Chief Information Officer: What is the Role? (CxOTalk)

Chief Information Officer role has evolved from keeper of technology to innovative business leader. Becoming a transformational Chief Information Officer is the key to remaining relevant to business partners and stakeholders during this period of rapid organizational change.

But how can you make the shift from being a traditional Chief Information Officer to adopting the role of a transformational chief information officer? Industry analyst, Michael Krigsman, spoke with two outspoken industry leaders (Isaac Sacolick and Tim Crawford) to learn about the transformational Chief Information Officer role.

Thank you to Nutanix for making this conversation possible.

In this video, you will learn about these topics:
-- What is the Chief Information Officer role?
-- How is a Transformational CIO Different from a Traditional Chief Information Officer?
-- Why Must the CIO Role Evolve?
-- How have Chief Information Officer Metrics and KPIs evolved?
-- Culture Change and the CIO
-- Chief Information Officer as Change Agent
-- How Many CIOs are Genuinely Transformational?
-- Chief Information Officer and the Board of Directors
-- How to Become a Transformational Chief Information Officer?

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From the show:

How is a Transformational Chief Information Officer Different from a Traditional CIO?

Tim Crawford: Yes. There has been a need for this transformational CIO for some period of time. We just haven't seen that in the wild, so to speak, in terms of that persona. Business units, line of business folks have been wanting that for a long time, for years and years. We're not just talking three to five years. We're talking five to ten-plus years. They have wanted that in the IT leader.

The problem is, we haven't seen those traits come out in that IT leader. The language hasn't changed. As Isaac said, some of the traits haven't changed yet.

We're just now starting to see where there's an acknowledgment, but we have to make sure that we understand that it's not just the CIO themselves that have to change. It's the IT organization, top to bottom. It's also those outside of IT, in terms of how they look at the CIO and look at the role of IT. All of those together are what ultimately bring this transformation to bear.

Isaac Sacolick: We're expected to help companies and our companies become more competitive, be more versed, and have a core competency in technology. It's not just about, is the ERP running well or is the data center secure and reliable? It's, are we building customer-facing applications that really delight customers and bring new ones in? Are we making data and analytics a strategic advantage? Are we having a different kind of conversation of where all of this comes to play and makes workflows really efficient? That's a completely different type of mindset and conversation that we're having inside our organizations.

Tim Crawford: I'll take it a step further and say that there's a difference between keeping the training running on time and actually jumping into those business-centric conversations. What are the same conversations that the rest of the C-suite is having? Those are the same conversations that the transformational CIO needs to be having. As you said, those relationships are incredibly important but those relationships don't come unless you start to change the language; you start talking in business terms and less in technology terms.

#cio #digitaltransformation

[roblox]

Excellent interview! Very inspiring and informative. Thanks Mike for a great job.

[paingicool]

Very well said! Great insights! CFOs needs to think in milestone budgeting in align with the transformation programs for customers instead on projects/closed budgetings ....

[carlosjorgepereiradeazeved]

SO the current CIO you mention should be, architectural wise report to CEO or COO to be able to achieve that aspiring result you gentlemen mention, instead of traditionally report to CFO. Which companies do you know now that the CIO reports to CEO or COO?

[rr]

Thank you for the great interview Michael.

[cs]

Great insights! enjoyed the conversation:)

[jimmyramos]

Harvard Business Review - If the system does not change, it will not support and sustain individual behavior change - indeed, it will set people up to fail. ( Ingenuity Mags Process)