Is it possible to fully define a Chief Information Officers role?
Research and practice suggest that for most, this is too difficult.
Ask any board, and the answer is ‘well…it depends…’
There then follows a long list of reasons as to why their requirements for their CIO are totally unique and (therefore) incomparable to any other organisation. Academics describe this as role ‘contingency.’
Here at The Harding Method, we believe that each reason represents a masking of complexity; and complexity, much of it unnecessary, arises from mixed perceptions of IT and the role of the CIO.
The first area of misperception stems from mixed perceptions of the purpose of the IT function. Cost sensitive executives perceive IT as a money pit, rarely delivering expected, tangible benefits; executives less sensitive to risk, perceive IT as a strategic enabler of change and competitive differentiation.
These fundamental differences geminate next level perceptions in terms of the role of IT in either delivering ‘business as usual’ (a predictable process subject to continuous improvement and cost saving), versus, the need for organisations to leverage IT for innovation (a less certain process, subject to uncontrolled cost growth).
How do these antagonistic perceptions impact digital managers and leaders?
Cost sensitive organisations look to drive the cost out of IT, usually through decentralisation, servitisation and outsourcing. Each scenario suggests a need for a different ‘type’ of CIO.
Strategies involving BYOD or ‘digital transformation’ (i.e. moving apps out of IT and into the business and/ or into the ‘cloud’) encourages functional leads in the business to take on more responsibility for developing their own, localised IT solutions. This means the CIO must be able to govern effectively, largely, without authority.
Alternatively, cash strapped IT departments encouraged to merely focus on day to day operational improvements develop trendy and strategically ineffective ‘services.’ Such a singular focus on low key, rapid and continuous operational improvement, demands a CIO who can manage the status quo with internal customers, without rocking the boat too much.
And those organisations looking to disavow themselves of any capability to innovate, tend to embrace wholesale outsourcing. Outsourcing (or the ‘commoditisation of IT’) relies on highly complex long-term commercial arrangements, necessitating a CIO largely focused on the thankless task of highly constrained contract management. Such contracts are designed solely for the benefit of the 3rd party provider and (in our experience) usually, eventually, leave a very bitter taste in the mouth of the IT department and the wider organisation.
All these approaches have one thing in common. They diminish and constrain the CIOs ‘reach’ and (hence) the capability of the IT function to adapt and innovate, simultaneously, continuously and at speed.
As we can see, disparities in perception, IT either as an enabler of efficiency or enabler of innovation can create, for many CEOs, a rather confusing picture of the purpose of their CIOs role…and we haven’t even considered the impact of digital technologies or the battle of the platforms yet..
In the perfect world, any CIO could fulfil both requirements, but that depends on what organisations really need from their CIOs; but of course want and need can represent two very different perspectives…
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