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CIO Executive Council

A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

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Turning IT Doubters Into True Believers

Too many business leaders have little faith in IT's ability to deliver value. To save themselves -- and their businesses -- CIOs must change that negative perception into a positive belief in IT as a strategic partner.

Beyond the Money Pit

Successful IT leaders keep an eye on anything that indicates positive or negative movement in IT’s reputation, from quantifiable things such as customer satisfaction surveys and post-implementation audits to more anecdotal evidence such as being invited to strategic meetings or the chat around the watercooler.

"I listen for the number of positive comments versus negative comments," says La Rocca. "And today there seems to be more positive than negative, with comments like, ’I didn’t know IT had it in ’em,’ or ’Wow, we’ve never seen this information before,’ as opposed to, ’Oh yeah, IT, the big black box. IT, the money pit.’"

Dave Holland, CIO Of Genesys Health System, keeps an eye on system usage in the hospital. IT true believers will use the systems to their full potential. In fact, Holland takes complaints about systems from doctors as a positive sign. At least, they’re sold on using them. (See "IT: Under New Ownership," Page 54, to learn how Holland got medical users to sponsor IT projects.)

CIOs agree that turning IT doubters into true believers is an ongoing process. Roy has seen the results of his quarterly customer satisfaction surveys take a definite upturn over the past 18 months, from the 60th percentile saying IT meets or exceeds expectations to close to 90 percent. But that, he says, just buys him more time to make improvements. "It’s a marathon, not a sprint," he says.

"It’s an ongoing challenge," agrees La Rocca. "I take two steps forward and one step back every day. And given the complexity and magnitude of IT, I don’t think you’re ever fully there. But that’s what keeps it exciting."

CIO Senior Editor Stephanie Overby can be reached at soverby@cio.com.