The IT and communications revolution is changing character. A period of explosive invention has come to an end. In this deployment phase, enterprise IT organizations are changing the focus of their activities from acquiring new technologies to applying mature technologies in order to transform business outcomes. This shift from invention to innovation is profound, and requires an equally profound change in the roles and responsibilities of the corporation's top technology executive, the Chief Information Officer.
Until recently, the CIO's primary responsibility has been to manage the enterprise's technology infrastructure to lower costs and improve productivity. In this way, the CIO's office has performed a supporting role for the enterprise's outward-facing activities, much as human resources, marketing and communications also support the firm. As enterprise IT technology has matured, however, the IT organization's value is shifting.
Outside the enterprise, an increasingly sophisticated market in outsourced IT services is offering efficient, low-cost enterprise IT operations on demand - and at massive scale. Inside the enterprise, the IT organization is applying sourcing decisions to shed lower-value activities and reapply itself to higher value ones. This is moving the CIO beyond his or her traditional role in improving existing business processes to a more strategic scope of activities aimed at improving growth, innovation and competitive advantage.
Market-leading enterprises have recognized the enormous impact that IT can make on a firm's strategic choices, its ability to grow and its capacity to innovate. In these organizations, IT has become a business enabler and a catalyst for innovation. Through the smart application of IT, firms are creating new distribution channels, integrating suppliers, partners and customers into wider business ecosystems, developing new customer insights - and even reinventing entire business models.
The consequence: the CIO's new role extends far beyond that of technologist. The new CIO provides unique input into the core strategic direction of his or her organization. He or she interprets the potential for technology to transform the business, drive innovation and spur growth. The CIO helps to map out the gaps between the organization's business growth agenda and its IT infrastructure. The new CIO has evolved from a reactive cost-cutter to a proactive advocate of how and where the application of IT can create the business value of tomorrow. According to a recent survey by CIO Magazine, 73 percent of CIOs think that IT should "proactively envision business possibilities and initiate with technology."
At the same time, the CIO has not left traditional roles and responsibilities behind. CIOs must still grapple with budget and resource constraints, as well as rising operations and application-maintenance costs.
Fortunately, the CIO has a range of new opportunities and tools to help manage and evaluate these competing priorities. The process starts with an understanding of how new sourcing models can liberate internal resources and funding for strategic business enablement and innovation.
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