The CIO Playbook: Strategies and Best Practices for IT Leaders to Deliver Value

Praise for The CIO Playbook "The most trusted advisors chief information officers have are other CIOs, and Nicholas Colisto capitalizes beautifully on that fact in The CIO Playbook. This highly readable guide to succeeding in one of the toughest jobs in the C–suite features a step–by–step framework that is practical, focused, and quite specific. The strategies Nicholas describes come to life through anecdotes and straightforward advice from many of the industry′s most respected CIOs who share their advice on everything from partnering with business colleagues to innovating and delivering results." —Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief, CIO Magazine and Events "The CIO Playbook is a must–read for technology management executives in all industries. It provides concrete solutions for reshaping the partnership between information systems organizations and the business to enable growth through innovation. It is a practical guide to navigating risks in an environment where technology is evolving continuously and the economic landscape is transforming routinely. Nicholas Colisto managed to weave strategy and tactics in a book that is both thought provoking and applicable." —Gabrielle Wolfson, Chief Information Officer, Panasonic Corporation of North America "The CIO Playbook is a no–fluff, high–value read. Nicholas has done a great job in leveraging collective intelligence to first identify the real and pressing issues that IT leaders struggle with, and then offer pragmatic strategies to address them. A very well–structured treasure chest of knowledge and insights that every current and aspiring IT leader must own and refer to." —Sanjog Aul, Host, CIO Talk Radio "From strategic project selection to optimizing alignment so that it best benefits the business, The CIO Playbook is written to help CIOs improve their effectiveness." —Ron V. Rose, Senior Vice President, Dell.com "Nicholas Colisto takes a practical approach to sharing an incredibly useful framework for how CIOs can help their organizations leverage technology to transform their enterprises. This book is a valuable tool that every IT executive should have in their tool belt." —Larry Bonfante, CIO, USTA; author of Lessons in IT Transformation "A refreshing, innovative approach to educating and influencing us through pragmatic to breakthrough advice in the form of quotes from a carefully selected who′s who in the industry who advise what they learned from meeting head–on and conquering the toughest challenges in technology management." —Frank Kovacs, Lead, Cloud Computing – CIO Services, Ernst & Young

Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Chapter 1: Step 1: Partner 1 Partnership versus Alignment 2 Build Business Partnerships 2 Develop an IT Strategic Plan 9 Different Approaches to Strategic Planning 20 Cloud Computing Is Changing the Role of IT 24 Chapter 2: Step 2: Organize 31 Brand Your Department 32 Define an IT Organizational Model 33 Define a Project Methodology 35 Manage the Software Selection Process 37 Maintain a Portfolio of Products and Services 41 PPM Software 44 Understand Your Capacity 44 Create IT Policies 45 Manage the Technology Partners 46 Benchmark IT 50 Chapter 3: Step 3: Innovate 55 Turn Ideas into Action 56 Create a Governance Framework 56 Demonstrate the Possibilities 63 Think Big 65 Develop Business Cases 68 Package Innovation 70 Go Green 74 Chapter 4: Step 4: Deliver 77 Why System Implementations Fail 78 Develop a High–Performance Team 79 Develop a Team–Building Program 80 Discover Organizational Readiness 86 Develop and Implement 94 Get Insanely Motivated 96 Just Say No 97 Manage Transitions 98 Measure Benefits 99 Communicate IT Value 103 Create a Communication Program 104 Go Global with Infrastructure 120 Choose the Right Number of Instances 121 Chapter 5: Step 5: Support 125 Create Service Level Agreements 126 Determine an Approach to IT Charge–Backs 135 Manage Operational Performance 136 Develop a Super User Program 137 Encourage Feedback 142 Standardize Communications 147 Build a Shared Service Center 149 Chapter 6: Step 6: Protect 153 Define Risk Management Goals 154 Be Transparent with Risk Management 155 Safeguard Cloud Computing 156 Safeguard Mobility 159 Safeguard Social Media 162 Chapter 7: Step 7: Grow 165 Standardize Job Descriptions 166 Develop a Role–Based Training Program 169 Rotate Your Staff 174 Retain Critical Skills 180 Cultivate High Potential 184 Recruit the Best 189 Foster Teamwork through Community Service 193 Recognize and Reward Employees 194 Build Your Personal Brand 196 Prepare Yourself for the New Workforce 196 Conclusion: 199 Touchdown Passes 199 Use Governance to Avoid Chaos 200 Show People How They Fit In 200 Just Say No 200 Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks 201 Manage Operational Performance 201 Use Meetings to Drive Deliverables 201 Build Awesome Teams 202 Bibliography 205 About the Author 211 About the Website 213 Index 215

NICHOLAS R. COLISTO is Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., a large national homebuilder. Prior to joining Hovnanian, he held key information technology leadership positions at large organizations including PepsiCo, Priceline.com, Hyperion Solutions, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Bayer Corporation. He is the recipient of several industry awards, including the 2011 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders.