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CIOs face balancing act

By Leigh-Ann Francis
Johannesburg, 19 Mar 2010

ITWeb's Doing More With Less

More information about the ITWeb Doing More With Less conference, which takes place on 14 April at The Forum in Bryanston, is available online here.

Considering the business needs of the mid-size organisation, CIOs are increasingly challenged to achieve the fastest return on investment (ROI) and the highest process flexibility with the lowest cost of deployment.

So says Stefan Diedericks, senior channel manager at Oracle. Diedericks will deliver a presentation on how to leverage standardisation of process to achieve this challenge at the upcoming ITWeb Doing More with Less event, being held on 14 April, at the Forum in Bryanston.

According to Diedericks, the concerns of CIOs at mid-size businesses are similar to those at large enterprises, and include cost efficiencies, business intelligence, social networking integration and flexibility of process.

However, he argues, mid-size business CIOs have less budget to work with, forcing them to be more flexible around process and platform. This often means industry pushes CIOs at mid-size companies to accept 'boxed-in' solutions, which prevent future growth. Instead, notes Diedericks, these CIOs seek leading practices, reference-ability and experience, interwoven into a scalable software solution.

Diedericks advises mid-size business CIOs to focus on three components to achieve process flexibility and maximise ROI: people, process and systems. “These three elements always play a roe during any deployment and it is critical that all of these are considered to achieve maximum ROI for the organisation.

“This is done by ensuring the mitigation of risk in each of these areas, while ensuring stable structures are introduced that don't stifle the business into a 'mid-size mentality'. Instead, they should allow CIOs to leverage the introduced tools to deliver on the requirements of the business as it changes through to expansion and growth,” he continues.

The 'doing more with less' concept is generally the mainstay of a mid-size business; however, post-recession circumstances provide a window of opportunity. “It is important to view these exceptional times as opportunities to grow and expand while the competition has their purse closed up,” advises Diedericks.

It is important to recognise the trends that indicate rebounds in the market and how to respond to them, he adds. “This event will assist the mid-size business owner to identify these trends, and identify how to go about investing into their ICT infrastructure to achieve the necessary expansion and growth for future abundance,” he concludes.

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