CEOs often mistrust CIOs, which limits IT`s value for the executive team. Understanding the CEO`s expectations and view of the CIO, however, will help to create the right relationship, says Richard Firth, CEO and chairman of MIP Holdings.
While CIOs are overcoming their status of being poor relations in the boardroom, they`re not yet quite the best in business leadership. The findings of a recent Gartner survey support this view. Many of the top 10 IT-related problems experienced by international CEOs and CIOs, according to the IT Governance Global Status Report, also validate this finding:
1. Inadequate view on how well IT is performing;
2. Operational failures of IT;
3. IT staffing problems;
4. Number of problems and incidents in IT;
5. High cost of IT, with low return on investment;
6. Lack of knowledge of critical systems;
7. Manageability of data;
8. Disconnect between IT strategy and business strategy;
9. Unmanaged dependencies on entities beyond direct control; and
10. Number of errors introduced by critical systems.
While CIOs disagreed with CEOs a year ago about what their top issues were and therefore what the top business priorities should be, in 2005 Gartner`s survey concludes that the relationship has improved, CIOs have built their credibility, they have become team players and they have taken on more operational duties than ever before.
The results are that CIOs feel better about their duties, believe they have more respect and since CEOs can more readily understand them, they find that they are in a better position to transcend IT explanations and engage in business strategy discussions.
Combined with a recent European IDC survey that states that a majority of business leaders see IT as critical to the success of their business and with increased focus on the value IT brings to the business, they want to incorporate it more aggressively into their business strategies, which can only be good news for formerly embattled CIOs.
CIOs must exit the data room and engage in the boardroom and on the showroom floor with real live customers, gathering feedback on the business, the strategy, stakeholder requirements, and then turn that into software, hardware, maintenance, support and services delivered back to his customer, the business.
They must remember that although it`s not a case of style over substance, an approach best left to unscrupulous sales hounds, style is nonetheless critical, according to the Gartner survey findings. Being proactive as opposed to fearful is the only successful style to employ.
The four stages of Gartner`s relationship improvement programme are logical and effective:
* At risk
* Transactional
* Partnering
* Trusted ally
Successful executives want to arrive at the bottom of that list but in order to do that they need to know what their current standing is, as well as what their strengths and weaknesses are. Near-malignant self-examination of their abilities will tell CIOs what they`re good at, what they`re not and what they need to be doing next.
Distilling that is a simple task. If the CIO is delivering below expectations then he`s at risk. Transactional, the most common stage, sees the CIO engaging at a functional level with the CEO. At the partnering stage the CIO engages other executives on business issues and by the time he becomes a trusted ally he is viewed as a true business partner.
Moving along the chain is also a team effort and CIOs need to realise that before they can make a success of it, which means first being a good leader, which any CIO should be.
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