Q: When I ran a 600-person, multilocation, offshore IT team for a large computer company in Austin, Texas, my clients were IT directors. They had the attitude of “What right do you have to tell us IT directors what resources we can and cannot have?” Just as doctors make the worst patients, IT directors make the worst customers. A: This example of the extended supply chain underscores the importance of integrating the demand management processes in order to minimize handoffs (which just transfer the problems down the supply chain and further away from the customer). Start by explicitly designing the demand management processes with your IT clients. Identify the integration points where all parties need to be looking at the same information so that they can reach agreement about what work should be done, by whom, how and when. This requires a mutual understanding of the strategic filters, portfolio targets, multiyear funding projections, project approval processes (with delegated authorities), financial and resource budgets (with delegated checkbooks), architectural standards and value accountability. To see more reader questions and answers from Susan H. Cramm, go to www.cio.com/leadership/agenda.html. Cramm, a former restaurant CIO and CFO, is president of Valuedance, an executive coaching firm in San Clemente, Calif. You can contact her at susan@valuedance.com and learn more about Valuedance at www.valuedance.com. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe