CIOIN

The IT leader is the only executive with a bird’s eye view of an enterprise’s processes and priorities, not to mention its operational strengths challenges, and opportunities. Over the years, CIOs tend to gather secondary levels of expertise, be it finance, HR or operations because they work closely with such business processes. For a comprehensive knowledge of operations and what makes the enterprise tick, the CIO role has no competition. CIOs, in most organizations, have conceptualized and driven large-scale change initiatives—a huge benefit in times when most organizations need people who can seamlessly drive change. They have evolved from technologists to those who proactively contribute to realize and deliver business goals—as much as their business peers. Strategy has become routine for most CIOs and their ability to morph innovative technology into business goals is an advantage that not many other C-level executives have. CIOs are hardwired and naturally more adept at innovation. After all, which other field experiences as many dynamic changes as technology? Having been a part of both the roles, I feel that CIOs have a fairly high risk appetite—similar to their business peers. In this day and age, when seven out of every 10 new technologies fizz out in no time, taking a call on what technology to go for is itself a huge risk. And just as it is with business, these decisions need to be made quickly to keep up with the changing business demands. Also, business-IT alignment is a catchy phrase but it’s antiquated. How much a CIO is in tune with the organization, its customers, and environment is purely a matter of inclination. Any C-level person should think beyond his function as his role is much larger. A CIO who only thinks about servers may not be living upto his full potential.