STAYING THE COURSE AS A CIO: HOW TO OVERCOME THE TRIALS AND CHALLENGES OF IT LEADERSHIP
The shelf-life of a Chief Information Officer can be shockingly short. Few survive in post for more than a few years. More often each falls prey to insurmountable problems and their careers come to a sharp and ignominious end. In this book, a global CIO with over thirty years of experience in major corporations examines the main reasons why this happens. Readers will understand which types of issue can cause problems for an IT Leader and more importantly, they will learn strategies of how these problems can be minimized or even avoided.
IT is often seen a technical backwater, but it is a discipline which has the capability to add massive value to an organisation whether it is in the private or the public sector – provided of course it has the right leadership doing the right things.
Aspiring IT Leaders will need to deal with a common set of recurring trials and challenges. These include:
· Overcoming the challenge of managing diverse and conflicting stakeholders
· How to deal with large and complex projects
· Making sense of software and how to handle the rapidly changing technology landscape
· Knowing when to outsource and how to get the best out of an outsourcing partner
· Harnessing the intellectual power of consultants to help you meet your goals
· And last but not least, how to develop a set of strategies that are aligned with your corporate goals and then make sure your resources are properly targetted so that the IT function generates maximum positive impact for the enterprise.
For IT professionals looking to fully integrate their function into the enterprise, 'Staying the Course as a CIO’ is a valuable source of practical advice, all based on real experience.
DR JONATHAN M. MITCHELL is an IT executive with over 30 years of experience in global blue-chip companies. For nearly a decade he was the Chief Information Officer, Business Process Improvement Director and Corporate Development Director at Rolls-Royce. Prior to that he built a successful IT career at BP and GlaxoSmithKline, where he rose to become a Vice President. In recent years he has appeared in lists of the most influential Global CIOs in Information Week, CIO Magazine and Computer Weekly.
Jonathan is a founder of CIO Strategic Advisors Ltd, a company which provides strategic consultancy and development for Executive teams using a network of respected former-CIOs. In 2014, he became the Non-Executive Chairman of the Global CIO Practice at Harvey Nash, one of the largest IT recruitment companies in the world. He has also been working as an independent industry expert with the UK Shadow Cabinet to develop a rescue plan for a major welfare IT project.
Jonathan is a member of the Advisor Board for the Centre for Information Leadership at City University and collaborates with the CASS Business School's Executive Education unit. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Chartered IT Professional and a past Chairman of the UK Corporate IT Forum.
www.ciostrategicadvisors.com
