Live Exchange Report

Scott Vaughan

I had the pleasure of spending the last week on the road as part of the Smart Enterprise Exchange Roundtables we organize in major cities around the globe for senior IT executives. Joining me in Muskoka, Ontario (also known as, Canada’s Cottage Country), Sacramento, Calif. (the state capital) and Phoenix, (Arizona’s beautiful western U.S. desert), was Peter Hinssen.

Peter, who is based in Europe, is a respected CEO/CIO advisor, self-admitted ‘uber geek,’ author of a very insightful new book Business/IT Fusion, and regular contributor to Smart Enterprise Exchange. (You can read his latest column here.)

Peter delivered clear, hard-hitting inspiration and a prescription for the core changes CIOs and IT departments need to institute to transform their organizations and their careers. Drawing on rock music legend Prince--who changed his name a few years back literally to “the artist formerly known as Prince”--Peter’s resounding point of view was this: “We need to eliminate the old, tired, IT department way of thinking and start anew.”

Peter challenged current thinking and energized very lively debates on what we need to do as IT leaders. As part of your Smart Enterprise Exchange membership, you can review and USE his slides across your organization to drive discussion and transformation. You can view Peter’s presentation from our recent Rome event here.

WARNING: This is NOT easy stuff.  However, the consensus among CIOs at the meetings I attended was that those with the passion and might will be the big winners. So, what were key points on Peter’s CIO check- list? Five critical items come to mind:

1. Business/IT Alignment is a fallacy: Stop trying to do the impossible; it will never, ever work. Stop being a “butler” and an “implementer.”  Become the business and lead the conversation on strategy.

2. Eliminate the IT ‘Department,’ at least, as we know it. Literally Fuse IT into the business. IT positions need to be distributed directly into business functions, divisions and teams.

3. IT Consumerization is a BIG Opportunity: Because IT is everywhere, customers, employees and users expect the same experience in the office as at home. Don’t be the purveyor of old, boring stuff.

4. Shift the Budget & Planning Model:  First, align each initiative into one of three buckets: 1) Stay-in-the Game, 2) Win the Game 3) Change the Game. And then, apply a cost+risk+value equation, investing budget and resources in those initiatives with the most direct business value. The traditional, cost=risk model puts a majority of resources on the biggest projects with the least value.

5. Eiminate Silos Wherever Possible. This includes technology silos; deploy re-usable components and dismantle organizational silos.

So, how are you transforming “the department formerly known as IT” and evolving your organization, business and career? Please take a look at Peter’s viewpoints and share your thoughts with me here. Are they do-able at your organization? Where will you begin?

Scott Vaughan is Vice President of Marketing for TechWeb