CIO Survival Guide

CIO Survival Guide is a leadership manual for the emerging role of the Chief Information Officer. This book supports and guides CIOs in acquiring or enhancing their technical skills and leadership competencies to be a full and respected member of the Executive Team. It includes exposition and practice of the skills and competencies required to be a successful CIO. Preface.

Chapter 1: What We Were, Who We Are, and Who We Are Becoming.

Brief Genealogy of the IT Profession.

State of the Profession.

What CEOs Really Want in Their CIOs.

Ten Questions the CIO Must Ask the CEO.

Notes.

Chapter 2: A Fork in the Road: Business or Technology?

Designing the Work.

Setting Up Shop.

The Fork in the Road.

Creating the IT Internal Partnership Network.

Maximizing the Partnership Network.

Evolving CIO Expectations: Technologist or Businologist?

CIO and CTO Relationships.

Ten Questions the CIO Should Ask Network Partners.

Profile of Success.

Notes.

Chapter 3: A Unified Competency Profile.

Technical Skills.

Business Acumen.

Leadership Competence and Vision.

Profiles of Success.

Ten Questions the CIO Should Ask Outsourced Service Providers.

Notes.

Chapter 4: Connecting IT to Value Creation.

The Language of the Industry.

Embracing the “Perfect” External Customer, or Managing Customer Relationship Value.

Enterprisewide Strategic Planning.

Continuous and Discontinuous Process Improvement.

The CIO and Practical Strategic Planning: More Than Just IT.

Planning the Future without Disrupting the Present.

IT as a Value Center.

Ten Questions the CIO Should Ask the Entire Executive Team during Joint Strategic Planning Activities.

Notes.

Chapter 5: Focus and Prioritization.

CIO Risk Profile Assessment.

Aligning IT Resources to Your Organization’s Strategy.

Proper Provisioning: Resource Allocation to IT.

Adaptive Systems: If We Haven’t Started It Yet, It Costs Nothing to Change It!

Charting the Journey Milestones: IT Program Management.

Ten Questions the CEO Should Ask the CIO for Successful Alignment.

Notes.

Chapter 6: Final Preparations.

The Trek into (Un)Known Territory: Barriers to Success.

Nirvana Accelerators.

Decisions a CIO Should Not Make Alone.

Distant Horizon.

Creating the Horizon.

Ten Questions the CIO Must Ask about Future Horizons.

Notes.

Glossary.

Index.

Karl D. Schubert, PhD, is former senior vice president and chief operating officer of Zambeel, Inc., a network storage company headquartered in Fremont, California. Prior to joining Zambeel, Schubert was vice president and chief technical officer for Dell. Before joining Dell, he was a senior manager with IBM for fourteen years. Few professions are more challenging than that of the CIO. The CIO is the go—to person for all things IT; there’s no other position in the company like it. For a CIO to succeed, he or she must be prepared for anything. The CIO Survival Guide lays out a strategic, step—by—step road map of successful skills and competencies for CIOs in today’s demanding times.

In the simplest terms, CIOs are expected to translate the complex world of IT into a readily understandable set of ideas and solutions. The successful CIO translates and demonstrates IT possibilities into meaningful value creation for his or her company. Compiling the success stories of seasoned IT professionals at all levels in the industry–especially senior IT operations and product development executives and managers–CIO Survival Guide integrates their diverse experiences, observations, discussions, and research to identify the inherent obstacles of the position, as well as offer concrete advice to overcome the day—to—day, year—to—year challenges of the job. This vital blueprint to success not only guides readers through the changing role of the CIO and IT function planning, it also describes specific strategies for creating value.

Written to help CIOs and aspiring CIOs bolster their requisite skills and to help managers determine what they should expect from their CIOs, CIO Survival Guide examines:

• What CEOs really want in their CIOs
• How to develop positive working relationships with other key executives
• Ten questions the CIO must ask the CEO
• Creating the IT internal partnership network
• Evolving CIO expectations–technologist or "businologist?"
• Ten questions the CIO should ask outsourced service providers
• The language of the industry
• Enterprise—wide strategic planning
• CIO risk profile assessment
• Decisions a CIO should never make alone

To become the best, you must first learn from the best. Turn to the CIO Survival Guide for the leading advice in CIO leadership.

Praise for the CIO Survival Guide

"This book makes all the right assumptions about where the partnership between business and technology should be going. CIO Survival Guide is right on target: get the infrastructure right and then leverage it for strategic and competitive advantage–and make sure that you use the language of business to sell your effectiveness and vision. CIOs and technology managers that take Schubert’s advice to heart will never again find themselves out in the corporate cold."
–Stephen J. Andriole, PhD
Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology, Villanova University
Former CTO and senior vice president of technology strategy at CIGNA Corp.

"Dr. Schubert weeds through the many possible leadership priorities that challenge this as—yet—undefined executive position and its responsibilities. Simply put, organizations that hire CIOs to merely deliver profit—motivated, silver—bullet technology will not survive in the long—term; organizations must hire CIOs that first and foremost understand the business as a strategic partner and who use an organizational network of partnerships to leverage the right technology at the right time. This book guides IT professionals at all levels to become such a person, and it provides concrete ways for CEOs, CFOs, and other non—IT executives to size up their current or prospective CIOs."
–Joe and Catherine Stenzel
Editors in chief, Cost Management
Authors of CFO Survival Guide: Plotting the Course to Financial Leadership