The Smarter CIO
Embracing change can be challenging and even daunting - but it is necessary. For the CIO, making successful change happen is not just about having a clear vision and alignment with business requirements to achieve growth; it is about the IT team’s ability to execute change, the order in which the change is instigated, and clear communication ensuring positive user adoption from the wider organisation.
All of these elements are of equal importance to driving the adoption of an innovative or valuable idea, and altogether build a powerful foundation for establishing IT and business agility - which in turn unlocks further potential.
In today’s legal landscape, the CIO or IT leader must achieve a careful balancing act, switching between three different functions:
The support team: ensuring that current systems and applications are available, employees remain productive and systems supporting customer services are optimised
The cost centre: finding ways to minimise operational overheads, driving efficiency and protecting bottom lines
The enabler: helping to nurture new ideas and leverage digital platforms and data to ‘enable’ innovation
In order to carry out all of these functions, however, the CIO should make sure that the role of IT is properly understood by the wider business.
This means aligning technology strategy as closely as possible with the business - essential in positioning Digital Transformation where it should be: as a fee-earning initiative, front and centre in discussions regarding new routes to market, increased revenue streams, and automation to control and reduce operational costs.
Generally speaking, IT teams can be divided into one of three broad categories (and this holds true for Legal). These categories identify common characteristics in the way IT engages with the wider business, and the knock-on effect this has on the CIO’s influence with partners and executives.
As can be seen, by devising a strategy to maintain your position in the left hand category - or at least progress towards it - you’ll see a positive impact on both the way your business perceives IT, and your corresponding influence in strategic decisions. We have noticed a growing contrast between the CIOs and IT Directors who achieve close alignment with business objectives, and those that don’t. Achieve alignment and the business views IT as indispensable with senior management seeking advice from IT leaders; fail to align, and CIOs and IT Directors struggle to gain traction, become ‘frozen’ within the business and are seen merely as cost centres.
