The very first lesson of CMIS 431 "IT Strategy" explains the Role of CIO and defines the meaning of IT Leadership.

Before starting "Lesson 1 - CIO Role & IT Role" blog post, I would like to expalin the reason for selecting this course in the first place, is my keen interest in the complexity of Information Technology and in context of Strategy.

• Misperceptions of the CIO role

• Lack of biz skills & competencies

• Failure to underst& the importance of IT

• Lack of time to spend on strategic issues

• Poor collaboration with lines of biz

• Lack of support from CEO/Board

• Insufficient authority or responsibility

CIO is a profession that is impacted by different trends and groups. These three groups of trends that have affected the CIO role in the past and will continue to:

Changes in the Management structures of organizations:

COOs, CTOs, & other C-level executives are assuming some of the responsibilities that senior IT executives previously had, especially in orgs in which IT is an important part of the firm’s strategic direction}

Changes in the nature of the IT function

Firms are becoming increasingly innovative in how they deliver the information systems & information technologies on which orgs rely--from utility or cloud computing, to offshoring, to more traditional outsourcing. These changes have an impact on the activities CIOs are required to perform. Similarly, the move toward packaged software rather than custom software has an impact on CIO activities.

Changes in laws & regulations have also affected the IT function & consequently the CIO role. increasing importance of IT security has reshaped the CIO role.

Changes in the role of IT within the firm

Companies are moving away from cost cutting toward increasing market share (though perhaps the recent recession has made this trend a little less true!). So, IT must take a more strategic position in the org. IT must contribute to strategic flexibility--the ability to sense & respond to changing market conditions. changes have significantly affected the CIO role.

The fictional character Jim Barton has to consider the following important capabilities that a successful CIO position must have these:

• Personal Mastery
• Interpersonal Skills Mastery
•   strong communication, negotiation, & facilitation skills.
•   strong relationship building skills, especially relationships with other biz leaders.
• Leadership Mastery
• Strategic Mastery
• ability to contribute to corporate strategy.
• biz understanding, incl. the ability to anticipate biz needs.
• org.l understanding, incl. competence in biz process innovation & change mgnt.
• effectiveness in publicizing & raising IT’s profile & position within the company.

Additionally, CIOs must have these ten imperatives:

• Speak the language of biz

• Keep a strong connection with CEO & peer executives

• Be a relentless cost reducer

• Underst& impacts of IT on the revenue & cost sides of the income statement

• Invest in systems agility & IT architecture

• Establish a robust governance framework & manage the project portfolio

• Manage sourcing & partners

• Manage talent

• Enable innovation & change

• Safeguard info assets of org, maintain robust infrastructure, assure biz continuity

I was suprised how diverse CIO roles are.  McKeen and Smith (2012) list four different CIO role types:

1. Triage Nurse & Firefighter: IS executives whose main role is to fix urgent IT issues in the org. Little time is spent looking to the future.

2. Landscape Cultivator: works to improve the org’s IT systems through maintaining the existing infrastructure. do not make significant changes to the IT strategy, focusing instead on stabilizing existing systems.

3. Opportunity Seeker: is interested primarily in using IT to improve biz processes inside & outside the organizations boundaries.

4. Innovator & Creator: most innovative of the CIOs, look for opportunities to generate revenue through implementing new IT.

Over the years there has been an evolution of the CIO role, incl. discussion of its bifurcation various stages:

1. First stage was functional director; focus for IS executives in this role was cost reduction & system efficiency.
2. Second stage was as strategic aligner. CIO role make sure that the IT strategy was aligned with the overall corporate strategy. Often CIO reported directly to the CEO, underscoring the increasing importance of the role in the org.
3. Third stage was as biz visionary. CIO began to build closer relationships with biz units & examine the external environment for changes. This period characterized by the CIO’s growing contributions to overall corporate strategy & vision.
4. Today’s CIOs take one of 2 roles—either “IT Director” in which their main focus is on optimizing ROI on technology investments or “Chief Innovations Officer” in which the main focus is on organizing IS/IT to increase revenue generation opportunities.

There are many reasons listed on why all IT staff now expected to act as leaders, regardless official job titles:

Top-line focus. CEOs are looking for top-line growth from their orgs. New technologies & applications largely drive the enterprise differentiation & transformation efforts that will deliver this growth. Strong IT leadership teams needed to take on this role in diff parts of org & at different levels. They can do this effectively only by sharing clear goals & direction, underst&ing biz strategy, & having the requisite "soft" skills to influence biz leaders.

Credibility. No IT leadership initiatives within b will be accepted unless IT is consistently able to deliver results. No biz org will accept IT leadership in other areas unless it has demonstrated the skills & competencies to consistently deliver on what it says it will do. Top-level leaders are developed over time from among the rank & file, & that is where they often learn how to lead.

Impact. Individuals within IT have more opportunities to affect an org, both positively & negatively, than others at similar levels in the biz. result, it is extremely important that IT staff (even at lower levels) have much stronger orgal perspectives, decision-making skills, entrepreneurialism, & risk-assessment capabilities.

Flexibility. Increasingly, IT staff & orgs are expected to be responsive to rapidly changing biz needs & help the enterprise compete in a highly competitive environment. This situation requires IT staff to have not only the technical skills required to address a variety of needs, but also the ability to act in the best interests of the organizations wherever opportunities arise. To pull off these actions takes significant orgal know-how.

Complexity.  responsibilities of IT have grown increasingly complex over the past 2 decades. Not only is IT expected to be a high-performance org, it is also expected to offer change & innovation leadership, interact with other orgs to deliver low-cost services, chart a path through ever-growing new technology offerings, & offer content leadership. The complexity of the tasks, relationships, knowledge, & the necessity to integrate these means that leadership cannot rest in the h&s of one person or even a team.

New technology. E-mail, groupware, instant messaging, & the Internet are all changing how leaders work. Increasingly, staff are virtual or mobile & their interactions with their managers are mediated by technology. IT staff have much greater access more quickly to the same information as their managers. New technologies change how information is acquired & disseminated, how communication takes place, & how people are influenced & decisions are made.

The most important lesson about skills needed for IT leadership roles was found in the online article "The Top 5 Skills needed for IT Leadership roles":

"Whether you are a manager, leader or want to become one improving on and learning new leadership skills will benefit you for years to come. The key to improving your soft skills, technical skills, professional skills and leadership skills  is to commit yourself to improvement."

References

Austin. R.D., Nolan, R.L. & O'Donnell, S. (2009). The Adventures of an IT Leader. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. 

Leadership Skills – The Top 5 Skills Needed For IT Leadership Roles. (2009). Retrieved April 11, 2016, from http://itmanagersinbox.com/1257/leadership-skills-the-top-5-skills-needed-for-it-leadership-roles/

McKeen, J.D. & Smith, H.A. (2012). IT Strategy: Issues and Practices (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.