There is now a heightened need for transparency in reporting, argues Andrew Rowsell-Jones, director of research for Gartner Executive Programs. "What we're seeing is a much greater quality of transparency in terms of the information being produced," Rowsell-Jones said.
He said that this is likely to impact the CIO because of the need for individuals to audit the processes by which information is being moved, particularly financial information. With a greater focus on transparency in organisations, this means IT departments need to be prepared for more audits, change-audits, and more searching enquires into their processes, according to Rowsell-Jones.
He also believes that there has been renewed emphasis in enterprises on the decision-making processes within IT departments themselves. Rowsell-Jones uses the example of a contract an IT manager or CIO might sign with a vendor. "Deals need to be absolutely clean," he warns. "So the second issue is making sure your own house is in order."
Another dilemma, more of a moral nature, which Rowsell-Jones touches on is the impact of a CIO or IT director being in what he describes as a "helicopter position" of being able to see what's going on within organisations, because of their access to a wide range of IT systems. "In that helicopter position what do you do if you suspect malpractice?," he questions. "Do you actually blow the whistle?"
Dan MacTavish, director of product marketing for vendor Hyperion, sees an interesting time ahead for CIOs. "Between IT and the CFO there's got to be a partnership to meet the business requirements for the organisation," MacTavish suggests. "Some of the most progressive CIOs and CFOs when working together they often have a common [ground] on where they want to take their business--dependant on each other's knowledge and expertise to develop a strategy to move the company forward."
"The CFOs and their respective teams have got to be able to make an assessment of what they need...but IT's job is to support it from an infrastructure point-of-view."
Security and managing an enterprise's electronic platforms are two areas Leif Gamertsfelder, head of the e-security group at law firm Deacons, believes are important for CIOs to keep in check.
As corporates adopt electronic business platforms at the heart of their operation, it's important to protect that core because of the value of information, Gamertsfelder said. "How does an organisation, and certainly a CIO or IT director, ensure there's an appropriate level of protection to manage the risks?"
Gathering the required information to make sure they're aware of issues which may impact projects, and making decisions based on reliable information, are other areas Gamertsfelder said CIOs should keep in mind. "They need to be able to determine that they have the correct information in front of them to ask the right questions of the right people," he said.
This means that CIOs and IT managers often need to look beyond the technical impact of the decisions they are making. "Better CIOs take a multidisciplinary approach to everything," Gamertsfelder said. "The ones that are relly thriving, with their careers going from strength to strength, are the ones able to appreciate the commercial, legal and other business issues wrapped around the technological choice."
He said realising the impact of IT decisions is crucial for the CIO role, because they are feeding information up to the board which is making strategic decisions about the company. "Poorly researched technological choices can have a severe impact on managing the corporation going forward," Gamertsfelder said.
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