CIO Insights for Higher Education Executives
Transition Plan for the Innovative CIO – May 16, 2016
The headline from the May, 05, 2016 CIO Magazine article shown below is of interest to every CIO and C-‐Level executive. Each year more and more executives are asking how they can help their CIO become more innovative. We have asked Michael Mathews, who has served as both a Chief Information and Chief Innovation Officer, to share his thoughts on what hinders CIO’s from being more innovative. His response is interesting and well worth the read.
CIOs are in a unique position to lead cross-‐enterprise innovation – if only they’d awaken the Force. By Richard Pastore, May 05, 2016
By Michael L. Mathews -‐ Due to my personal interests, I have always leaned toward leveraging the CIO role as an innovator. However, I realize how difficult it is for many traditional CIOs to make the transition toward being innovative throughout the enterprise (organization). I am extremely impressed with the insights by Richard Pastore who wrote the May 05, 2016 CIO Magazine article. The article lists 10 attributes that the CIO demonstrates on regular basis that naturally make them a great candidate for innovation across the enterprise. Ironically, the list of 10 attributes that make a CIO a prime candidate for innovation, are also the exact same things preventing the CIO from becoming an innovator. The reason the list works for and against innovation is simply due to the time and energy required to facilitate all the meetings, research potential solutions, and work with vendors to stay afloat in the sea of cross-‐enterprise attributes which organizations rely upon. Below is the list of 10 attributes that CIO’s generally engage with across the enterprise; shared in the CIO Magazine article – imploring CIO’s to be innovative. 1. How work gets done across the enterprise 2. The conversion path of data into information into knowledge
3. Processes and workflows that channel and tap into that information 4. The end-‐to-‐end customer experience 5. System schisms and architectural abysses 6. Siloed agendas on collision courses 7. Cumulative risk 8. Total vendor and consultant footprints 9. Technology debt — the accumulating cost of deferred tech upgrades and replacement 10. Opportunity costs associated with investment decisions A Solution to become an Innovative CIO -‐ As a CIO who has made the transition to become an innovator within organizations, it is necessary to excel at the 10 mentioned attributes while minimizing the time and energy required to bring them all together. What continually works well for me to transition from the standard functions of a CIO is to find a ‘partner’ who can ‘double’ for my role as a CIO while I focus on innovation. I would defend all CIO’s and make the clear statement -‐-‐ it is almost impossible to have the sustainable level of passion, energy, and time required to serve both the role of Chief Information Officer and a Chief Innovation Officer. Unfortunately, many executives across the enterprise are desperate enough to try and blend both of these roles, by requesting the CIO to become a dynamic duo. I have always been fortunate to find the right ‘partner’ who can work alongside me and ‘double’ as my advocate in both of these roles. I have contemplated outsourcing numerous times, but realize that a true ‘partner’ sells and delivers me only what I need, and at the specific time I need it. Granted, it is hard to find this kind of boutique-‐style partner, but well worth the search. During the last two years as I have brought forth numerous innovations, improved IT services, and reduced overall costs, the one partner who has made this possible is The Tambellini Group. Their comprehensive and timely market research saved me over 9-‐months of labor, while bringing together six of the ten CIO attributes. Just as importantly, the Tambellini Group’s Peertelligent service allows me to reduce the decision making for all enterprise-‐wide vendor purchases. The amount of time a CIO typically spends on researching vendors, prices, the value proposition by vendors, demonstrations, sales calls, RFPs, and purchases through vendors consumes about 50% of their time. Through the Peertillgent (www.peertelligent.com) service, my time on product and vendor selection is reduced to 5% of my time, ensures I am making informed decisions on all enterprise wide decisions, yet receive the best proven price. In essence, for a small investment, the Tambellini group has allowed me to excel in all 10 attributes, while reducing my risks of making the transition to an innovative CIO.