What does it take to be a successful CIO? Studies have shown that the average CIO only holds on to the job for roughly 4 years – what can you do to have a longer career? It turns out that the answer to this question is simple: you need to find ways to work with the rest of the business.
What this means is that although your technical skills and your ability to work with the rest of the people in the IT department are what got you this far, it’s not going to be what you need in order to stay in the job. You are going to need to develop a new set of skills.
The key to a long-term CIO career is to understand the business that your IT department exists within. There are various other departments and people that all need what your IT department has to offer, but they may not know how to ask for it. They don’t speak your language.
As the CIO it’s going to be your job to find ways to bridge the gap between the rest of the company and your IT department. It can be all too easy for the rest of the company to treat the IT department as a cost center and not realize the important role that you can play in making the entire organization run quicker, run smoother, and be more profitable.
The purpose of this book is to provide you with real-world examples of how a CIO can work with the rest of the business. There is no one answer to this question. Rather it requires a different way of thinking. You actually need to take the time to fully understand what the other people in the company want to accomplish and then you’re going to need to find ways for the IT department to provide that.
The magic phrase that is used to describe an IT department that works well with the rest of the company is “alignment”. In this book we discuss what alignment really is and we provide you with examples of how you can move your IT department closer to achieving it.
It is my hope that after having read this book you will be aware of the additional job that you’ve taken on as CIO – working with the rest of the business. Do this correctly and your CIO career will last a long time…!
