CIOChat

I will love to see that thread!

SHOULD they? Of course. But what is reasonable to expect from a 50-something non-tech #CEO in 2019?

One common theme on that thread was communication which is more important than ever; first step getting everyone speaking the same IT language. questions is what is that language? #Devops speak? or something new?

they definitely have to understand- not necessarily know details

This question has been a perennial conversation for years. Does the #CEO need to understand tech? Or the #CIO understand business?

I hate to say it's age-related, but consider that older CSuite execs didn't have to really understand IT #SystemsofEngagement as they ascended through functional management roles. They lack hands-on comfort, like they have with finance, ops, etc.

yes - it's a question of understanding ROI and investment in digital because non-digital assumptions on cost and return do not translate easily

My belief is that CIO and IT is there to serve the business goals not be the business goals but now with cloud CIO and IT role is elevated bc it's now easy to test new things and eliminate vaporware sales pitches

@waynesadin There are huge generational implications among the c-suite, IT and customers. #CIO

@furrier Heck, no! It's biz-speak: Marketing to the #CMO, Finance to the #CFO. It's not 'meet them halfway' for IT folks--we've got to to 3/4 of the way.

@waynesadin totally agree do you know that AWS now has all new products that go to market go thru jargon review to eliminate tech speak and focus on biz speak. You nailed it

This concept of meet them 1/2-way is just not realistic.

@zehicle Everything we do MUST translate into biz terms, from ROIU to NPV to NPS--whatever the rest of the firm uses to keep score on projects. If IT uses 'unique' measures the #CIO will forever be an outlier--not good!

@furrier Maybe...but their biz speak isn’t enterprise speak. There is a difference and it matters.

@furrier That's a terrific idea! 'Know your audience' has always been a good idea.

@tcrawford My take: The #CEO has to be able to understand the direction that #digital will take the organization enough to judge whether to put their full #leadership weight behind it. That requires some degree of #digital qualification.

@waynesadin Let’s come up with a list of terms that you need to know: NPV, ROI, TCO, 10K, 10Q, IS, BS, CF, GM, NI, SV. #Biz101 #CIO

@waynesadin it's not about unique measures - it's about understanding how systems operate so that companies don't optimize in silos. Back to Theory of Constraints (which is manufacturing, not IT)

I’m with you...but the #CIO needs to put it in terms the #CEO can digest (ie: business terms...not tech jargon).

@tcrawford As a #CIO we must understand to whom we're speaking or it's not 'communication': demographics, psychographics, whatever helps craft a message that resonates. Lots of the #CIO job is sales/marketing

@waynesadin Agree. #CSuite must be digitally, financially, managerially, and leadership competent. Plus, understand what business the organization is in. It's this last piece, however, that digital can literally stand on its head. Why the #NewCSuite deeply transdisciplinary now.

@waynesadin Yep. Been there. Done that. The part that perplexes me more is why more folks don’t understand it.

@furrier Definitely increasing tech components in almost every product--'augmented product' has lots of IT these days. But it's still a biz decision at the end of the day, unless IT has a true P&L (generally a bad idea)

If the #CEO can articulate a vision of the product, market & #CX they want, a good #CIO who partners can flesh out the technical details--CEO vision is vital, tech knowledge is nice to have (if CIO can truly partner)

Agree that #CIO can help redefine 'what biz we're in' by incorporating tech vision into CSuite product/market vision.

@waynesadin The key challenge here I believe, is that if the #CEO is not digitally qualified, they must sit back and let others map out and lead the future of the business. But that's arguably the CEO's role. While it is doable, it's just highly fraught.

@tcrawford People in this convo get it, but we're not your typical group, even among CIOs--most folks I know are trying to 'take the next hill' without looking towards the horizon and beyond.

@waynesadin So ... we need to spread the word and educate CIOs to plan ahead more

#CEO can't do #CFO or #CMO or #CIO job--too far removed from cutting-edge, even if once knew function. CEO has a different role that nobody else can do: vision, leadership, culture, board/analyst relationship. It's a big jump from functional leader to CEO!

@BillMew If we have to TELL them, what the heck are they doing with the #CIO title? Let me come back to reality, now LOL: "CEOs get the CIO they settle for." We should be helping CEO/Board understand what terrific IT can accomplish (#QTE)

@waynesadin I'd like to say that all CIOs are high calibre and on top of the job, but all too many are either under the spell of vendors or in awe of the latest shiny new tech

@tcrawford #CIO must understand biz--period. One of my most successful #CIO gigs (cover of CIO Magazine, awards, & happy customers) came from partnering with a tech ignorant CEO who had a great biz vision & trust from our 9K employees. He led, my team built. It was heaven!

@waynesadin hand in glove relationship. They do happen;)

@waynesadin partnering vs selling something changes the relationship with the biz; CIOs prefer a partner not a supplier

@furrier CIOs may prefer to partner - but all to often the vendor doesn't see it the same way and uses captive relationship to up-sell and over-sell

@waynesadin Frankly, I don't always see much hope in remediating senior #leadership for #digital. Yet there are consistent success stories in doing so with activities like:
- Reverse mentoring
- Targeted executive education
- Tabletop digital transformation exercises w/ board

@BillMew This is where cloud changes the game imho bc the time to value is shorter and exposes the so called selling the "headroom" CIOs can see who bring the meat to the table

@BillMew CIO are not the contract signatory

CIOs that I speak with all tell me the old way of selling (partnering) is changing. Because of more agile and short time to value cycles the CIO can get more biz objectives on the table and move the needle for biz

@furrier Not all vendors are dynamic enough to respind to this new agile way of working - long contracts are their comfort zone

@furrier the shorter gestation period is overwhelming many organizations as they grapple with internal drama

@todddlyle totally agree which is why on the thousands of Cube interviews that I've done the comment of "culture" always come up in the #devops #digitaltransformation equation not just tech

@furrier #TheHumanElement

@BillMew #DigitalTransformation in it's true sense--products/culture/markets/CX--applies to vendors as well as their customers. New born-digital vendors will gladly fill in the gaps in 'legacy vendor' biz models

Expect many of the familiar “top 10” suspects. My Top-10 2019 CIO list comes out shortly. #CIO

DATA is the top priority - how about securing data, managing data, monetizing data

1/ Get digital right; 2/ Get digital right; 3/ Get digital right

I agree w/ @stu that it is about #data. Not about digital as the primary thrust though.

1/ technical debt 2/ finishing 2018 priorities before jumping to next shiny 3/ integration & automation

@dvellante For many defining #Digital is had and selling it even harder...

Too often we talk about #DigitalTransformation as the lead. Unfortunately, it misses context...business context. #CIO

@zehicle Agree that #TechnicalDebt is a serious (and growing) issue for the #CIO. Can’t be ignored.

1) integrating data science workflows fully into your enterprise DevOps. 2) incorporating AI-driven robotics into your industrial B2B processes, 3) ensuring top-to-bottom visibility and compliance into all algorithmic decisions.

1) Improving the master data story + #customerexperience
2) Keeping the org safe (#cybersecurity, #regulation)
3) Driving #digitaltransformation, while cutting #technicaldebt

@zehicle @tcrawford great cartoon from @forrestbrazeal about technical debt https://twitter.com/TimSporcic/status/107085314172...

Make technology acquisition drive value creation not just operational old ways to do things. Tech has to be consumable for the business and drive value creation

Security for CIO is top priority and has to be built in from the beginning not after

@dhinchcliffe should technical debt show up in P&L statement like real debt so that CSuite can work on reducing it....not just CIO

meh @stu - I think that there's an equal challenge on "throw out the old" syndrome where we try to walk about from debt and it's simply starting a new debt in a new location. Then you have two+ dumpster fires.

@APGuha While there will be great resistance in doing so, and difficultly in quantifying it, I do believe we now have a fiduciary and ethical obligation to include IT #technicaldebt on the P&L statement.
#cio
cc @waynesadin @sarbjeetjohal

well @zehicle you'll let me know when we find a silver bullet. Nothing ever dies, everything is additive, apps are too old and challenging to use.

@dhinchcliffe it is hard....we all need to be change agent to enable CSuite / BOD to change

@stu When you say that nothing ever dies. Apps do but data doesn't. As James Govenor once put it "Data ages like fine wine, apps like fish"

@stu Exactly, data ultimately drives everything, from business models to customer experience. But shared value creation is the motivation that directs what you do with data and why.

very few companies still have full account of their #technicaldebt

top 3 CIO priorities: 1. Simplicity 2. Velocity 3. Normalization of UX. All at any scale. #CIOchat

@APGuha hooah

when will companies abandon their reliance on mainframe ?

@APGuha And that's an awful truth about #TechnicalDebt! If the #attacksurface doesn't kill them quickly, the brittleness of their systems will impede #DigitalTransformation & allow nimbler competitors to drain their lifeblood over time

@APGuha When the value of doing so exceeds the cost/risk of migrating hundreds of millions of lines of COBOL built over 30+ years & poorly documented--BUT WORK. TSB Bank in UK bobbled a core system refresh and the CEO's head rolled.

@waynesadin as a community of #IT leaders we have the responsibility to enable this change & disparity to be resolved #technicaldebt #digitaltransformation