Today’s leaders find they are no longer static in their roles. They wear many hats within their organization Executives go beyond their departments to make an impact company-wide.

With technology playing such a prominent role in business, CIOs easily have the potential to expand to become a business strategist in their organizations. However, they must develop certain skills to expand effectively. They must learn how to communicate with other executives, understand financial metrics, and align their initiatives with broader business goals.

Aligning with Broader Business Goals

CIOs must understand the unique needs of their organization and determine where they can provide benefits. Typically, this involves IT governance, a set of standards and processes that ensure technology is aligned with business goals. It can be integrated into several aspects of business as follows:

• Risk Management: IT governance helps organizations manage technology-related risks.
• IT Investment Decision Making: In this instance, IT governance ensures investments are necessary and will produce a high ROI.
• IT Operations: The technology ensures operations are efficient and well-managed.
• IT Compliance: IT compliance ensures company activities align with updated rules and regulations.

IT governance can be implemented through various programs as follows:

• ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library): Focusing on IT service management, this program ensures IT services support core business processes. It includes five sets of management strategies covering service, design, transitions, operations, and continual improvement.
• COBIT: Developed by ISACA, with roots in IT auditing, this program provides a comprehensive framework of “globally accepted practices, analytical tools, and models”.
• FAIR (Factor of Analysis Information Risk): This newer program helps organizations measure risk, mostly in the operational and cybersecurity spectrums. It helps companies make more informed decisions.
• CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration): CMMI was developed by the Software Engineering Institute and focuses on performance improvement. It uses a scale of 1 to 15 to measure an organization’s performance, quality, and profitability maturity level.

Communicating with Other Executives

CIOs evolving to business strategist positions will find a greater need to communicate with other executives in the organization. This requires communication skills that may not come naturally to typically introverted techies. However, with the right approach, you will get your point across and get other departments to support your decisions.

Here are some techniques to integrate.

• Be Aware of Technical Jargon: Don’t assume that leaders in other departments understand technical jargon. Incorporating too much ‘foreign language’ can confuse teams and promote a lack of transparency. Be prepared to explain the technology you use and how it functions.
• Maintain a Sense of Transparency: Clear, concise language promotes transparency. You should also be prepared to back your statements with statistics. Keep others up to date on your activities with regular meetings.
• Understand their Priorities: Leaders must often sell their ideas to other executives. You will increase your chances of acceptance by considering their priorities. Think of how your proposals will benefit them to encourage company-wide approval.

Understanding Financial Metrics

A 2022 Gartner Survey reveals only 30% of CFOs and CIOs have a business-centric relationship.  However, such a relationship is necessary for CIOs who want to move to a business strategist position. An understanding of financial metrics can help CIOs forge better CFO relationships.

Both leaders should strengthen their relationship by integrating the following strategies:

Product Line Funding

This model switches the conversation from short-term profitability to long-term collaboration. It centers on operations that capitalize on digital investments. It focuses on financial metrics and how they impact productivity.

Expanded Metrics

CFOs must transform how they measure digital success to include technology and operational metrics. They must consider user engagement; a factor CIOs often prioritize.

Create a Common Performance Management Framework

Financial and IT teams must work together to create an updated metrics framework that allows them to measure KPIs on digital investment performance. This system will allow them to understand how digital investments impact outcomes including user engagement and finances.

Increased Involvement in IT’s Road-mapping

CFOs and CIOs should discuss road-mapping early on to align on investments and how they will impact organizational finances. Teams should conduct a financial analysis of proposed projects to determine their feasibility in advance.

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