Chapter 2

Chapter 2
The Top IS Job
1
OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Where is the IS Organization
headed?
• The CIO’s Responsibilities
• The Office of the CIO
2
3
Introduction
• Responsibilities of the head of IS

now go far beyond operating highly
efficient ‘production programming
shops’
• These executives are now part of top
management and help form the goals
of the enterprise in partnership with
the CEO, CFO and other members of
top management
4
Where Is The IS Organization
Headed?
• The Escalating Benefits of Information
Technology
– Kenneth Primozic, Edward Primozic,
and Joe Leben introduce the notion of
“Waves of Innovation” which they define
as how IT is used by industries and
enterprises.
• There are five Waves of Innovation (Figure
2-1):
5. Reaching the consumer
4. Enhancing executive decision
making
3. Enhancing products and services
……………………………………………………………………
………………
2. Leveraging investments
1. Reducing cost
5
Where Is the IS Organization
Headed?
Escalating Benefits of IT
6
The SABRE system
(American Airlines)
Case example: ‘Waves of Innovation’
• Waves 1 and 2
– SABRE built to reduce costs of
making airline seat reservations
• Wave 3
– System expanded so it could be
used directly by travel agents
• Wave 4
– System expanded to include hotels
and rental cars through alliances
with these suppliers
7
The SABRE system (American
Airlines)
Case example: ‘Waves of Innovation’ cont.
• Wave 5
American extended their reach to the
consumer:
– Introduced EAASY SABRE that
enabled consumers direct access
from their PCs
– AAdvantage – frequent flyer program
– Enhanced their Wave 5 connections
to consumers via the Web (and
mobiles?)
– Targeted its most profitable
customers = Frequent Flyers
8
Traditional Functions Are
Being Nibbled Away
• The traditional set of responsibilities for

IS has included:
1. Managing operations of data
centers, remote systems, and
networks
2. Managing corporate data
3. Performing systems analysis and
design, and constructing new
systems
4. Systems planning
5. Identifying opportunities for new
systems
9
Traditional Functions Are
Being Nibbled Away
(Figure 2-2)
• The traditional functions still need to be performed

but the following trends are moving their performance
out of the IS department and into other parts of the
organization or to other enterprises:
1. Distributed systems
– Software applications migrating to user areas
2. Ever more knowledgeable users have taken on
increased IS responsibilities
3. Better application packages
– Less need for ‘armies’ of programmers,
analysts etc.
4. Outsourcing
10
11
New Roles are Emerging
• (Another way to look at it:) IS is not a single

monolithic organization, but rather a cluster of four
functions (Fig. 2-3):
1. Run operations
2. Develop systems
3. Develop architecture
4. Identify business requirements
• The ‘Squeeze’ on Traditional IS Activities (Figure 2-
4):
– Growing External Services
– Growing Capabilities of Users
• ‘Future’ Roles for IS (Figure 2-5):
– Broker
– Systems and Information Architecture
12
13
14
15
The CIO Responsibilities
— History
16
Four Aspects of the CIO
role
1. Leading: Creating a vision by

understanding the business
2. Governing: Establishing an IS
Governance structure
3. Investing: Shaping the IT
portfolio
4. Managing: Fostering change
17
1.Leading:
Understanding the Business
There are seven approaches CIOs are

using to understand the business and its
environment:
1. Encourage project teams to study the
marketplace
2. Concentrate on lines of business
3. Sponsor weekly briefings
4. Attend industry meetings with line
executives
5. Read industry publications
6. Hold informal listening sessions
7. Become a “partner” with a line
executive
18
1. Leading:
Creating a Vision of the Future
and Selling It
• A vision of a desirable future can provide
stability when it sets a direction for an
organization
– Today most corporate visions have an

IT underpinning – leveraging the
Internet for business purposes
– That vision sets their direction
19
2. Governing:
Establishing an IS Governance
Structure
• The term ‘Governance’ has

become prominent in all areas
of business including IT.
• IT Governance
– “The assignment of decision rights
and the accountability framework
to encourage desirable behavior
in the use of IT”
• Governance differs from
management in that
– Governance is about deciding
who makes decisions whereas
– Management is about making
decisions once decision rights
have been assigned
20
2. Governing:
Establishing an IS Governance Structure
cont.
• Assigning Decision Rights (Figure

2-9)
– Six governance styles (the rows)
1. A business monarchy is where C-level
executives (CIO..) hold the right to make
decisions
2. IT monarchy = where IT executives hold
the right to make decisions
3. Feudal is where business unit leaders (or
delegates) have decision or input rights
4. Federal means that the rights are shared
by C-level executives and one other tier of
the business hierarchy
5. A duopoly is where one IT group and one
business group share a right
6. Anarchy is where individual process
owners or end users hold a right
21
2. Governing:
Establishing an IS Governance Structure
cont.
• Assigning Decision Rights (Figure

2-9)
– Five decision areas (the columns)
1. IT principles are high-level statements
about how IT will be used to create
business value
2. IT infrastructure strategies state the
approach for building shared and standard
IT services across the enterprise
3. IT architecture states the technical
choices that will meet business needs
4. Business application needs is where the
business defines its application needs
5. IT investment and prioritisation defines
the process for moving IT-based
investments through justification, approval
and accountability
22
2. Governing:
Establishing an IS Governance
Structure cont.
23
3. Investing: Shaping the IT Portfolio
– A Strategic View of Making IT Investments (what to invest in).
• Sequencing IT investments.
Companies that reaped the
highest productivity generally
sequenced their IT investments
so that new ones built on
existing ones
• Timing IT investment
– ‘Rush in’ only when it advances
company goals, builds on
strengths and cannot be easily
replicated by competitors
– ‘Everybody is doing it’ = not a
good reason
24
3. Investing: Shaping the IT Portfolio cont.
– A Strategic View of Making IT Investments
• Complementing IT investments
– IT investments do not reap
anticipated results until
accompanying management
practices change to take
advantage of potentially better
ways of working
25
3. Investing: Shaping the IT Portfolio
– A Tactical View of Making IT Investments (how to make
investment decisions)
• Much attention has been placed

on shaping the IT portfolio as
business executives seek to
maximize the business value of
their IT investments
• Most companies have far more

opportunities than they can fund
– Must find a way to prioritize the
possibilities to best support their
business’ strategic objectives
Prioritization
“Doing more with less”
26
3. Investing:
Shaping the IT Portfolio cont.
• Address Project Risks

1. Risk that project will fail
• Need mitigation strategies and
include cost thereof in the project
cost
2. Risk of not doing the project
• E.g. Virus protection
3. Risk that it is the wrong project
for what is trying to be achieved.
Doing the wrong thing.
27
4. Managing:
Establishing Credibility
• The first job of IS management is to

get the “today” operation in shape
– Until that task is accomplished, CIOs
will have little credibility with other top
management
• Managing “today” includes:
– Computer operations
– Technical support (including networks)
– The help desk, and
– Maintenance and enhancement of
existing systems
• Delivery oriented with a high level of
service
• Some = outsource parts
• Once you have “today” working well

– they will listen to you “tomorrow”
28
4. Managing:
Fostering Change
• ‘Techies’ presume a technically

elegant system is a successful
one
– Not so. Many technically sound
systems have turned into
implementation failures because
the people side of the system was
not handled correctly
• IT is all about managing change
– New systems require changing
how work is done
– Focusing on the technical aspects
is only ‘half’ the job. The other job
is change management
• People resist change, especially
technological change
29
ALSO
UNDERSTAND THE
BUSINESS
TALK TO PEOPLE
30
The Office of the CIO?
• Some believe the office of the CIO

is so broad it should be handled by
a team
• Office of CIO with four ‘positions’:
1. Chief Information Officer
– Heads IS and works with top
management, customers and suppliers
2. Chief Technology Officer
– Heads IT planning, which involves
architecture and exploration of new
technologies
3. Chief Operations Officer
– Heads day-to-day IS operations
4. Chief Project Officer
– Oversees all projects and project
managers
31
Conclusion
• IT decision making must be ‘shared’ - The main

responsibility for managing the use of IT needs
to pass to the line, while the management of the
IT infrastructure is retained by the IS group
• It is reflected in the following saying:
1. “We used to do it to them”- IS required end
users to obey strict rules for getting
changes made to systems, submitting job
requests, etc.
2. “Next, we did it for them”-IS moved to taking
a service orientation
3. “Now, we do it with them”-which reflects
“partnering”
4. “We are moving toward teaching them how
to do it themselves”
32
Conclusion cont.
• To achieve this transformation, CIOs

must play a leadership role in their
enterprise and develop partnerships
with senior management, internal and
external customers, and suppliers
33

Chapter 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 2

The Top IS Job

• Responsibilities of the head of IS

• The traditional set of responsibilities for

• The traditional functions still need to be performed

• (Another way to look at it:) IS is not a single

1. Leading: Creating a vision by

 There are seven approaches CIOs are

– Today most corporate visions have an

– That vision sets their direction

• The term ‘Governance’ has

• Assigning Decision Rights (Figure

• Assigning Decision Rights (Figure

– A Strategic View of Making IT Investments

• Much attention has been placed

• Most companies have far more

• Address Project Risks

• The first job of IS management is to

• Once you have “today” working well

• ‘Techies’ presume a technically

• Some believe the office of the CIO

• IT decision making must be ‘shared’ - The main

• To achieve this transformation, CIOs

You might also like

There are seven approaches CIOs are