Re-imagining IT

I liked the title of Gartner’s report on the 2011 CIO Agenda and have borrowed it with pride for this blog. What was equally notable was the message that CIOs need to create a new success cycle, one that puts benefits realisation and skills at the heart of their agenda.

This message resonates with my own experiences, initially as a CIO and later working with leading organisations at Henley Business School. It is why I developed with BCS the Business Change Lifecycle that ends not with delivery of a system but with the fuzzy world of benefits realisation. That is not to say that benefits are usually soft, it is more that they require a focus as much on stakeholders as they do on process. Further, they do not arrive in neat gift boxes when you expect them to. It is hard work realising benefits and CIOs need to be at the forefront.

Of course that brings in the importance of building the right skills. It is tempting to bring in consultants to achieve early success. However, without the right balance of internal skills, there is minimal transfer of capability. Achieving that means having business-focused IT people in the group who have the confidence and the credibility to drive benefits. This may sound theoretical but I am delighted with the practical benefits of the professional development programme we have created for Deutsche Telekom. Most importantly the CIO believes he is gaining the results he wants.

One of the big challenges we all face in developing skills is defining the scope of what we do. It is something I have struggled with both as a CIO and as an academic. When I was promoted recently to a professorial position at Henley, I debated what was the most appropriate title. There are arguments for Business Systems, IT Enabled Business Change, Information Management and many others. In the end, I decided IT Leadership most closely aligned to what the CIO needs to provide. I have a very broad definition of IT, one that encompasses strategy, processes, information, systems, technology and people.

That takes me back to the title. I believe we have to re-imagine IT and our leadership of it to remain relevant in tomorrow’s world. With our core skill of systems thinking, we are best placed in the organisation to understand how to integrate the different elements of business change. The challenge will be to explain and to execute it.

If you have done this, I would be very happy to hear your stories directed to sharm.manwani@henley.com.