game. I strongly believe that we are experiencing a golden age for information technology, and that now is absolutely the perfect time to be an IT leader. The old model is broken, and a new model is emerging.
Together, we are taking a momentous and important journey. Together, we are envisioning and creating the future of IT leadership. Collaboration is the key to innovation, and innovation is the key to business growth.
For many of us, the IT industry has always revolved around technology. That's what probably drew us to the field: the cool technology that most people would never understand. We were a lot like the leather-jacketed barnstorming pilots of the early twentieth century – more interested in the technology itself than in the people and companies who might benefit from it.
Those early days have passed, and we have entered a new phase in the history of the IT industry. Our focus has shifted from ourselves to the people who use the technology services we provide. The shift in focus isn't trivial; it represents an enormous change in the way we operate. Our primary job is no longer just making sure that all the technology works – now our job includes making absolutely certain that the technology drives real business value in our interconnected digital global economy.
That's a tall order. It means we're not merely responsible for how well our IT systems operate within the limited boundaries of our own organizations; we're responsible for how well our IT systems work in markets and locations all over the world!
That's why I think the metaphor of shifting gears aptly reflects both the challenge and the opportunity facing today's IT leaders. We have a clear choice: We can shift into a higher gear to keep pace with the changing world around us, or we can cruise comfortably in the slow lane and watch as the rest of the world speeds ahead of us.
The old paradigm is fading, and a new one is replacing it. Speeds and feeds are fine, but having great metrics won't pay the bills. Today's businesses focus on delighting customers, because that's how you make the most money. Thanks to years of cost-cutting, IT is as lean as it's ever going to get. The new challenge is leveraging IT to drive revenue. We've made our contribution to the bottom line; now we have to help grow the top line!
Instead of grumbling, we should be rejoicing. IT is ideally positioned to help the business develop new products, enter new markets, and find new sources of revenue. In a recent column, I wrote about how the combination of social, mobile, cloud, and big data is creating new demands from the business for more IT services. The business wants everything faster, better, and bigger. From my perspective, this is a perfect opportunity for the IT team to demonstrate its business acumen, its work ethic, and its effectiveness under pressure.
If we do this right, together we can launch a new golden age for IT. All of the newer technologies will require tight integration with existing IT infrastructure and intensive support from IT staff. That will translate into thousands of important IT projects – a veritable bonanza of new work.
So here are some of the big questions: Are you ready for the big shift? Are you ready for the additional responsibility, higher visibility, and elevated status it will bring? Are you willing to make the effort required to crank up the pace and work in a place that's outside your comfort zone?
For most of us, I know the answer is an unequivocal yes! These are exciting times ahead, and strong IT leadership will be critical to the success of competitive organizations. I am looking forward to a phenomenal year of growth and opportunity for all of us. Together, we will provide the leadership, innovation, and transformation needed for continuing growth in our rapidly changing global economy.
For many years, the primary function of IT was enabling the business. Today, IT often is the business. That's a major transformation. There's no place to hide – IT is front and center.
The big shift is the change from inward-facing IT to outward-facing IT. When IT faced inward, it had a relatively small set of customers to satisfy. Basically, the customers of IT were internal users, and that means they weren't really customers. They were captive users, and they had no choice but to use whatever technology IT gave them.
The consumerization of IT changed all of that. Now those internal customers don't need IT anymore – they can pretty much use any technology available on the market. Hence the growth of shadow IT.
But what's more important – and this is at the heart of the big shift – is that IT's customers are now the same people as the company's customers. That's a huge difference!
Instead of serving captive customers with no choice, IT now serves paying customers who are free to choose from multiple suppliers. If those external customers aren't happy, they will find another supplier and your company's revenues will plummet.
That is the essence of the big shift. In years past, IT only had to worry about a handful of internal users. Now, IT has to worry about real customers and real markets in a hypercompetitive global economy.
In a very real sense, IT has stepped up. We're playing in the big leagues now. Today, IT really matters. It matters to the top line and to the bottom line. When IT has a bad day, the company has a bad day. When IT is on a roll, the company is on a roll.
There's no point in talking about “aligning IT and the business” when IT is the business. In the modern enterprise, IT and the business aren't merely acquainted – they are best friends. I imagine IT and the business as a pair of Olympic figure skaters. They move together as one, in perfect synchronization, with total harmony and a shared sense of purpose.
The big shift is more than a trend – it's a template for the future.
If you're looking for the latest update on the current state of the modern CIO, you'll need to talk with Linda Ban. Linda is C-suite program director at the IBM Institute for Business Value and a good friend. We were honored that she agreed to share her findings at our recent CIO Executive Leadership Summit in Detroit.
Linda's presentation, “Moving from the Back Office to the Front Lines,” contained so many nuggets of great insight that it was hard for me to pick which one to write about in this book.1 After a subsequent conversation with Linda, though, I decided to focus on an action list that Linda included at the end of her presentation.
Linda recommends seven action steps for CIOs who want to elevate their game, build tighter bonds with senior executives, and drive real business value across the enterprise:
1. Architect the digital blueprint.
2. Become an information steward.
3. Get the basics right.
4. Eliminate cyber threats.
5. Collaborate around the clock.
6. Strengthen relationships across the C-suite.
7. Look above the operational parapet.
“If you think back five or six years ago, IT was focused on back office operations and technology. The job of the CIO was keeping everything running,” says Linda. “Today, the focus is increasingly on providing solutions to business problems. It's not just technology for technology's sake.”
Great CIOs focus on solving business problems, says Linda. But in order to do that, you need a solid understanding of the business. You need to spend time with your company's customers and spend time in the field learning about how your customers are using technology.
“For
See “Moving from the Back Office to the Front Lines,” CIO Insights from the Global C-Suite Study, © IBM Corporation 2013. Available at http://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/gb/en/gbe03580usen/GBE03580USEN.PDF.
