Someone forwarded me a link on the finding that no one in
the current lot of fresh job seekers is excited about CIO as a career. The
writer of fame and an opinion leader went on to predict that the role has been
short lived in its amoebic existence getting pulled and pushed in all
directions with every change in technological wave which threatens to change
the technology landscape and value proposition for enterprises. Unable to
resist a rejoinder, I decided to provide an alternative view to the
sustainability of the CIO role
CIO’s role is complex, everyone agrees to this fact, even
the antagonist acknowledged the fact. CIOs manage infrastructure, business
applications, and communication from the enterprise to customers, suppliers,
regulators, and interested stakeholders. They help run the business efficiently
or what is now referred to as “Keeping the lights on” or “Business as usual”.
They are also responsible for information security, business continuity,
disaster recovery, governance, risk and compliance, and contribute to business
success.
Barring the recent fad driven CXOs with X = Digital, Cloud,
Social (media), Innovation, Mobility (?!), and many more to come, the CIO is
the youngest of the C-suite. S/he has seen a lot more discussion and debate
around the role, responsibilities, accountability, KPIs and importance. It is
probably in focus because every other CXO is now dependent on the CIO and the
IT team to provide them with basic standardized and secure infrastructure to
conduct business and consume information to stay successful in their roles.
This situation elevates insecurities and spurs demand for
breaking away from the shackles that IT has bound the business in; restricted
End user compute devices with lower juice and freedom in comparison to their
home devices; lock down mobile phones with containerized security or locked USB
ports and unrestrained internet access (I am a responsible manager of this
company !). Revolt thus stoked attempts to surface with errant behavior (as
seen by the CIO) and deployment of islanded cloud solutions.
The resultant angst creates perceptions of IT rigidity and
bureaucracy which business users hate and seek approvals for exceptions to the
rule book. Enterprise IT needs to be simple that does not require training; I
don’t need a training program or manual to use technology for personal
consumption; then why is enterprise IT so complex ? They forget the fact that
enterprise solutions are limited by budgets, require structured data that lends
itself to analytics, correlations, and associations for transactions, payments,
and other business processes.
Everyone would however agree that all the applications can
do with a dose of simplicity which is not an unreasonable ask. Does this imply
that UI/UX should be a separate portfolio with the creation of one more silo
CUO or Chief User (Interface/Experience) Officer, a person who shall be tasked
with the responsibility of ensuring that systems remain idiot proof ? Or the
task can be done by a specialist in the IT or any other team ? Such has been
the rationale for slicing away the role of the CIO to create new micro but
super-sized heads.
History bears the fact that the fancy and irrational paranoia
to rechristen or create parallel roles has borne no fruit and almost all of
them have been relegated to oblivion. The Internet, Cloud, SMAC, Security,
Digital, and what have you fancy, have all disappeared after the title ran out
of vogue with realizations that they were too small a role or responsibility to
sustain standalone. The willing or grudgingly magnanimous CIO has taken them in
his/her stride, not just surviving, but thriving and growing from strength to
strength.
So when I see proclamations and hypothesis put across by the
learned and opinionated, I wonder why do we get anxiety pangs ? Does
postulation of such theories make them the reality for the CIO ? I have seen
discussion, debate, instigative behavior, challenge, and provocation from peers
and outsiders but never felt threatened in my role or tremors in my foundation
of trust build brick by brick with credible delivery and dialogue. I believe
that CIOs have nothing to be afraid of except their own fears towards their
longevity.
And talking about no one wanting to be a CIO ? Probably the
institute in question is going to have a big miss in the digital world !
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