| | October 20178CIOReviewBy Scott Fenton, Principal, Scott Fenton Consulting, LLCe have all seen countless articles about the death of the CIO role. In some ways, there is some truth to that statement. With the rapid advances in self-service technology, business systems, and Cloud architecture, resting on your laurels and "keeping the lights on" will eventually cost you your job. I have seen it so many times. A CIO does a great job of maintaining systems, providing desktop support, and keeping the customer relatively happy. Today, we call that table stakes. It's the minimum price of admission to the CIO role, yet will not sustain it.This article outlines some of the areas you should be addressing as a CIO to bring full value to your organization. Forget about "Aligning with the Business"I have never liked that phrase. With the rapid advance in technologies and easily available Cloud solutions, IT needs to "integrate" with the business. Not in a literal sense, but such that resources in IT are dedicated and almost embedded within the various business functions. At a recent meeting I attended with business and IT staff, the attendees were asked to create a simple customer order and process it through the proper steps. With a lack of knowledge on how the business really operated, what should have taken 15 minutes took 90, and some could not finish at all. To be in the best position to offer real solutions (technology driven or not), IT needs to "walk a mile in their shoes." Sit at their desk and do their job for a few hours. Understand the business process inside and out, and you'll quickly become a trusted advisor. WIN MY OPINIONWHAT GOT YOU HERE, WON'T GET YOU THERE
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