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The top 10 CIO issues for 2010
By Bryan Glick on January 8, 2010 2:36 PM | 3 Comments This page contains a single
entry by Bryan Glick published
| More Search on January 8, 2010 2:36 PM.
2009 - That was the year that
Subscribe to this blog was was the previous entry in
Many IT leaders will be entering 2010 with bruises on their budgets from the this blog.
recessionary battering they took over the past 18 months. But this year promises a Subscribe to this blog Santander's IT lesson: simplify
cautious return to growth - for some at least. [What is this?] and standardise is the next
entry in this blog.
Any CIOs going into the year simply expecting more of the same may be left behind, Subscribe by email Find recent content on the
according to Martin Atherton, service director at analyst Freeform Dynamics. main index or look in the
Go archives to find all content.
"I keep hearing 2010 will be a 'nothing' year. Try telling that to every CIO wanting to
deliver the best services they can for the best price possible. In the main, IT leaders will Powered by MT-Notifier
sidestep those trumpeting 'transformation' and take the opportunities they can to push Recent Entries
incremental, positive and sustainable changes to what they do and what they do it €
with," he says. Thinking small: can government
-- Advertisement -- buy more IT from SMEs?
Here are Computer Weekly's top 10 issues for CIOs in 2010. Win an iPad from Computer
€ Weekly and 360°IT - but be
General Election quick!

Nothing that really matters is going to happen in business or the public sector until How do HP employees feel
about CEO Mark Hurd leaving?
Gordon Brown (or anyone who has the ambition to usurp him) calls an election. Political
common sense suggests Brown will want to wait, put through a March budget that tries Why IT departments need to
take Apple seriously
to make voters feel a little better, then go for early May.
Even Microsoft knows it -
Business leaders would probably prefer an early ballot to get the uncertainty out of the consumer tech is taking over
way. Public sector IT leaders will be happy to wait, because once the election is over, the IT department
no matter who wins, government IT spending is set to be slashed. Depending on whom Government bares its teeth to
you believe, public sector IT budget cuts of anything from 10% to 40% could be on the IT suppliers - at last
way. When IT meets ideology - what
next for NHS IT?
Collaboration What "the cloud" really means
to IT leaders
For a lot of CIOs, "social networking" suggests users pounding away on Twitter and
Facebook and hogging network bandwidth with YouTube and iPlayer video streams. But A contribution to the "paid vs
free" online content debate
smart IT managers are realising the concepts that such services embody are central to
improving collaboration both within the organisation and with customers and partners What the Osborne Budget
means for IT
beyond.
"As businesses look to become more effective across different departments, functions, Recent Comments
and processes, social computing in and around the enterprise will become more
widespread," says Sharyn Leaver, CIO research director at analyst Forrester Research. Paul Walsh: Agree with most
predictions but think there may
"Forrester has identified three social computing trends that CIOs should look out for: the be a read more
growth of people-centric collaboration platforms; the integration of customer Dale Vile: Hmmm. I disagree
community platforms with business apps; and the common use of telepresence services." with that last comment. I think
you read more
Alastair Behenna, CIO at recruitment firm Harvey Nash, says that social media
Ian Gotts: Cloud Computing,
technologies are now ready to use in a corporate environment. despite the hype, probably
needs to be called read more
"I will be pushing to the brink of, or better still pushing past, the tipping point in my
global organisation for the adoption of social media technologies in a monetised,
embedded and mature series of technologies that measurably boost bottom line," he Archives
says.
Select a Month...
Networking
No, not LANs and WANs and Ethernet and all that - but making the most of your personal CW blogs
networks to be a more effective and successful IT leader.
Automated IT
A survey by analyst Pierre Audoin Consultants and the IT Service Management
Bloor Security
Association in September last year suggested that 68% of IT buyers now turn to their
CIO to go
peers as their preferred source of advice on potential IT solutions - nearly double the
second most popular route of searching for information on the web. Cliff Saran’s FUD blog
Collaboration Technology 2.0
As US technology blogger and former Gartner analyst Vinnie Mirchandani recently wrote
Computer Weekly Editor's Blog
on his Deal Architect blog: "In the 1970s CIOs turned to IBM for advice; in the 1980s to
Accenture (Andersen); in the 1990s to Gartner. In this decade they rely on each other - CWDN
unbiased peer input." Database Notes and Queries
David Lacey's IT Security Blog

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The top 10 CIO issues for 2010 - Computer Weekly Editor's Blog Página 2 de 4

IT innovation Downtime
Recent economic history contains an important lesson for CIOs. Each of the previous Green Tech
three global downturns were marked by the emergence of an innovative, disruptive Hardware Hoarders
technology that was overlooked when budgets were under pressure, but took off as Inside Outsourcing
recovery set in. Inspect-a-Gadget
In the early 1980s, it was the PC; in the 1990s, ERP software; in the first years of the IT Governance and Value
21st century the internet revolutionised business once the dot com crash had abated. So Management Matters
what innovations are lining up as possible successors to these technologies? Social media Networks Generation
is perhaps one, but in the corporate world most experts believe cloud computing is best Open Source Insider
placed to drive such change.
Random Access Memories
"CIOs need help identifying the key emerging technologies that should impact their Read all about IT!
planning and investment. They want to institutionalise innovative technologies like Small Matters
cloud and social computing that can drive business innovation", says Forrester's Leaver. The Privacy, Identity & Consent
Blog
Bob Tarzey, director of analyst Quocirca, says so-called "platform as a service" offerings
are set for growth. The SocialITe
Tony Collins's IT Projects Blog
"Microsoft is launching Azure, Google's App Engine is coming out of beta and there is the
Vote IT Up!
continued growth of Amazon EC2. Add this to already popular 'software as a
service' (SaaS) offerings such as Google Apps, Salesforce.com and WebEx and the When IT Meets Politics
growing use of 'security as a service'," he says. WITsend

"Any CIO who believes their responsibility is to acquire and deliver IT resources to the
business internally is in danger of overlooking many potential opportunities to use
Dilbert
cheaper, more flexible capability available on-demand over the internet. Today's CIO
needs to be co-ordinator of the business's requirement for applications - however they
are delivered. Integration and shrewd purchasing are still key elements to the successful
use of IT, but it is no longer an internal service. CIOs that ignore this will be bypassed
by the business."
Customer engagement
Historically, the single biggest cost for most organisations has been customer
acquisition. Yet today we have web-centric businesses such as Facebook or Google who
seem to attract new customers and users by the millions at a cost so low as to be
unthinkable for the likes of "bricks and mortar" firms such as banks and retailers.
For any business, the internet offers a route to dramatically reducing the cost of
customer acquisition, and equally of increasing the loyalty of those clients.
"Businesses will integrate external customer communities with their internal business
apps. Businesses are building or connecting with customer communities to gain better
insights into customer behaviours and to monitor reactions to business actions," says
Leaver.
"Organisations can use customer communities to support market research and product
development, accelerate distribution of marketing messages, provide deeper insights €
about individuals and accounts for sales, and promote customer self-service to drive
down support costs." €
Why can't I use my iPhone? -- Advertisement --
That process of using technology to improve customer engagement is being mirrored €
with employees. The so-called "consumerisation" of technology means that we are not
far - in some firms we may already be there - from the point at which business users
know as much about their technology as the people manning the first-line helpdesk.
As the most IT-literate generation that has ever been enters the workforce and becomes
the dominant part of the user base, IT managers who do not anticipate the changes this
implies will increasingly find themselves being driven by the expectations of those iPod
and web using individuals.
Users will expect the ease of use of an eBay, the flexibility and functionality of an
iPhone, and the simplicity of a Google in their business applications and devices. This is
already presenting a whole new set of challenges for CIOs.
Skills management
Let's not talk about skills shortages anymore - there is no lack of skills available if you
are willing to mix and match between using in-house staff, supplier expertise,
outsourcers, contractors or increasingly offshore resources.
"[CIOs are] grappling with growing skills, training, compensating, hiring, and terminating
IT people - especially as their workforces shift dramatically," says Leaver.
The challenge for IT leaders is managing the disparate skills base they have across all
sources, while also motivating and developing employees that have often been hit
financially and emotionally by cutbacks and redundancies among colleagues.
"I need to find ways to motivate and excite my teams in light of pay freezes, headcount
reductions and spending constraints," says Harvey Nash's Behenna.
"Encouraging them still further to see themselves as an intrinsic and revenue generating
entity who will share in the future prosperity of the group."
IT governance
IT governance has taken on a new significance in the past couple of years. Once viewed
as something of a management overhead, this has rapidly evolved into a core leadership
task. In a time of restricted spending, CIOs need the ability to prove they are providing

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cost-effective services, delivering on the promises for return on investment (ROI), and
following best practice.
Powered by Movable Type Enterprise
"Business leadership from the CIO will need to develop over the coming year and
beyond," says Nick Kirkland, chief executive of IT leadership networking group CIO
Connect.
"Without radical action, the required rate of change will exceed the ability to deliver,
including a clear focus on what is important and the need to drop anything that is not
crucial. Clear governance is a necessity in that world - crisp decision making, with
delegated authority, and a focus on ROI, is critical. To reach such a point, CIOs will
need to demonstrate leadership across the business - and within their own teams."
Proving the value of IT is essential, says Behenna: "CIOs need to develop the
infrastructure and methodology that allows them to measure the true value of IT."
And benchmarking the quality of IT service delivery will become an increasingly
important tool.
"IT budget benchmarks continue to be a hot topic for CIOs, especially in the wake of a
recession that has caused companies to cut IT budgets to the bone - or beyond," says
Leaver.
"CIOs need IT budget benchmarks to defend their budget levels, to determine whether
more cuts are in order, and/or to build the case for increased IT spending."
IT and the business
It's the oldest entry in the CIO's book of clichés, but bridging the IT-business divide has
never been more critical. Chief executives and finance directors are more tech-savvy
than ever, and if they cannot see the value that their IT department and its leader are
delivering, they know they have plenty of alternatives they can pursue.
The irony is that CIOs have rarely had a better opportunity to demonstrate the critical
role of IT in business success, but never have boardrooms been more aware that they
have other options for its delivery.
"The role of IT in 2010, if used to its maximum potential, is going to be essential in
helping organisations, in the public and private sectors, both compete effectively in a
very competitive market and deliver the important cost savings that everyone is looking
for in the current economic situation," says David Clarke, chief executive of the BCS,
The Chartered Institute for IT.
"Can you do both? Yes, if you apply IT to its maximum. Will everyone be able to do that?
No, not everyone is geared up to do this yet, but nothing will be more important in
2010."
Mobile
The future of IT delivery is, without a doubt, in our own hands. Mobile technology is
developing so fast that more and more users will demand the ability to leave their desk
- and their desktop - behind. Laptops, netbooks, smartphones - and very soon tablets or
slates - are the emerging devices for application access and delivery. Apple's iPhone App
Store has revolutionised users' expectations for finding and deploying software, and IT
leaders need to examine how these concepts can help their own strategies - look, for
example, to Whitehall, where government CIO John Suffolk is leading the development
of a government app store.
Mobile is the new desktop, says Leaver.
"Business leaders will look to expand the use of mobile technologies as a business
platform for services and specialist applications for sales and operations," she says.
"Two technology trends for CIOs to keep in mind when planning their near and long-term
technology strategy are: the impact of mobile-enabled applications and business
processes; and the development of mobile networks and devices."
€
What do you think? What are the key issues for you as an IT leader in 2010? Tell us what
you think by posting a comment below.

Categories: editorial,government,social media,web

Tags: cio,collaboration,crm,election,erp,government,innovation,iphone,IT governance,IT
skills,leadership,mobile,social media
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3 Comments
Ian Gotts | January 8, 2010 5:56 PM | Reply
Cloud Computing, despite the hype, probably needs to be called out as the top separate
issue rather then being buried in IT Innovation. Why? Because it is the root of a number
of CIO issues (outsourcing, cost reduction, service performance, business/IT divide).
It is driving bigger wedge between business and IT. And it comes with huge risks
(delivery, compliance and reputational), especially if the business is procuring Cloud
services without the CIOs support.

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Which leads to the final point - the CIO needs a 'makeover' to be trusted advisor to the
business.
All of which is explored in my blog "Reality TV show - Makeover for the CIO - get me out
of here" http://is.gd/5V7I5

Dale Vile | January 14, 2010 10:45 PM | Reply

Hmmm. I disagree with that last comment. I think you have cloud exactly where it
needs to be - it is certainly something not to be ignored but it is, after all, just an
alternative delivery model. The only issue I have with the main prediction is that
platform as a service (PaaS) is probably the least relevant form of cloud for the
enterprise in the short term, particularly while everything is so proprietary.
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is an important evolution of the traditional hosting
model (though it will extend rather than replace it), and application and other software
services of various kinds are starting to throw out some interesting options for CIOs.
There is still a lot being touted in the cloud space that is not mainstream-ready,
however, so it's still very much a case of buyer beware.

Paul Walsh | February 2, 2010 1:34 PM | Reply

Agree with most predictions but think there may be a common factor underlying several
of them - namely how CIOs will alter their behaviour in the post-Recession period. I get
the sense that a return to former ways isn't really an option.
Instead there will be more of a focus on *short term* ROIs. CIOs will become more like
home users and expect payback to start in weeks or months and not years. That sits
uncomfortably with vendor messages that rely on a 5 year total cost of ownership
argument, for example.
That could dovetail with the publicity now given to failed and failing Enterprise IT
projects. CIOs will look to different models of licensing so that there is an 'easy out'
element to their investment. There will be less bespoke development (and more
integration of existing services). This could be open source or it could more likely be
freemium or free software licensing. (Reason - CIOs want supported products and
commercial open source is much the same as 'try before you buy' licensing).
We've got recent survey data from 1000 CIOs that puts substance on this - check the
blog for details: http://bit.ly/964mTK

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