CIO Survival Guide – The Recovery Begins

Michael Wood - December 8, 2009 If you were a CIO in 2008 and survived 2009, then you have earned your stripes. 2009 felt the full brunt of the economic meltdown ending the year with double-digit unemployment and new job creation at an all time low. Putting 2009 aside, what does 2010 hold in store for CIOs?  Will it be a year of continued lean budgets and cost controls or a year of gradual recovery and growth?

More than ever, CIOs need to focus on their business savvy, peer relationships and ability to achieve continuous alignment with business strategies and objectives.  In addition, it is imperative that CIOs don’t go off on technology quests that may be too controversial or bleeding edge.  While having the latest and greatest might give the CIO bragging rights at conferences and such, it does little to impress leadership teams and business unit executives if core needs aren’t being satisfied.

For 2010, CIOs would be wise to keep their technology powder dry, keep the infrastructure solid and focus on providing solutions that are easily traceable to specific enterprise and business unit objectives.  Therefore, new project initiatives need to be “rifle-shot” on target and deliverables, spot on.  Shorter projects with more frequent deliverables will serve the CIO better than larger, high-risk endeavors.  Improving service levels should be first and …

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