Lesson 1 Journal Entry - CIO Roles and IT Leadership : A Dynamic and Changing Position

CIO roles and responsibilities have changed significantly since the early days of the Internet and since early Information Technology organization structures, processes, and models for carrying on business operations. It is no longer merely the dot-com businesses that require a CIO and other IT positions in their business architecture. Businesses from all walks are being forced to acquire an online presence in some form or another to remain competitive in the dynamic and changing business environment of Today; brick-and-mortar business models are becoming a thing of the past and with that comes a number of obstacles for organizations to consider to remain competitive. 

As our culture moves towards a very high adoption rate of various technologies, especially in the consumers' use of mobile technologies, it is paramount for businesses to adapt their business models to accomodate to this new dynamic in the marketplace; even small-to-medium sized businesses. With these changes to the business structure comes a significant reworking of the general architecture of the business in order to maintain daily business functions both on and offline, as well as to plan and progress for the future. In the past, the CIO would ensure the success of the IT department, overseeing nearly all facets of the technology systems in place, however, over time new positions have been developed and more intricate architectures with many layers of management have been adopted to accompany the growing importance of the IT department and to further develop unity between departments (McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. A., 2012).

Interdepartmental cooperation and efficiency of data exchange between departments is essential to ensure that all projects are operating in line with the objectives and needs of not only their respective department, but other departments, as well as the overall mission and goals of the company and stakeholders. Sounds easy, right? A trend toward conglomerate and other larger, International corporate business models make it increasingly difficult for businesses to adapt old methodologies and organizational structures to accomodate for the rapid movement of consumers using mobile and other eCommerce related applications to carry on their relationship with businesses.

Consumers can use the Internet during every step of the procurement stage. You can actually build yourself a virtual model of your home and do walkthroughs. 3D technologies have gotten to the point that you can actually walk around your new home before it is built and adjust the layout and features by altering schemas and other data input into software. It is absolutely amazing where technology is headed, and we are beginning to understand that there are very few limits to what can be accomplished with the use of various technologies. It is important to stay on your toes as an IT professional and stay up to date with ongoing progressions in your field of study (McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. A., 2012). Stand around too long in the IT World and you will watch your margins decrease, and could find yourself behind the curve of the competition and in serious trouble.

In my opinion, new businesses are becoming more and more successful as the progression of products and services occur at a such a rapid pace Today. They are able to learn from their predecessors and create more business value for the customer while reducing costs associated with starting up by learning from their rivals mistakes and evaluating the current marketplace. IT has certainly become an exciting field of study, but with it comes several hurdles for current managers in order to keep up to the accelerated learning curve of young professionals in the field. Better schooling and the increased global access to information has made the field much more competitive and forces IT professionals, and especially senior managers to remain up to date with current technologies. A CIO should not only be a successful manager, but should make it one of their objectives to be a techology leader and become proficient enough in the complexities of IT to help provide insight to their team, as well as to facilitate communications between IT and other departments.

Austin, R. D., Nolan, R. L., & O'Donnell, S. (2009). The adventures of an IT leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.

McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. A. (2012). IT strategy: Issues and practices. Boston: Prentice Hall.