Description:

In this ITSMA Viewpoint, Gartner’s Ellen Kitzis describes “the new CIO,” a topic she explores in her book, “The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results.”

In this interview, Ellen discusses how a CIO’s leadership style is affected by the type of enterprise in which he or she works, explains the CIO perspective on solutions, and makes suggestions about how technology providers can help CIOs manage risk. Finally, she talks about the “incredible opportunity” that many services providers don’t take advantage of—helping CIOs early on in the strategy formulation process.

Key takeaways include:

• The new CIO leader, fully engaged in the business, will guide her enterprise to new opportunities.
• To understand prospects’ propensity to adopt innovation and change, segment them by type of enterprise and type of CIO.
• To become a trusted advisor, a services provider has to do more than deliver on its promise. The services provider must help the CIO think about the possibilities of IT and create a vision.
• Successfully marketing solutions requires a close look at how they are positioned relative to the CIO’s shrinking ROI time horizon.
• New funding and governance models demand accountability. Services providers need to help CIOs measure and report performance at three levels: shareholder, business, and IT .