Senior managers are pressing technology leaders to offer new services and grow revenue. What should CIOs do? Here are 10 cases where IT raised organizational effectiveness.
How can chief information officers best serve business these days? Many will need to switch priorities, trading an emphasis on cost cutting to focusing instead on making their business become more competitive and grow, according to a study, “Creating Enterprise Leverage: The 2007 CIO Agenda” released this month by IT advisors Gartner, of Stamford, Conn. “CIOs cannot rely on traditional actions—such as improving operational efficiency, reducing IT costs and automation that lead to commodization—to meet executive expectations,” says Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartners Executive Programs.
In fact, many companies try to do both. By more efficiently delivering and maintaining standard services—such as desktops, networks and back-office software applications—those companies can use those savings to fund new initiatives such as business intelligence, analytics and data warehousing, says Eric Dorr, senior business adviser of the Hackett Group, an Atlanta consultancy.
Some CIOs may not be up to the challenge. Nearly one-quarter of 257 technology managers responding to a CIO Insight survey last year said they were early adopters of technology—one sign that they are likely to embrace innovation. Half said they were mainstream adopters and the remaining quarter were late adopters.
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