Information Week

The annual MIT Sloan CIO Symposium taking place May 19-20 in Cambridge, Mass. will feature 10 startup businesses that offer innovative solutions for IT executives during its 2025 Innovation Showcase. The Innovation Showcase offers CIOs and other IT leaders a chance to explore early-stage US-based businesses. Aperio, Arundo Analytics, Bluumly, DataTrails, DBOS, FenixPyre, iCustomer, Narratize, Silverthread, and Skyline Nav were named finalists for the showcase. “It’s an honor to continue to support emerging enterprises as they connect with industry leaders, fostering collaborations that consistently drive meaningful innovation and mutual success,” Anton Teodorescu, chair of the Innovation Showcase, said in a statement. MIT Sloan said the businesses were chosen based on several criteria, including having an enterprise IT solution commercially available, less than $10 million in annual revenue, selling solutions to CIOs or corporate IT departments, and showing innovation and strategic value with potential bottom-line impact. Symposium Celebrates 22nd Year Next week’s two-day symposium will feature dozens of speakers and panelists, including Oracle’s Roger Barga, senior vice president for artificial intelligence and machine learning, Bill Pappas, executive vice president and head of global technology operations for MetLife, Monica Caldas, global chief information officer for Liberty Mutual Insurance, and many other top IT leaders. Related:How to Keep a Consultant from Stealing Your Idea InformationWeek’s Senior Editor Joao-Pierre S. Ruth and Senior Executive Editor Ben Cole will provide live coverage from the event next week. source

Applications and systems exist at the edge, in the data center, in a bevy of clouds, and in user departments. IT is called upon to manage all of them.   But is this management doable, and how can IT approach it for the best results?  First, let’s look at why enterprises use distributed systems and applications. Distributed systems and apps can deliver better performance when they are placed in the specific areas and departments of the company they serve. In such cases, they can use dedicated networks, storage and processing. If the systems are cloud-based, they can be readily scaled upward or downward in both cost and use, and there are cloud providers that maintain them.  At the same time, these distributed assets become interrelated in areas of data, processing, and governance. Systems and applications must be centrally managed when they come together.   Following are three challenges distributed systems and applications present for IT, and some ways IT can best address them.  1. Security and updates  Challenge: The IT attack surface is expanding exponentially as enterprises augment centralized IT systems with edge and cloud-based systems and applications. This compounds in difficulty when edge and mobile devices come in the door with lax or nonexistent security settings, making them easy attack targets. The promulgation of edge networks, mobile devices and cloud-based systems also increases the need for IT to apply software security and patch updates in a timely and consistent way.   Related:Edge Extending the Reach of the Data Center Best practice: It’s no longer enough to use a standard monitoring system to track network and user activities throughout the enterprise. Tools like identity access management (IAM) can track a user’s activities and permission clearances across internal IT assets, but they provide limited visibility of what might be going on in the cloud. Tools like cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM) can microscopically track user activities and permissions in the cloud, but not on prem. Identity governance and administration (IGA) can bring together both IAM and CIEM under one software umbrella, but its focus is still on the user and what the user does. CIEM can’t track malware in an embedded software routine that activates, or any other anomaly that could arise as data is moved among systems. For this, observability software is needed.  Observability tools can track every detail of what happens within each transaction as it moves through systems, and mobile device management (MDM) software can track the whereabouts of mobile devices. Meanwhile, security update software can be automated to push out software updates to all common computing platforms. Finally, there is the need to know when any addition, deletion or modification occurs to a network. Zero-trust networks are the best way to detect these changes.  Related:AI Projects at the Edge: How To Plan for Success The takeaway for IT is that it’s time to evaluate these different security and monitoring tools and defenses, and to create an architectural framework that identifies which tools are needed, how they fit with each other, and how they can end-to-end manage a distributed system and application environment. Best of breed IT departments are doing this today.   2. Data consistency  Challenge: Data across the enterprise must be accurate and consistent if everyone is to use a single version of the truth. When accuracy and consistency measures fail, different department managers get disparate information, which generates dissonance and delays in corporate decision making. Most enterprises report issues with data accuracy, consistency, and synchronization, often brought on by disparate, distributed systems and applications.  Best practice: The good news is that most organizations have installed tools such as ETL (extract, transform, and load) that have normalized and unified data that flows from variegated sources into data repositories. This has resulted in higher quality data for enterprise users.  Related:How Many Clouds Does Your Organization Really Need? Interestingly, a persistent problem when it comes to managing distributed systems is actually an “old school” problem. It’s how to manage intra-day batch and nightly batch processing.    Let’s say a company is in the US but has remote manufacturing facilities in Brazil and Singapore. At some point, the finished goods, inventory, work in process, and cost information from all these systems must coalesce into a consolidated corporate “view” of the data. It is also understood that these various facilities operate in different time zones and on different schedules.  Typically, you would batch together major system transaction updates during a normal nightly batch process, but nighttime in say, Philadelphia, is daytime in Singapore. When and how do you schedule the batch processing?  It’s cost prohibitive and, in some cases, impossible to perform transaction updating of all data in real time, so central IT must decide how to update. Does it do periodic intra-day “data bursts” of transactions between distributed systems, and then night process the other batches of transactions that are in less dissimilar time zones? Which batch update processes will deliver the highest degree of timely and quality data to users?  Optimized and orchestrated intra-day and nightly batch processing updates are a   60-year-old problem for IT. One reason it’s an old problem is that revising and streamlining batch processing schedules is one of IT’s least favorite projects. Nevertheless, best-of-class IT departments are paying attention to how and when they do their batch processing. Their ultimate goal is putting out the most useful, timely, highest quality information to users across the enterprise.  3. Waste management  Challenge: With the growth of citizen IT, there are numerous applications, systems, servers, and cloud services that users have signed up for or installed, but that end up either seldom or never used. The same can be said for IT, given its history of shelfware and boneyards. In other cases, there are system and application overlaps or vendor contracts for unused services that self-renew, and that nobody pays attention to. This waste is exacerbated with distributed systems and applications that may not have a central point of control.  Best practice: More IT departments are using IT asset management software

Google’s introduction of a state-of-the-art quantum computing chip in December 2024 represented a massive step forward for the industry. Major technology players like IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon have also put their quantum stakes in the ground, recognizing quantum for what it is — the future of high-end computing.  Quantum is a double-edged sword. It has the potential for substantial transformation and benefits, such as revolutionizing fields like drug discovery and science. But the same computing technology that will accelerate breakthroughs will also change the cybersecurity landscape as we know it, easily cracking current encryption models, exposing sensitive information, and upending digital trust.    Securing Today for the Quantum World of Tomorrow    If you ask 10 people when they think Q-Day — the day quantum computers will be powerful enough to break current encryption protocols — will arrive, you’ll likely get 10 different answers. To take one benchmark I generally agree with, Gartner predicts that by 2029, advances in quantum computing will make asymmetric cryptography unsafe and by 2034 fully breakable.  This isn’t stopping cybercriminals from taking action now. “Harvest now, decrypt later” is widely reported as a tactic used by multiple nations, whereby they are literally making copies of the entire internet, especially encrypted data, in the hopes that they can use quantum computers to break the encryption in the future.  Related:CIO Joel Klein and the Intersection of Medicine and IT Where there is an offensive, equal work is underway on the defensive through research and development of post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated its PQC standardization process nearly a decade ago to develop algorithms resistant to quantum computer attacks. Last year, NIST released three finalized post-quantum encryption standards for immediate use. (Fun fact: my boss, Akamai co-founder and CEO Dr. Tom Leighton helped develop a digital signature algorithm that NIST is now recommending to help defend critical infrastructure against quantum attacks).  IT teams need to take inventory of where their enterprise currently uses cryptography. You may be surprised by what you find. Cryptography underpins everyday functions — from password protection to encrypted emails and secure web browsing. It also encompasses “things at rest” at the hardware level, like disk encryption. Taking inventory will give an organization a baseline understanding of which assets and processes need to be updated to PQC standards.    Related:DOS Won’t Hunt: Breaking Bread — New Tech for Legacy Ops Another step is getting ready to update Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols. PQC algorithms are already integrated into TLS 1.3 to fend off future attacks from quantum computers. While TLS 1.3 has been available since 2018, some organizations are still using its older version, leaving their company open to vulnerabilities and risks. Akamai sees more than 80% of traffic on TLS 1.3. While this is a substantial amount, it does mean there’s still work to do until everyone has migrated to the updated protocols.     Taking Advantage of Future Opportunities  Quantum computing isn’t all doom and gloom. Quantum computers can process and draw samples from vast information spaces that are inaccessible to any conventional computer — meaning we can’t even fathom all the benefits this technology will bring.  Take financial services, for example. In portfolio optimization, it can rapidly evaluate numerous asset combinations, improving the speed and quality of investment decisions. For risk analysis, quantum-enhanced simulations reduce the number of iterations needed, enabling faster, more accurate assessments of financial exposure. In fraud detection, quantum machine learning can uncover hidden patterns in large, complex datasets, potentially catching fraud earlier than traditional methods. It can even be used to try to help solve some of the most pressing challenges our society is facing today, by modeling complex climate systems and improving carbon capture and climate adoption technologies. It’s important that teams know how to take advantage of quantum’s offerings when they’re more mainstream.   Related:Kellanova Chief Data & Analytics Officer: Collaboration Is Key to Success The first step is preparing existing infrastructure for the influx of quantum computing. Quantum represents a fundamentally new paradigm for computing — so integrating data and insights from quantum with classical computing will not be a set-and-forget process. One place to start is by training workforces — something many are currently in the process of doing for artificial intelligence. This can be done by upskilling staff, hiring new talent with backgrounds in quantum, and investing in workshops to get employees smart on quantum. Another method is to build a community of quantum experts by partnering with startups and academic institutions — pooling your combined expertise to get an understanding of the basics can foster information sharing and innovation.  Another is to start thinking about how quantum computers can help analyze massive amounts of data that traditional computers couldn’t handle. Quantum techniques, like eigenvalue estimation, offer a new way to analyze massive datasets. Industries like healthcare will benefit from quantum computing’s ability to analyze large volumes of data that can be used to improve diagnostic accuracy, accelerate the development of new drugs, and forecast patient trends. It’s not too early to begin thinking about ways to experiment with quantum computers once available. Small, hands-on experiences will provide a better understanding of how to utilize quantum down the road.  Quantum computing isn’t science fiction. It’s going to become a very real opportunity and threat soon. Preparing now will position companies to keep data safeguarded and secure while also being ready to lead and innovate in this next era of computing.  source

Some traditional companies stand the test of time because they can adapt to change. One such organization is Kellanova (formerly Kellogg Company), a provider of global staple brands including Cheez-Its, Pringles and Rice Krispie Treats. Such brands have stood the test of time because people identify with them. In many cases, these and other Kellanova brands aren’t simply just another option, they’re the anchors of good memories involving friends and family.  To stay relevant over the decades, Kellanova has continuously updated their tech and even their approach to businesses. Collaboration has been key, along with becoming more agile.   “We’ve done a lot of the foundational work across technology and have implemented strong frameworks, standards, policies, so that we’re building things in the right way. Our priorities are focused around people and capabilities,” says Loretta Franks, chief data and analytics officer at Kellanova. “One of my goals is to make sure that we’re leveraging data to drive value for our organization.”   Recently, Kellanova has been experimenting with GenAI capabilities and has deployed Microsoft Copilot across the organization.  “That’s been a great learning and a great way of bringing the organization into experimenting, learning and seeing what it feels like to work with GenAI capabilities,” says Franks. “Externally, we’ve done some fantastic AI initiatives predominantly focused on how we engage with our consumers.”  Related:CIO Joel Klein and the Intersection of Medicine and IT Loretta Franks, Kellanova A good example is Pringles Poptopia, which recognizes the growing demand for personalization in a post-third-party data world. Kellanova launched it to provide a direct-to-consumer, digital experience. Each Pringles can includes a QR code, giving consumers access to personalized, exclusive content. This provides Kellanova an opportunity to engage and better understand its diverse audiences. And it turns out that Poptopia has had “fantastic uptake and lots of visits.”  Kellanova Has a People-First Culture  Kellanova’s people-first culture is fertile ground for cross-functional collaboration.  “There’s great collaboration across the whole of the global IT function, and more broadly across the business. We have a #OneTeam mantra that reflects how we engage,” says Franks.  Franks is responsible for data governance, data science, data engineering, platform and data architecture, data and analytics change management, and communications support.  “We rely on and collaborate heavily with our business relationship managers, infrastructure teams and enterprise architecture teams, as well as all of our data experts and functional leads,” says Franks. “Within data and analytics, the power and value is in the product team that comes together and collaborates to achieve successful outcomes.”  Related:DOS Won’t Hunt: Breaking Bread — New Tech for Legacy Ops Not surprisingly, Kellanova is very data intensive and must be to stay relevant.  “[It’s important to consider] how you prioritize where to go and what to do. Obviously, with the analytics and insights that you gain, this will enable good decision making that impacts the business positively,” says Franks. “We always ask what the business strategy is, what are the choices we are making and what innovations are we driving. Analytics can then accelerate decision making or even help make those choices in the first place.”  However, all that needs to be balanced with cost evaluation and feasibility, which influences prioritization.   “You need to make sure that you choose the right things for your organization and business strategy. And then there’s the big piece around how you then embed it and fundamentally realize the value,” says Franks. “I think a lot of it is around people and capabilities, driving adoption and making sure that it’s embedded into new processes. You must consider change management as a key ingredient and being agile as you go.”  Related:Quantum’s Double-Edged Sword: Balancing Risk and Readiness Working in a more agile way means meeting the needs of the customer underpinned by making continuous improvements throughout the life cycle.    “It’s a much more iterative process, and that’s been very successful for us. The other thing that we’ve done really well is sharing best practice across the functions and regions where some things have worked well, and bringing communities of practice together,” says Franks. “We’ve got some great communities of practice across our organization, like how data scientists share insights across different markets and on how well things have worked.”  Kellanova Recently Updated Its Culture  Kellanova’s latest culture tweak is the “culture of best,” the values that underpin how the company operates. Its three pillars include integrity, accountability, and courage. When those pillars are applied to digital and AI experimentation, integrity ensures that the strategy is being carried out in an ethical way, accountability ensures that value has been realized, and courage helps facilitate experimentation.  “Our fundamentals and values haven’t changed over the years. We’ve always been consumer and brand first, but data has allowed us to be a lot faster and more agile now,” says Franks. “The numerous transformations that businesses go through build strength and resilience in your people. We’ve been successful in nurturing these skills to remain at the forefront of our industry.”  As a global organization, that means different priorities in different regions. To operate leaner and more efficiently, Kellanova has identified areas where there is commonality so it can drive reusability and economies of scale. It is now only customizing where it makes good business sense and where it’s truly necessary.   Frank’s team has developed simple frameworks and structures so that data challenges can be approached in a consistent and simple way. Some of them focus on value driving while others focus on compliance and regulation. More broadly, the company has been very deliberate when it comes to data-related investments.  “No one can predict everything that’s going to happen in the macro environment over the next few years, which is why it’s so important to focus on your people and build the skills they need to succeed today and into the future,” says Franks.  source

Your IT team is most likely smart, productive, and efficient. These staffers are on the front line, relentlessly addressing challenges and solving problems. They may also have many good ideas for improving performance or taking a new approach to a persistent problem. Unfortunately, these ideas may never be heard by IT decision-makers for various reasons, such as a fear of ruffling feathers or being ignored.  The key to great idea generation is fostering an enterprise culture that encourages curiosity, continuous learning, and operating with a high sense of urgency, says John Kreul, CIO at insurance firm Jewelers Mutual. “Encourage team members to develop a deep understanding of the customer, plus end-to-end business knowledge, which triggers continuous improvement and disruptive ideas,” he explains in an online discussion. “We promote cross-functional collaboration so technology professionals can gain fresh perspectives from business teams while also sharing and proposing innovative solutions that reshape how we work together and advance the customer experience,” he says.  Encouraging team members to propose valuable ideas starts with building a culture of open communication and trust, says John Russo, vice president of healthcare technology solutions at healthcare software development firm OSP Labs. “As an IT leader, creating a space where brainstorming is welcomed — without fear of criticism — is key,” he advises in an email interview. Regular innovation sessions, where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, can make a huge difference, Russo notes. “It’s also important to actively listen and acknowledge every contribution, reinforcing that all voices matter.”  Related:CIO Joel Klein and the Intersection of Medicine and IT Russo says this approach works because it fosters a sense of ownership and belonging. “When people feel heard and respected, they’re more likely to share creative solutions that drive real innovation,” he explains. “It also brings in diverse perspectives, which can lead to more effective problem-solving.”  Recognition and showing appreciation are the key to developing continual forward-thinking actions, Kreul says. “At Jewelers Mutual, we celebrate accomplishments through personal connections, team, and company-wide recognition of achievements, as well as professional development and award opportunities.”  Compassionate Rejection Practices  Not every idea can be implemented, but rejections should never discourage future proposals, Russo advises. “The key is constructive feedback — explaining why an idea isn’t feasible at the moment while appreciating the effort behind it.” Offering suggestions for refining the idea or keeping it on the radar for future needs keeps the conversation positive and productive, he adds.  Related:DOS Won’t Hunt: Breaking Bread — New Tech for Legacy Ops When brainstorming collectively, IT leaders must ensure that their team knows that an idea generation exercise is a safe place for them to propose their thoughts and that it’s a judgment-free zone, says Karishma Bhatnagar, product manager at freelance talent provider Upwork. “Without this basic understanding and environment, it’s really hard for team members to open up and share their thoughts,” she explains in an email interview.  Once a session has been completed, the leader should be clear on why a particular idea has been rejected or deferred. “Budget, resources, and time constraints can be used to reject ideas so that the rejection isn’t taken personally by the team member,” Bhatnagar notes. “The leader should also explicitly share that they appreciate the effort all team members have put into proposing and generating ideas although, at that this time, only a handful will be explored further.”  Avoiding Leadership Mistakes  Leaders can unintentionally discourage idea-sharing by shutting down proposals too quickly, being overly critical, or simply by failing to follow through on good ideas. “If team members feel their ideas disappear into a void, they’ll eventually stop sharing them,” Russo says.  Related:Kellanova Chief Data & Analytics Officer: Collaboration Is Key to Success IT leaders can also inadvertently discourage idea proposals if they aren’t careful in the way they deal with the rejection of ideas, or if they don’t provide … a respectful time, place and platform for the team members to share their ideas, Bhatnagar says. “Not ensuring that team members have the opportunity to share and be heard will lead to the team feeling too discouraged to share their idea proposals.”  Last Thoughts: Empower the Team  Technology innovation is not just about technology — it’s about people, culture, and fostering a mindset of continuous improvement and disruptive ideas that create personalized experiences and value for our customers, Kreul says. “Technology leaders can enhance team performance and achieve business goals by empowering cross-discipline teams to generate ideas and empower them to act — trust your team to do what is best.”  Above all, IT leaders should remind their teams that innovation is an ongoing process, Russo says. “Even ideas that don’t take off immediately can spark breakthroughs down the road,” he explains. “By celebrating experimentation, learning from failures, and consistently reinforcing the value of new ideas, leaders can create an environment where creativity thrives.”  source

As technology has evolved, so too has the chief information officer role. As artificial intelligence and advancing tech continue to be vital to business success, the CIO has moved away from the behind-the-scenes exec that keeps IT running smoothly and into a vital voice in the C-suite. Identifying how to best incorporate rapidly advancing tech into business processes has always been a big part of the CIO’s role, says IT leadership recruiter Tarun Inuganti, a senior client partner and global managing partner responsible for Korn Ferry’s Global Technology Officers Practice across North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. In this interview with InformationWeek, Inuganti discusses the changing CIO role and how advancing technology has always influenced how IT executives approach the day-to-day. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. What do CIOs need to know about the job and the current CIO job market? The role of the CIO has dramatically changed in the last five to 10 years, moving away from the back-office job that keeps our Zooms working and our bills being paid. I’m not dismissing that; it’s important, but it’s a lot more than that today, particularly given data analytics and AI. The ability of CIOs to use new technologies to enable the digital transformation journeys most organizations are on has been accelerating in the last eight to 10 years, I would say. It started with digital transformation; now it’s data analytics and AI. CIOs need to be well-versed not just in technologies, but [in] how you apply those technologies for business enablement and growth. Differentiating themselves from anyone else is going to be important. Related:How CIOs Can Prepare Their Successors How is the CIO’s day-to-day role evolving, especially as tech like AI continues to evolve and influence the business? There are multiple dimensions to that. First, there are obviously huge opportunities AI can provide the business, whether it’s cost optimization or efficiencies, so there is a lot of pressure from boards and sometimes CEOs themselves saying ‘what are we doing in AI?’ The second side is that there are significant opportunities AI can enable the business in decision-making. The third leg is that AI is not fully leveraged today; it’s not in a very easy-to-use space. That is coming, and CIOs need to be able to prepare the organization for that change. CIOs need to prepare their teams, as well as business users, and say ‘hey, this is coming, we’ve already experimented with a few things. There are a lot of use cases applied in certain industries; how are we prepared for that?’ The CIO is part of that evolution. Related:Tech Company Layoffs: The COVID Tech Bubble Bursts A lot of organizations are trying to get ahead of that. One healthcare organization recently hired a chief AI officer, and when we asked the CEO why they were doing this now when the organization may not ready for it, he said he wanted everyone to start thinking about it because it is coming, and it could be so impactful on the business. Anything from a better patient-care environment to better use cases to better enablement of the patient experience — and that is just healthcare. AI is going to change everything you and I do, and it is going to affect business as well.  What are companies looking for in a modern CIO? Are things like an MBA important, or are there any specific certifications that are proving more valuable? It doesn’t hurt to have an MBA, but it is not something specific that our clients ask us for because by the time you get to the senior executive levels, most of those deep technical skills are not quite necessary. You need to know enough to call ‘bs’ when you have to, but you don’t need to get into the weeds. We don’t look for deep technologists, but if you have technology heritage or pedigree in some way, maybe it’s a bachelor’s in engineering or a bachelor’s in computer science, that is certainly helpful. An MBA is very nice to have, or a master’s degree in some applied math, is nice to have, but is not necessarily a requirement. At this time, it’s all about experience: You’ve had multiple roles; you’ve learned from those; you’ve applied them; you’re a leader and you’ve used technologies to impact change. Those are the kind of traits companies are looking for in a CIO. Related:The CIO Role Is Expanding — And So Are the Risks of Getting It Wrong It’s more about fit and culture. We have a lot of assessment tools to help clients make better decisions on that front. Are there certain CIO-specific skills that companies have a hard time hiring? Yes. AI is certainly right on top of the list. I try to remind clients that AI has been around in a variety of forms. It’s called AI today; a few years ago it was machine learning;, and before that it was behavior and analytics. This is the acceleration of the journey we are seeing with AI. I sometimes have to educate clients that what you talk about as ‘AI’ has been around in different forms for a long time. You don’t have to know it all; you just have to go sometimes by that previous experience. Tarun Inuganti, Korn Ferry Just having that vision to see where technology is going and trying to stay ahead of it is important. Not necessarily chasing the shiny new toy,, new technology, but just being ahead of it is the most important skill set. Look around the corner and prepare the organization for the change that will come. Also, if you retrained some of the people, you have to be more analytical, more business minded. Those are good skills. That’s not easy to find. A lot of people [who] move into the CIO role are very technical, whether it is coding or heavily on the infrastructure side. That is a commodity today; you need to be beyond that.

A CIO and the IT team can extend the reach of a lean staff and build trust with user departments by cultivating “super users” and “para-IT” support people in user departments. Why do this, and what’s the best way for CIOs to go about it?  At first glance, it seems that IT budgets are really growing! Gartner reports that budgets for IT in 2025 will increase a whopping 9.8% over what they were in 2024, which seems substantial. But, what’s behind this growth? “A significant portion will merely offset price increases within their recurrent spending,” said Gartner Distinguished VP Analyst, John David Lovelock. “This means that, in 2025, nominal spending versus real IT spending will be skewed, with price hikes absorbing some or all of budget growth. All major categories are reflecting higher-than-expected prices, prompting CIOs to defer and scale back their true budget expectations.”  That means IT staffs will remain lean.  Gartner also projects that spending will top $644 billion in 2025 for generative AI alone.   The robotics market is projected to grow by 9.49% year over year through 2029. Also, edge computing is estimated to grow by 15.6% through 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence.  And, estimates are that there will be four citizen developers for every IT developer in organizations, says Kissflow in citing Gartner data.   Related:How CIOs Can Prepare Their Successors Additionally, there is an expanding need for business knowledge in IT, which is being asked to transition to a more service-oriented culture.   In sum, more is expected of IT; IT staffs aren’t growing while user department tech deployments and requests for help are.  In this environment, it makes sense for IT to cultivate super user and para-IT help.  Exploring the User Tech Work Force  Super users and para-IT users are the two types of users that IT works with, but they differ in the technology skills that they provide. Here is the rundown:  Super users. Super users are individuals who have a detailed knowledge of the various systems that their departments run. If a typical user in a department gets confused or encounters a problem with a system, they call over the department super user to help them. This super user is likely to be upskilled in writing macros for spreadsheets and developing low code programs for reports and simple applications. He or she is also likely to be the main user contact for IT.   Para-IT users. Unlike super users, who tend to naturally like and gravitate toward IT work, para-IT users are often reluctant IT recruits. A majority are asked to maintain remote networks and IT equipment in edge locations where immediate IT support isn’t available. Para-IT users perform tasks like monitoring networks for uptime, responding to elementary troubleshooting needs, securing equipment, maintaining router health, and doing backups. They also serve as a “front line” of IT network support. When an issue becomes too challenging or technical, para-IT’ers hand the issue over to IT so IT professionals can take over.   Related:Ask a CIO Recruiter: Where Is the ‘I’ in the Modern CIO Role? It should be noted that like super users, para-IT personnel are not full-time IT employees. They continue to do their respective jobs in their user departments, with the understanding that they also have several IT duties as “side tasks.”   Blending User-IT Support Teams  What’s the best way to build a hybrid IT support team that includes both IT and end users? Here are five key steps.  1. Survey the user opportunities. Before pursuing an IT-user support collaboration, IT leadership should assess the IT skills that exist in user departments. A small company might not have the bandwidth or the end user desire or skills to team with IT. In other cases, there is some IT savvy in user departments, and it is likely that IT already knows who the talented users are.  Related:Tech Company Layoffs: The COVID Tech Bubble Bursts If IT leadership determines that there are technology-savvy individuals in user departments, it could make sense to consider building a hybrid IT support team.   2. Obtain management buy-in.  Often, the most tech-savvy users in departments are also these departments’ most valued employees. In my own experience, I’ve encountered user area managers who really didn’t want to commit any of their employees’ time to IT “side” work. In other cases, managers were enthusiastic.  User-IT hybrid support teams should only be pursued if the managers of user departments that would participate are enthusiastic about the idea.  3. Clearly define and demarcate duties. At what point does a super user in a user department turn an issue over to IT? And, if an employee is trained for para-IT duties in a remote manufacturing plant, what are the daily tech duties this employee is expected to perform, and when does IT take over?  Clear responsibilities and lines of demarcation between duties should be enumerated and agreed to by IT and the end users and managers before any hybrid IT support team is started.   4. Train and support. Even department IT super users will need training in topics such as security guidelines and application workflows when they work with IT. Para-IT’ers might need even more, because many may have only limited knowledge of IT networks, apps and accountabilities that they will be expected to assume daily responsibilities for, such as rebooting routers, seeing that equipment like robots are secured in cages at ends of shifts.   It’s IT’s responsibility to train these personnel, and to maintain open communication lines so users can get IT coaching and help when they need it.  5. Regularly visit with department heads. How is the user-IT support team working out? Is it helping overall productivity in the end user area or facility?   CIOs should factor in some “management –by-walking-around” to the various managers of user departments engaged in hybrid IT support with IT.  The goal of all these efforts is ensuring that this strategy is working for everyone.  source

Where will future CIOs come from? The importance of CIOs continues to escalate as organizations increasingly tie their operations to IT infrastructure, data, AI, and other technology. CIOs responsible for ensuring complex systems provide a competitive advantage rather than a headache do not simply emerge from the digital ether. Poaching talent from other organizations only goes so far — eventually new CIOs must arise to take over. Are they promoted from technology professionals within an organization’s ranks? Do they start on the CIO path in college? Michael Zastrocky, Ph.D., executive director of the Leadership Board for CIOs in Higher Education, discusses the early emergence of chief information officers and how the next generations of these professionals may be set on the path to assume these roles. What kind of preparation do CIOs-in-training need? Is there an on-the-job approach or do they need to be upskilled via specialized schooling? Are there particular skillsets that are common among CIOs, skills they typically pick up in college or early in their careers? source

The CIO role has evolved from enabling business to shaping it. As technology fuels competition and growth, CIOs are now central to boardroom discussions on revenue, customer experience and innovation.  Add to the mix AI, which has the potential to drive significant cost savings by making employees more productive, helping to proactively identify and troubleshoot IT issues, and helping refine and improve revenue forecasts.   This means CIOs — more than ever before — must have both a customer and profit and loss (P&L) mindset to balance how they manage IT operations and innovation to meet the goals of the business.  “We are seeing an increased focus of organizations giving CIOs more responsibility to impact business strategy as well as tie it into revenue growth,” says Sal DiFranco, managing partner of the global advanced technology and CIO/CTO practices at DHR Global.  He explains CIOs who are focused on technology only for technology’s sake and don’t have clear examples of business strategy and impact are not being sought after. “While innovation experience is important to have, it must come with a strong operational mindset,” DiFranco says.   He adds it is critical for CIOs to understand and articulate the return on investment concerning technology investments. “Top CIOs have shifted their thinking to a P&L mindset and act, speak, and communicate as the CEO of the technology organization versus being a functional support group,” he says.   Related:How CIOs Can Prepare Their Successors Reframing Company Mindsets  Doug Gilbert, CIO and chief digital officer at Sutherland, explains via email that he’s reframed the company’s mindset internally by positioning technology as a revenue driver, not just a cost center. “One way we’ve done this is by categorizing revenue as digitally driven or digitally dependent versus traditional streams,” he says.  This shift has transformed how teams think — prioritizing initiatives that directly impact the business — and given the company a clear metric to track year-over-year growth.  “These efforts don’t just optimize processes; they deliver value that shows up on the bottom line for both Sutherland and our clients,” he says.   By partnering with CMOs, COOs, and CHROs, Gilbert led the design of digital experiences that break down silos and deliver unified value, aligning technology with business goals across the organization. “This cross-functional approach has shifted our culture, embedding a revenue-focused mindset where every tech investment is tied to outcomes,” he explains.   Related:Ask a CIO Recruiter: Where Is the ‘I’ in the Modern CIO Role? Anisha Vaswani, chief information and customer officer at Extreme Networks, explains this new role means not only is she responsible for driving the company’s IT strategy, but she also serves as Extreme’s “customer one”.  She says it’s imperative for CIOs to communicate what they’re doing and to understand and address user concerns, otherwise they risk hindering wide adoption and limiting the success of transformation. “Clear communication of milestones is a good way to avoid an unsuccessful result,” she says.  Vaswani says she prefers agile methodologies instead of a two-year program that doesn’t deliver any result until it’s fully completed. “If you can communicate incremental value — or, if that’s not practical, share milestones and progression — you can build excitement and understanding around an initiative and increase your odds of success,” she says.   Setting Strong KPIs  Gilbert says the greatest risk isn’t technical failure, it’s leadership misalignment. “When incentives, timelines, or metrics don’t sync across teams, even the strongest initiatives falter,” he explains.  To counter this, he works to align on a shared definition of value from day one, setting clear, business-focused key performance indicators (KPIs), not just deployment milestones.  Related:Tech Company Layoffs: The COVID Tech Bubble Bursts Structured governance helps, too: Transparent reporting, cross-functional steering committees, and ongoing feedback loops keep everyone on track.  “These tools spark timely discussions and enable rapid course corrections when priorities shift,” Gilbert says. “Transformation isn’t about delivering tech — it’s about orchestrating change across people, processes, and platforms.”  Vaswani cautions it’s easy to get caught up in a hype cycle around emerging technology, pointing to AI as a recent example. “My advice is to create a space for experimentation,” she says. “You want to enable your team to try a lot of things, because technology moves quickly, and you don’t necessarily know what will stick or produce the intended outcome.”  IT leaders need room to innovate, but at the same time they must be able to fail fast and move on if something doesn’t deliver value.  “Try to avoid falling in love with the technology and stay grounded in the business outcome, know what success looks like and what failure looks like, and you can speed up the process,” Vaswani advises.   Smaller, High-Impact Projects  DiFranco says he’s seeing a trend toward CIOs who focus on working with the business to deliver smaller, high-impact projects and early wins. “These successes lay the groundwork for overall strategy or transformation programs that earn the business trust and investment,” he explains.   Vaswani adds that to stay on track, it’s important to be transparent about both successes and failures, noting not everything will work perfectly on the first try. “You can build a lot of credibility with your business partners by being honest about what’s working and what isn’t,” she says. “Clear communication and cross-functional ownership are critical to successful digital transformation.”   source