Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »January 08, 2007 — CIO —
By Maya Townsend
Several weeks ago, a distraught vice president called. His organization had just been restructured. He needed to integrate his new divisions quickly and help them collaborate with his existing organization. The problem: He had inherited a group of people who didn’t understand why the change had happened and were struggling with why they should redesign their processes to accommodate the new organization chart. In addition, they were used to working alone and saw no reason to collaborate with their new peers. The VP had to help them find the way while continuing to raise the performance bar.
This situation is not unusual. Technology executives live in a world of change where the only constants seem to be the need to boost performance, increase productivity and collaborate with others. In this highly matrixed, integrated, driven, global environment, there are too few people and too much work for us to section ourselves off from others. We rely on our colleagues to share knowledge, solve problems jointly, provide data and information and support our work. In return, we do the same. Yet, collaboration is easier than it sounds. Successful collaboration takes time and focused effort. But where to start? Here are some tips on how to build effective alliances across divisions.
Start with the Why People have a lot to do. If they don’t truly understand the importance of collaboration, they won’t do it. For example, someone might agree with a vague rationale for collaboration, such as, “It will improve our customer service.” But that doesn’t give a person the motivation to insist on collaboration and work across boundaries when deadlines loom and the pressure is high. Why take time for some fuzzy concept that may or not be achieved?
A much more compelling rationale is: “The X Department works with our customers every day. If we don’t develop close relationships with the department, we’ll never know enough to please our customers.” This rationale lays it all out on the table: what the partner has that is critical, why it is needed, and what consequences come from failing to collaborate.
Coming up with this kind of business rationale for collaboration is the first step in building a successful relationship across divisions. To clarify the business rationale, answer these questions: