Challenges for CIOs in 2010

I have recently published a paper on Deloitte's website regarding the challenges facing CIOs in 2010 and beyond. See http://short.ie/jybug0. I thought it would be worth recapping what those challenges are here:



1. Take Control
Working in partnership with suppliers requires fostering a positive relationship but also means controlling costs and focusing on business value. CIOs should be actively managing service delivery, reviewing long-running deals and enforcing favourable rates where possible, without impairing service delivery to the business.


2. Transform your costs
CIOs should be exploring the benefits of migrating business services into the cloud; particularly in areas such as email and office productivity tools where proven alternatives are available. Cloud-based services offer the ability to flex service capacity and replace capital expenditure with operating expenditure.

3. A virtual reality
A focus on controlling spending should include examination of service delivery transformation by exploring innovative methods. Virtualising desktop and server assets can offer greater control over service delivery without limiting accessibility for business users.

4. Streamlining talent
Now is the time to identify and address talent gaps to optimise delivery capability. Where possible, consolidate and centralise teams while seeking additional ways to supplement capabilities by taking advantage of alternative delivery options. Actively managing retention will be critical to maintaining key skills within the core team.

5. Recognise your value
CIOs who have successfully reduced the cost of IT while continuing to deliver business value through these tough times will have demonstrated credibility with their business colleagues and are well-positioned to play a greater role in advising and deciding on project and programme investments. Successful portfolio management means direct engagement with senior business stakeholders to align delivery with business strategy.


6. Power in your hands
Opportunities to generate competitive advantage exist in mobile service delivery to both business customers and consumers. Applications delivered to mobile devices not only improve accessibility but also positively impact business agility and responsiveness.

7. Spring clean and benefit from green
Many organisations retain an IT legacy which is expensive to maintain and support. With out-of-support application and energy costs rising, now is the time to review, rationalise and refresh the legacy in order to reduce overhead and maximise value for money.

8. Managing change
While IT organisations have embraced methods such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) for service delivery and realised improvements as a result, there is not the same level of maturity around programme and project delivery. CIOs should lead IT in delivering training on – and consistent use of – robust methodologies, enabling change delivery to meet the high standards achieved within service delivery.


9. Keep in touch
The rise of social networking has been dramatic and is now making inroads into the corporate environment. CIOs should be helping their organisations benefit from social networking’s ability to deliver direct participation through feedback and collaboration, while implementing controls to manage data security risks.

10. Be prepared
CIOs should be prepared for a broad range of business challenges, ranging from natural disasters through increased regulation and market volatility. CIOs have a responsibility to build resilience into the foundation of IT operations, and be prepared to demonstrate this resilience to the Board, shareholders and markets.


For me the most important of these challenges are

2 - Transform your costs by migrating to the cloud, there is no doubt that the cloud presents a great cost saving opportunity if appropriately exploited.

5 - Reconginise your value and more importantly make sure the business do too. There is little point delivering value if you are not being recognised for it. CIOs need to make sure that they have the proper mechanisms in place to do this in terms of benefits tracking (long past go-live) and having a forum to highlight these benefits to the business.

8 - Managing change. CIOs need to ensure that their delivery organisations are just as well organised in terms of process and governance as their operational organisations which are these days typically ITIL based. They also need to make sure that these two parts of the organisation work in unison by taking an end to end project view from the start of the project that integrates architecture, delivery and operations in one team.