| | December 20149CIOReviewate value, not sustain processes.2. More control over software systems deemed critical to the organization ­ pull outsourced systems in or pull the software vendors closer3. An elevation of software developers to participate in business planning4. Non-IT related business roles moving closer to the develop-ment teams5. The facilitation of rapid production deployments through con-tinuous deployments6. A reduction in red tape required to release new system up-dates.When small improvements in your digital asset base lead to greater improvements to the organization's bottom line, you're a software company.Why do utilities need to adopt a "software company" mentality?The 100 year old U.S. Energy industry is entering a state of dis-ruption. Renewable power sources such as wind and solar have already disrupted the existing economics for power generators in California and Texas. As the cost of renewables continues to drop, as well as that of batteries and micro generators, the "al-ways on" electric grid will begin to dissipate. Couple this with an increasingly more informed consumer through smart me-ters, smart thermostats, and energy management systems and the landscape will begin to shift dramatically for utilities. Why buy your electricity from the "power company" when the same company who sells you home security wants to finance a solar panel install for you? Or, your internet company offers to sell you electricity, with a home automation package? Add energy deregulation to the remaining states currently preventing it and even more players enter the arena all vying to get and keep cus-tomers who need power in their homes and businesses.But don't take my word on it, listen to NRG's CEO David Crane: "If you ask me who I worry about beating us, I give very little thought to the traditional power companies, the utilities, it basically is an information technology-based industry. Of the big four companies that will inherit the Earth--Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon--the one that has shown the most interest in this space is Google. Indeed, Google's purchase of the Nest puts Google "behind the meter" and in the energy game. Google has also over $1 billion in renewable power plants over the years. More than anything Google is a software company."How do you become a software company?Like any major organizational paradigm shift, developing a soft-ware company mentality is a top down initiative starting with the CEO. If a CIO doesn't have this support they must make it their mission to change the CEO's mind in order to get that support.In addition, the CIO must command an enterprise under-standing of all the organizations systems and IT infrastructure. I say this having spoken with a number of CIOs over the years who delegate this understanding. All systems across the enterprise need to be reviewed by the CIO in order to sniff out potential failures ­ file processing, system update lapses, and missed sys-tem project deadlines. The CIO must keep digging until fully comfortable with the state or plans to ensure your systems create a solid digital platform. It's critical to bring in the people actually doing the work (a problem when an organization has too many layers) such as the system admin who performed a migration or the developer who wrote a piece of code. Not only will this pro-vide a CIO with the best level of information, it will send a mes-sage to the organization that everything they do matter.Next, the CIO needs to bring the business into the IT organi-zation and remove the layers of processes or ticketing systems that typically create barriers between IT and the business. Start with a fundamental operating construct, such as a dedicated de-velopment team that includes business decision makers. Then, get the business engaged in the projects. When the business at-tends meetings, provides a vision, clarifies needs, and debates strategies with the IT group massive amounts of productivity is produced and the company is working like a software compa-ny. When this doesn't happen teams stagnate, developers build throw-away systems, and members of IT and business become frustrated. We can point fingers at who should create this team culture, but I personally believe this should be facilitated by the CIO. CIO's can network with their peers in business, market teams that operate well as an example to the organization, be transparent with IT planning, and demonstrate a focus on the organization's success rather than IT's success.Finally, to operate with a software company mentality or-ganizations need to empower people who make a difference. Rather than provide a top down set of IT projects for the organi-zation, let business line managers prioritize directly with their IT teams and drive the projects. The CIO can provide a rear-view mirror view of projects being worked on to the C suite to ensure accountability in decisions. Be sure to remove overhead in decision making ­ get rid of the management-for-the-sake-of-management mentality and elevate developers to drive decisions. Encourage Project managers to do more facilitating and report-ing, rather than controlling. Remember, the best ideas come from your troops on the ground. Great leaders spend more time dis-cerning rather than telling.Software is eating the Utility industry and, over the next 20 years, energy retailers will need to adopt a `software company' mentality' '
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