The CIO’s role is one of communicating a vision and driving a change management strategy that will result in greater user and organisational acceptance of the projects selected for development.
Organisational change management is crucial especially in this global recession. A change management strategy formally introduces initiatives to everyone affected by them, and should also introduce any new roles or expectations to team members to get everyone on the same page at the same time. The IT department should embark on projects that will positively impact business strategy.
Research from The Standish Group International Inc. on project success rates found that 24% of projects are cancelled partway through or delivered and not used. The SearchCIO.com survey showed that just 11% of large organisations complete all projects in their development queue; the majority (54%) report an abandonment rate of 1% to 10%. The final third don’t finish 11% to 50% of projects. The article also notes that change management should be the starting point because the overall [project management] strategy will succeed or fail based on this. Tighter budgets have led many organisations to add checkpoints for proposals, aimed at weeding out unnecessary or unrealistic projects before they even start.
If there is a silver lining in this global recession, I think role of CIO has been elevated. Developing a vision that meets business objectives and the needs of stakeholders is now being expected for the first time from a CIO. CIOs are expected not only to keep operational spend under control but mainly make progress on IT strategies. The article notes that balancing IT operation with IT Strategy is critical not just for managing IT but also for engaging the rest of the business leadership team. That is one of the CIO’s most important responsibilities.