CIOs should be business-driving business intelligence initiatives, but too many of them are too involved with technology issues and have no understanding what information management entails.
It is a well known paradigm that business intelligence projects should be driven from the business; and in some organisations the business sponsors and business leads are slowly getting this right on a project level. But similarly, the entire business intelligence programme should be driven from the business by the CIO - after all, that is the primary source of information to the business, and that is what the I in CIO stands for - but, alas, few organisations seem to get this right.
Technology focus
In most organisations where we have consulted and have done assessments of their business intelligence initiatives, the CIOs were focused on technology issues and on handling relationships with the technology vendors. We are not disputing the fact that this needs to be done - but we are very concerned by whom it gets done! Managing the technology and technology vendors is a very necessary function, and in a large corporate it can easily be a full-time job. However, it is definitely not the CIO`s function. It is the work of the IT manager, or if it then must be elevated to the board level, then rather call the person that does this - the CTO (chief technology officer).
What we have here is a severely misdirected focus. Technology is an enabling support service, but information is a primary driving resource, along with money, manpower, materials and business machinery. These primary resources must be managed from the C-level. Information management, at least, because of its cross-organisational utilisation, should be directed and driven from the C-level.
Information focus
The CIO should be focused on information management. This is an extensive discipline, and should include topics such as information architecture, data quality, business intelligence, methodologies, governances, standards, and more, all in line with the business focus, strategy and objectives.
As an example, a CIO should put the governance in place that there should only be one business intelligence initiative and one and only one (enterprise) data warehouse, and what is more, he should ensure this governance is enforced. There are many other such types of governance, such as single extract per source system, source system readiness, through to data modelling standards, but you think these get any attention?
Mr CIO, what is in your toolbox?
In order to do these things and to fill the position properly, a CIO needs an extensive skill set in his toolbox - from in-depth theoretical knowledge, to practical know-how through to extensive soft skills.
For example, a CIO must have in-depth and objective unbiased knowledge about the various data models that are to be used in the various business intelligence initiatives. He should know the pros and cons of each type and model, and where they are best utilised. After all, he has to set that governance and enforce it - how can you do that without knowing what it is all about?
On the soft skills side, a CIO must be an excellent political player. Information is a hotter potato than products, manpower or money, as it crosses more organisational boundaries. The vague valuation of information and the myriad of uses it has, makes it become the ideal political juggling ball. The CIO must be able to balance the cross-organisational essential business information requirements with complex intangible issues such as sponsorship, ownership, custodianship and responsibility.
Conclusion
Maybe the I in CIO should be changed to intelligence - whichever way, it is time we have more informational intelligence at the C-level. With a cross-I-ed CIO or a CTO responsible for information, the organisation is bound to lose focus of one of its most valuable resources.
Share
Editorial contacts