Historically, varying business environments can affect the role of a CIO. Here, we elaborate on the demands of an environment and how it influences a CIO's decisions.
For instance,
- a Startup IT Environment
- a High-Tech Environment
- a Bricks and Mortar Environment
- an Internet Environment
- an Established Business Environment (10+ years)
…these environments all have differentiating factors that reflect on organizations' initiatives that enable growth and adaptability to business changes.
The Startup business model requires that a CIO build an IT organization as the business evolves. This requires understanding the key business demands associated with strategies and plans, and the ability to delineate the IT-specific functions required to enable them. In addition, a fundamental understanding of basic IT infrastructure usually becomes the early focus area, quickly followed by business-specific applications or initiatives that enable the growth of various business units (such as sales automation, customer service call tracking, and so on).
High-tech businesses require a CIO to be well-grounded in technology products or services provided by that type of enterprise. The CIO needs to be aware of the technical challenges faced by the development organizations as well as the associated marketing, sales, and services required to promote and sustain the customer communities. The IT support expected by the technology teams emphasizes a secure and highly-integrated infrastructure. The key is to be able to relate to these needs and to sustain a highly productive and communicative work environment. Therefore emailing, networking, video conferencing, development labs, and the like are essential elements.
The brick and mortar businesses are characterized by traditional business approaches and associated IT infrastructures. Financial, health care, and government institutions fall into this category. The CIO that focuses on these businesses can be quite varied and diverse based on the business models, the existing IT infrastructures, and the focus on IT to enable and adapt to business changes.
The Internet phenomenon changed the methods and practices that most CIO's follow. The term "Internet Speed" became the byword that most companies in this arena were expected to emulate-get the products to market before competitors at all costs, and eliminate the processes followed by most traditional businesses. This placed substantial burdens on CIO's that wanted to apply the best practices of good business processes before embarking on technological solutions. The technology was expected to be deployed and functional while the business models were evolving, and in many instances before any real business existed. My role at an Internet business encompassed more than the traditional IT requirements but actually included product development for the site's operations as well as the enablement of all Internet-based business functions. This is the typical model for Internet companies today. The CIO is more engaged in business enablement than is ever expected at the more traditional companies, including even the high tech variety.
CIO's at established corporations of 10 years or more have a traditional business focus for IT than those mentioned previously. These are characterized by established business models that require minimal investments in innovative technologies. They deal with established infrastructures, applications, and focus most of their attention on cost reduction and improvement of existing business processes. The CIO's in these environments are well-grounded in the basic business practices of the corporation, and typically spend a great deal of time with the executive staff while their direct reports focus on the specific entities that support divisional or business unit needs. Dedicated IT personnel support a variety of divergent business needs from both a business analysis and operations perspective. The major challenges facing these CIO's are the significant focuses on streamlining operations and reducing overall costs.
When all is said and done CIO's are:
- A mirror of the institution. Each of these trends in the CIO's role reflects the changed direction of the broader institutions that employ him and of technology and economy.
- A mirror of a global economy. As such, the technology executives who are responsible for information flow in an information-based economy will continue to be central to an institution's success.
- At the center of our cultural crossroads. As business people are responsible for zero-latency information that drives executive decision-making and critical alliances. As technologists are responsible for business continuity and availability. As individuals are responsible for telling the truth, and doing what is right.
- Architects and plumbers, strategists and tacticians, communicators and crafts persons, employers and service providers.
- Change agents for business processes and cultural norms. The limitations of institutions are often the reasons for the lack of success and, in order to prevail, must address them.
- Mentors and leaders. They lead and teach by example and through the accumulation of "best practices" learned over the years.
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