Cloud Computing: IT Reaches the Tipping Point

Grazed from Sys Con Media. Author: Tim Crawford.

IT is dead. Long live IT! 2013 is turning into a watershed year for CIOs as the traditional CIO is not the CIO of today. Business expectations, IT leadership styles and technology solutions are all driving an evolutionary change for CIOs and the IT organizations they lead. The changes did not happen overnight as business shifts, Shadow IT and New Technology were all contributors. Now that the industry is reaching a tipping point where the new CIO model becomes the new standard, look for a number of changes moving forward:

Business-IT Relationship
The CIO will lead the charge in transforming the relationship between IT and the rest of the business. In a related post I talk about the importance of the Three-Legged Race on the business, CIO and IT relationship. As such, business leaders start to view IT as providing greater business value rather than just a support organization. The new CIO works with peers toward revenue growth, not just expense containment…

IT Strategy
Similar to changes in the CIO role, the IT function changes as well. The IT focus shifts from technology to business innovation. IT strategy directly aligns with and is driven by the overall business strategy. If an IT activity is not directly supporting the business strategy, why is IT doing it? Day-to-day operations become table stakes while innovation and revenue growth take priority. In essence, the IT organization becomes a business organization rather than a technology organization. IT’s customer is no longer the internal user, it is the business’ customer…

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