| | October 20159CIOReviewand applying that understanding to shape IT's approach to providing valuable services to the organization. Further, it is important for CIOs and IT leaders to be able to identify people in their own organization with the skills to engage and partner with stakeholders in the business. This needs to occur at many levels of the organization, not just in the upper levels. IT organizations with a shortage of such resources dedicated to building business partnerships should re-evaluate the roles, resources, and organizational structure within IT to develop superior business acumen and to better support the business objectives.Equally important is aligning the competencies of IT with the business or industry in which one finds oneself. "Doing IT for IT's sake" is a long gone concept, but I find that it still creeps into IT's consciousness from time to time. Yes, governance, standards, repeatable processes, policies, practices, and adherence to these disciplines are still necessary to the functioning of IT departments, but they need to support business goals and not just exist because "we have always done it that way." Too often, I have seen these to be unnecessary blockers to the innovation and change which has always been the greatest promise of technology.CIOs and business leaders who can foster an environment where engagement and deeper partnerships are cultivated and celebrated will be able to effectively capitalize on the right technologies that will fuel the achievement of business objectives.Supply Chain Relationships-Balancing Vendors ­ Key Partners/Best of BreedI think the most interesting swing that I have seen in the last few years has been the movement away from "best of breed" solution selection to-ward more of a "single solution" with a few key IT partnerships. This approach may be considered ironic, since there remain inexhaustible supplies of technology vendors with capa-ble, cost-effective solutions. IT departments seem to be tak-ing a tiered approach to their technology partners. They are categorizing their partners: platinum, gold, and silver ­ just like vendor service level approaches. Essentially, a few key partner relationships drive decisions and solutions. This approach essentially means that IT evaluates potential solutions by looking at "platinum" partners first and choosing that partner's technology solution even when it does not fulfill 100 percent of the requirements. If the gap is too great between what the "platinum" partner can provide and what is expected from the business, then the next tier of solution pro-viders are evaluated. The primary driver of this behavior is that integrating solutions from "non-platinum" partners often results in additional costs and schedule delays. However, it's important to realize that "platinum" partners won't always have the technol-ogy solutions necessary to support the achievement of business imperatives.Interestingly, the pervasiveness of "shadow IT" is in direct competition with this approach. "Shadow IT" occurs when the business makes technology enablement decisions on their own (without consulting with IT) and acts on those decisions by engaging in technology service agreements, and purchasing software. In general, I believe CIOs should work to embrace "shadow IT" and/or at least to understand it rather than fight against it. They should use it to enhance the "key partnerships" approach where necessary. Often, "shadow IT" houses the innovation necessary for the business to take the next forward leap. As technology becomes more accessible to the business and easier to integrate into their business processes, these challenges will only increase and are likely to drive IT organizations into a more de-centralized organizational construct so that the technology skills are more local to the business need.Cost Efficiency or Innovation? Actually, Both...As I observed and interacted with CIOs over the last few years, it seemed to me that there continues to be a great struggle between efficiency and innovation. Now that I have been performing the CIO role for the last couple of years I understand more of the struggle. The key is finding the right mix where there is a clear focus on cost efficiency and yet innovation can thrive. Ultimately, it is important that CIO's know the tolerances and expectations for these within one's own business organization and culture. In some cases, business stakeholders are willing to sacrifice cost efficiency as resources are redirected toward innovation. In other cases, IT needs to be able to demonstrate clear operational efficiency improvements that have resulted in cost reductions. Knowing which level to pull on and when it a strategic skill for today's CIO.CIOs have the opportunity to mix people, business relationships, solution partners, technology, and lead innovation while efficiently "keeping the lights on" for the organization. Perhaps that is the greatest challenge for CIOs as we head toward the second half of this decade. The key is finding the right mix where there is a clear focus on cost efficiency and yet innovation can thriveSteve Brescia
< Page 8 | Page 10 >