The Five Secrets to CIO Success (Part 2 of 2)

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

 

If you recall from our first installment, the five secrets to CIO success are embodied in the following five principles:

• Relationships are more important than technology
• Reporting to the CEO is mandatory for success
• You are only as good as your last promise
• Own nothing, facilitate everything
• Lose the propeller on your head

Let's look at the remaining four.

2. Reporting to the CEO is Mandatory for Success

Why do so many CIOs report to the CFO? The answer is simple. The original computer applications were mostly financial in nature, so it only made sense to have the CFO in charge of them. They hired a technology guru to work with them and together the green eye-shade and the propeller head created accounting systems.

Today, IT spans far beyond the realm of the CFO. Accounting is the easy stuff. Today the core of the business is leveraged by technologies and applications that help to manage everything from global communications to data mining. The "E" in ERP stands for enterprise, not bookkeeping. So who in the organization most represents the enterprise? That would be the CEO. If the CIO is expected to work closely with the heads of HR, Finance, Operations, Marketing, Sales and more, then they have to be seen as a peer, not a subordinate. They have to sit on the executive committee and be part of the team that …

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