Digital Adviser
Up until recently many boardrooms perceived IT as no more strategically significant than say catering services. The surge of compliance regulations coupled with the scrutiny associated with corporate governance has served to make the board take note of IT’s role in the business.
One perception is that the boardroom has an obligation to share the role of IT leadership with the CIO - IT being too important to ‘abdicate’ to the IT department. So whether boardrooms like it or not they have to embrace IT. An alternative less hard-nosed perspective is that the need for the boardroom to engage in IT represents an opportunity for CIOs to enhance their value by providing the services of adviser, in order to make their senior executive colleagues more confident in respect of strategically important IT matters.
Some boards are more advanced than others. Technology service/product companies tend to have more IT literate board members. In respect of embracing technology, perhaps they are the role models for end-user boardrooms? Simon Peachey, CIO of Video Networks says, “Before you can start advising or influencing the board, you need to build trust. Building trust is easier to do if your colleagues are techno-aware.”
Clearly CIOs need to deliver real-value to gain trust, so a service level arrangement is important. However Peachey warns, “If the dialogue with your boardroom colleagues is constrained to the SLA metrics, then you are not fully engaged.”
He adds, “The acceleration of technology innovation makes it increasingly more difficult for senior executives to keep up. This is a great opportunity for CIOs to assist their colleagues in explaining what IT can and cant do.”
A further word of caution; for many business leaders IT is a foreign language, and like any foreign language, the user has to become familiar with the basics before more sophisticated dialogues can take place. CIOs will need to be skilled communicators to explain complex technology concepts in unthreatening business relevant terms. Providing an understanding of technology market trends and issues will help keep the ensuing conversations grounded in reality.
Presuming the IT department is aligned with the business, it is likely that in the course of its support to the business, it will develop wisdom in respect of the business processes. There is a real opportunity here for the CIO to be the boardroom’s process enhancement adviser. The benefits are obvious. Not least the large sums of money saved by no longer needing the services of green-horn management consultants, that charge a fortune to learn about your business before they even get around to process reengineering.
Boardrooms are at various stages of evolution in respect of ‘getting IT’. Today’s senior executives need to leverage IT for business success. The smart executives recognise that best value from IT is gained when the CIO is treated as an adviser rather than a service manager.
Ade McCormack
ade@auridian.com
www.auridian.com
