I found their findings very interesting, and I strongly recommend that you take a look at their findings.

For example, as CIO you have responsibility for non-IT areas like Security (32%) and Strategy (25%). You should also be on the job for 5 years and 4 moths on average (5 years, 11 months if you work for government). You should report to the CEO (47%) or the CFO (16%) or COO (16% as well). The average salary was reported as $247,900.

When asked to select the activities that best characterize your focus and how you spend your time, your answer should have been:

1. Aligning IT and Business Goals

2. Cultivating the IT/Business partnership

3. Improving IT operations/systems performance

Also, half of CIOs said that IT is still considered a cost center.

There are more factors covered by this survey. I recommend you go and read it
.
So, how do you rank in comparison with the 506 heads of IT that took the survey?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Are you the “Average CIO”?

Technorati Tags: CIO, IT Strategy

For starters, who will be the CTO for the government? I know that Google’s Eric Schmidt said no to that position. But I don’t know who is in that short list, and when there will be an announcement about it.

My interest focuses on what is the IT Strategy for the biggest IT client in the world.

I found an interesting articles about the role of the new CTO, from the Federal Computer Week magazine: Obama CTO may lack sufficient influence

Topics like Network Neutrality will occupy central stage, I assume. But what about modernizing the existing infrastructure in all Federal agencies? Make investments in a more efficient way? Not having a centralized strategy for web sites and internet usage?

So, all in all, I have only questions and no answers at this time. I will be monitoring this topic as it is very important to help us understand where the biggest IT spender in the world will be investing. This will probably affect everybody in the IT world in one way or another.

What are your thoughts about the future of the IT investments by the government under the new administration?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

CTO for the Obama Administration?

Technorati Tags: Government, IT Strategy, Obama

And we all know it will never happen. Or, actually, it will. Next time it breaks, or next time we need to make an update (which will happen precisely at the same time of another crisis, so we won’t have time to do it right that time either). There is a reason why duct tape is so popular, right?

What have you noticed about temporary solutions?

Here are a few points I can think of:

1. They are applied with agreement from management –either implicit or explicit
2. Everybody knows we won’t fix it until it breaks again –an we all agree to that
3. They last three years (This is what I call the Andres Vivas rule of Temporary solutions)
4. They get deployed at the last minute, just when the deadline is here, so we use that as justification of why we had to do it
5. We won’t document it, do next time it breaks we will have to sit down and think, trying to remember why and how we deployed it –and that is IF the same staff is still there three years after it was deployed, otherwise the newer staff will have to guess and then think that the people that were there before them were not competent at all

What else have you noticed about Temporary Solutions?

I am sure that better planning should minimize these situations, but how can we avoid these situations completely? Any ideas?

Meanwhile, as a temporary solution, I will leave the discussion open, I’ll come back to revisit this topic when I have more time.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Beware of Temporary Solutions

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, planning, Temporary solutions

I suggest you read that article. It provides very good points.

I strongly agree with imperative #10: Review your strategic plan. It is boring. And painful. But will give you a great high-level view of what’s coming, what projects should continue and should be put on hold.
Also, imperative #8 Ensure strong governance, follows the same pattern as #10, being both un-exciting and tedious, but completing this step will provide great clarity and a high return on the time and effort invested.

I have to recognize that imperatives #4 Don’t forget risk (it is NOT about what you probably are thinking) and #5 Figure out compliance where not in my short list of things to do next year.

What about you? What do you take from these ten imperatives? Which of these will you implement first?

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Ten imperatives for midmarket IT strategy in 2009

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, Processes, Tools

the firm’s success is defined by a completely different set of metrics, one that the technical staff rarely understands or even cares about.

When I read this I had to agree with it. I too get usually that same feeling. It is easy for technical staff to get distracted by the latest and greatest changes in technology. Would you rather spend your day on finding more efficient tapes for the backup system, instead of evaluating the usefulness of the iPhone in your division? I know I’d prefer the novelty. Problem is, the firm’s success is defined by a completely different set of metrics, one that the technical staff rarely understands or even cares about.

If the IT culture is not aligned with the business (by the way, when are we going to recognize that IT is an integral part of the business?) then problems like us-versus-them attitude, unstructured process, or even worse, too much bureaucracy, where the process is so cumbersome that people avoid IT and nothing gets done), or a mentality that IT works in a firefighting mode, just rushing to find workarounds instead of fixing the root cause of the problems.

What to do about this? I can think of a few things that are effective to bridge this cultural gap:

1.  Exchange of ideas (Intrateam workshops)

Establish a routine of team collaboration and ideas exchange. For example, once a month have a guest from another team. Ask her to talk to your team about what she does, how she interacts with IT, and what are the most critical technical problems she faces it. This will help the IT staff to understand what others do in the firm, while providing other teams’ members to feel closer to the IT staff. Common understanding of each other’s roles and challenges improves the culture and breaks the barriers that may exist.

2.  Common goals, common metrics

Make sure the goals for the IT department are in alignment with the main business goals. Then, define metrics that help you lead your team to reach them. Constantly, remind your staff of the organization’s mission, and when approached by your staff to make decisions, think out loudly “How does this fit in our Mission?”

3.  Periodical reporting

Generate a monthly or quarterly report of activities and achievements by the IT department. Make sure each maps to at least one of the organization’s goals (otherwise, why did you do it?), and mention what divisions benefit from them. Make sure the heads of all divisions receive it. Ask them for feedback. Show them that IT is there to help, to be a team player. You can use a simple table like this:

2009-Q4 Activities Report, IT Division

4.  Targeted research

Make sure you allocate targeted research time for the IT staff. By targeted research I mean that you as the IT head approve the type of research projects that are started, and request the team member provides an explanation of how and why this is important for the corporation. They must understand that this research and its findings will be made available to the organization, and that maybe a brown-bag presentation will be requested.

Also, propose a couple of topics where you want to see some improvement (use the feedback you got from the divisions’ head when you sent them the periodical reports, and from the Suggestions box), and ask for volunteers to work on them.

By presenting the results to the rest of the organization, others will have the chance to see how creative and talented your staff is, and will start proposing more topics for research.

5.  More milestones, shorter projects

A common issue is that projects run for too long. The technical staff is, usually, looking for new things. By continuously working on the same thing for months in a row you increase the chance of people leaving. Work in conjunction with your Project Management Office – PMO (If you don’t have a PMO in place, contact Alec Satin, PMP right away), to approach long projects in a phased approach. When possible, allocate some break time between phases so the staff gets a chance to work on something else.

6.  Suggestions box

The ol’ Suggestions box is a valid tool, if used correctly. Setup an inbox where people can submit anything they want anonymously (to make sure it is anonymous, create a public accessible form that emails you the suggestion, contact me if you want to more details about how to accomplish this). Take every suggestion seriously, focus on what it is said/requested, and don’t waste time trying to figure out who sent it. This feedback is priceless, but people will only use it if they see you handle it correctly and positive changes come out of it.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Is your IT Team’s Culture Aligned with the Business?

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, Culture, IT Strategy, Metrics, PMO

As a leader, you must assure that people understand what you are asking and expecting from them. But you also need to make sure that colleagues and customers “get it” when presenting a new plan, project or strategy.

I found this article this morning, where the author recommends 10 Ways To Explain Things More Effectively.

I strongly agree with most of the points and the only concern I had was point #9. Why? Because I don’t think that using the concepts of Supersets and Subsets are that applicable to “normal” presentations, unless we are talking about software version, as explained.

My favorite tip was #7. I use that technique commonly. Analogies do help to drive the point home easier.

What do you think? Any point that you think is great or incorrect? Please let me know by adding a comment.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

10 Ways To Explain Things More Effectively

Technorati Tags: Effective Communications, IT Strategy

1. It is longer than two phrases or one paragraph
2. It has more than 30 words
3. It is full of buzzwords (for more examples of buzzwords, see this list)
4. You can’t remember it
5. Neither can your staff

I guess these points make you realize what I believe makes a mission statement useful for the staff and the organization, but we will discuss that later.

What is a Mission Statement?

In many occasions (probably during the last 30 to 35 years) the industry has focused on defining What is the Mission Statement. It is commonly said that “A mission statement outlines what the company is now“, or that it is “A statement of purpose an organization is to carry out”, or even worse, The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise’s purpose for existence. For more definitions, see Wikipedia, Google and BusinessPlans.

The best definition I’ve seen is “The Mission Statement is what the organization does now“.

Now, think of when was the last time somebody explained what is the Mission Statement useful for?

Probably never, right?

In plain English, the Mission Statement should guide the employees in every action they take. It should guide management’s decisions. It should also dictate what NOT to do.

Have you asked yourself this? In theory, the purpose of the Mission Statement is to provide the organization with an identity. In plain English, the Mission Statement should guide the employees in every action they take. It should guide management’s decisions. It should also dictate what NOT to do.

Let’s take a look at a couple of Mission Statements (I highlighted the buzzwords on bold):

1. FedEx

FedEx will produce superior financial returns for shareowners by providing high value-added supply chain, transportation, business and related information services through focused operating companies. Customer requirements will be met in the highest quality manner appropriate to each market segment served. FedEx  will strive to develop mutually rewarding relationships with its employees, partners and suppliers. Safety will be the first consideration in all operations. Corporate activities will be conducted to the highest ethical and professional standards.

2. Virgin Atlantic:

To grow a profitable airline…
Where people love to fly…
And where people love to work.

Now, let’s suppose you are the CIO for one of these two companies. Based on these Mission Statements, would you know how to act in every case that a new situation arises?

Assuming that you can even remember FedEx’s Mission Statement, the chances are that given its complexity, you wouldn’t even bother trying to see how a new decision would affect the company’s mission.

In the Virgin Atlantic’s case, it should be easier. If the decision does not make or maintain the company profitable, or it makes the flying experience not lovable anymore, or the environment for the employees gets affected, you will probably won’t move ahead. Thanks to its simplicity and clarity, the Mission Statement will tell you whether it is the right decision for the company.

Now that you have experienced this mental exercise, I’m hoping that you decide to go ahead now and revise your organization’s Mission Statement, to make sure it is not worthless but it also helps you guide your I.T. Department to better serve the organization.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Is your Mission Statement worthless?

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, Mission, Mission Statement

First Process Then Tools

You have heard this before. A coworker comes to you and tells you about WidgetWidgy 2.0, the latest version of this tool that lets you do pink widgets and cool doodads. You take a look at the tool and agree that it does look promising. Should you go ahead and buy it and start using it right away? Or is it better to ask a techie to look into it and see if it is viable? Maybe you and your team are too busy and you decide there is no time to dedicate to any more tools at this point?

This situation happens too often. After all, there are hundreds of new tools and updated versions that probably hold the secret to improve productivity or give you a competitive advantage. How to tackle this?

Most of today’s new applications are created with the same goal in mind: To automate a process. Making easier the daily activities that we encounter. The problem arises when somebody that does not work with you creates a tool that automates the process in the way that they think is correct, but that may or may not fit your needs.

The proposed solution to this challenge is to make sure that you focus on the process first. Make sure that you have analyzed the steps that you take to complete the task and document its workflow. Then, and only then, look for tools that fit your process. Only then you will know for sure whether the tool you need to acquire is the WidgetWidgy 2.0, or if the right one is ClicketyClik 4.2, or if you actually need a tool at all.

Remember, there is no point in automating the wrong process.

(Image by MShades)

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

First Process, Then Tools

Technorati Tags: IT Strategy, Processes, Tools

Just write it down!

Well, once the meetings are over and the emails with the 20-page document with that list of goals and objectives is circulated, you probably ask yourself: Now What?

And, if you are the CIO, or the IT Director or IT Manager, the most obvious questions are, How does my team fit in here? What do we do next?

Unless your organization is one where IT and the business are pretty much the same (Think eBay, or Amazon), you probably face the common situation where the IT staff does not have a clear understanding of what their role is in the organization’s strategy.

Even though the question should have a simple answer, this challenge is faced more often than not in today’s organizations.

It is not easy for the IT specialists to understand or accept the fact that IT is a function that exists to support the organization and to help it fulfill its goals. The main goal of my future posts is to talk more about this challenge, and to propose ways to improve this situation and overcome it, bringing real value to the organization in the long run.

(Image by mshades)

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

How IT fits in the organization’s strategy

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, Goals, IT Strategy, Mission, Objectives, Vision

As its name indicates, the purpose of this blog is to talk about the challenges faced by CIOs and IT Directors:

• Reconcile the IT Department’s needs with those of the rest of the organization.
• Making sure that IT fits in the Business Strategic Plan (Alignment).
• Ensure that the technical staff understands that IT must support the organization.
• Provide a higher Return on Investment (ROI) for IT Projects.

If you like what you read or have something to add please reach out through the comments. I do want to hear from you.

Post from: Strategic IT Planning Blog, by Andres Vivas.

Welcome to Andres Vivas’ Blog about IT Strategic Planning

Technorati Tags: Business Strategy, IT Strategy, Strategic IT Planning