovation, translating our finally developed prototypes into large scale made us benefit from economies of scales. To ensure quality of process and output, critical statistical process parameters are installed to regularly check quality and avoid wastage.
Similarly, in manufacturing, computerized statistical process controls are at hand to detect deviation from standard of quality outright, maintain the optimal environment (relative humidity, cell count, temperature, etc.) and automatically make computerized adjustments to prevent defective or poor quality products resulting from poor process controls.
In quality assurance, chemical and microbiological analyses of products are performed using computer-assisted systems for stringent and efficient monitoring and keen assessment of every stage of the process. At this age, even though the application of IT has infiltrated to cover all other departments, it still only serves to enhance manufacturing processes and improve controls to assure quality, efficiency and security in all lines of duties. Though IT officers are now in better command, they still do not perform the role of a global CIO.
I just want to throw this particular question to everyone. Do you think at some point, the roles of the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Information Officer could be in conflict given the four identified mandates of CIOs identified in the study? I would appreciate getting your two cents worth. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJust a little thought..Based on what I have read so far, the focus of CEOs and CIOs are more or less showing signs of becoming more similar through time (p. 13-14). In addition, the kind of thinking of CIOs has become more and more synchronized with the thoughts of a CEO (p. 6). I think the respective roles do not change despite the differences of which mandate they each belong to. Because for CIOs, understanding the needs and the goals of a specific organization (p. 9) is one of the basic steps to take. Further more, goals and needs are usually identified by the C-suite executives but the CEOs would usually have the final say. Thus, looking at the statistics and the discussion by the author, it seems to be more consistent with the observation that conflicts should not arise between CEOs and CIOs as we move on through time.
DeleteI kinda agree with you Joo. At the end of the day, I feel that it is still the CEO who heads the entire organization and CIOs are responsible to report to him directly as to the management of information. Yes, there should be no conflicts between these two positions.
DeleteThis is also an interesting read which we can relate with our first discussion on Leadership in the Information Age and our current topic.
ReplyDeletePart 1:
Redefining the IT firm’s CIO as change agent
By Marge C. Enriquez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:32 am | Monday, June 3rd, 2013
MANILA, Philippines—It used to be that the Information Technology Department was at the back of the office making sure that the systems were up and running. Got a virus? Can’t log on?
Today, it’s the go-to place that manages data and helps companies make life-changing decisions.
“IT is in a unique position in the company. IT can see end-to-end from sales, marketing, finance, supply chain. We added a responsibility to IT—to be a change agent in the company. At Dell, we’re shifting to a more strategic IT. That’s where IT not only handles technology but also helps with our business strategy. It can help the company drive innovation and, at the end of the day, improve bottom line results. The line between business and IT is now blurred. IT’s new role is expected to be more strategic,” says Justin Mennen, Dell’s regional Chief Information Officer for Asia-Pacific and Japan.
At the recent Dell Solutions Tour at the Hotel InterContinental, he came to Manila to spread the word on the CIO as a change agent.
Through the years, data or information and the IT that steers it have become vital organs in company. Hence, the chief information officer or CIO position was created to manage the processes in supporting the information flow in the organization. With all the data on hand, CIO can help in formulating strategic objectives for the company. He can analyze information, redesign workflow, determine and create new tools, remake the company’s facilities and systems and maximize the data resources.
“In the past, the work force wasn’t inclined to understand technology. Now everybody knows cloud and BYOD (bring your own device). It’s not an IT thing anymore. That is where expectations from IT have shifted. We can use technology to drive results,” says Mennen.
With his eye on the future, the CIO adds value by using technology to understand the business and applying it.
He says Dell formed a business architecture team, composed of senior executives from different areas, it included IT. “They define the future of our company. In the past, IT would have never been in their discussion. Now it is an integral part of the strategy. We bring a different lens to it.”
Traditionally IT has maintained the organizations systems and infrastructure. “From a business perspective, they logged on and did what they needed to do and logged off. It’s always going to be important but we added things to it. We’ve moved from operations to consultative. We just don’t talk about how to keep things running, but to talk about the future.”
Mennen adds that IT can drive innovations in the company through business strategy.
When Dell envisioned its future in the next five years and the means to make it more profitable, the company looked into its various tasks (referred to as applications). It turned out that the company had too many apps with overlapping functions.
With the help of IT in analyzing the business processes and re-engineering the infrastructure, Dell cut down its apps from 8,000 to 2,400, standardized its processes, reduced costs and increased productivity. The savings were re-invested in other business areas.
Mennen underscores that the IT has the responsibility to give full transparency. “That scares some IT organizations because if you provide full visibility, the business could use that information. ‘Why scrutinize?’ ’Why are you spending so much money here, etc.’ We welcome that at Dell. We want the business to understand where we are spending the money so we can drive the right changes in the company. It’s a mindset shift. IT used to be a black box. It has become close to the business. That is where strategy comes in and where industry trends are. IT has come close to the business to the point where we want to share our insights.”
Thanks for sharing this article Agnes dear. The role of CIOs is clearly being transformed especially in today's digital world, where almost everything is connected online and that boundaries are becoming inevitable. It is just up to organizations on how to maximize this to their advantage.
Deletecontinuation:
ReplyDeletePart 2:
Mennen has been touring the region to know more about the other Dell companies. On his job, he described, “We handle all strategic partnerships with business to make sure our global team understands what is happening. We are partnering with our key leaders. How in the region I can best align the team for success with our future? We are focused on our people.”
Mennen notes the strong team spirit and talent in the regional Dell workforce. “Loyalty is good and attrition is low. There are certain skill sets where they excel. There are opportunities for us to come up with.”
In the Philippines, Dell is strong in the enterprise market with servers, networking, software, and services. The business is focused on contact centers and BPO for customers in the US and Europe. Thus, Dell’s 1,600 employees require access and secure data quickly.
“The CIO’s role is critical for us to support our clients. He has to understand our client,” says Richard Teo, president of Dell Philippines. “For example, if I am a bank and I need to outsource my call center to Dell, we will take the services job. The bank has specific IT requirements which I may not be able to help. For them to connect and for us to run their contact center, we are going to need their technology. That is where we are going to be dependent on the CIO.”
He adds that in the light of competition, a BPO’s success lies in speedy and competent service. “The CIO has to come up with new tools and innovations so we can do the work for the customer more efficiently and more cost-effective and faster,” says Teo.
“When a call comes in, they listen to the customer’s issues, and help them. The system has to be stable and ready. The CIO ’s role is critical not only for smooth operations. We have to plan ahead as we grow. We have to make the CIO understand how we are growing, what areas we are growing so he can anticipate and plan for our growth.”
Teo notes the trend of BYOD in the workplace as employees prefer to use their smartphones and tablets. The CIO’s job is to help find solutions in helping the employees secure customer data without any risking confidentiality.
Teo adds that since Dell is involved in diverse industries, the CIO’s role is vital. “The needs of these clients are different. We depend on the CIO to help us design solutions to meet our customer’s need. Apart from keeping our systems stable so our employees can handle the existing businesses, we are going after new accounts and new clients. Each client will have his own requirements, be it security, data management. We need the CIO to help us formulate and work on the solution so we can respond to our client’s business needs.”
Technological innovation is definitely a great leap for most organizations in the country. Putting CIOs in the strategic light even more rotates the organizations' vision to 360 degrees. However, the ideal promises brought by this CIO study are truly overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteUnlike previous trends, with organizations becoming more and more decentralized with growth, the CIOs role in modern corporations overturns the need to do so. IT brings back the clear control and closer monitoring to one highest strategic decision maker, the CIO. Marketing, finance, supply-chain etc. in the past required compartmentalization as size grows thereby headed by different individuals who are eyeing at varying strategic visions. This time all information can be integrated altogether despite the vastness and complexities in the organizational structure.
My question is this:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the proportion of business organizations in a third world country like ours are technologically ready to be governed by CIOs?
What proportion of business organizations in a third world country like ours are technologically ready to be governed by CIOs?
DeleteI am really interested with the gradual and natural alignment between how the CEO (the business) and the CIO (the ICT) perceive the role of IT in business and the role of business in IT. This business strategy and IT strategy alignment can be attributed to the pervasive role of ICT in the government, in the business, and even among individual users. My guess is that, as we draw closer to more innovations, the overlap between the two will undeniably become narrower.
ReplyDeleteSuch being the case, I am strong in my opinion that ICT is a potent enabler that can fuel an economy as reflected in how the networked readiness indexes are identified as fluid indicators of competitiveness.