Chapter 3

It's the Business, Stupid!

This chapter will focus on the only reason anyone truly cares about information technology—the ability to leverage information and technology to drive business value! Specifically, we will focus on the following concepts:

  • Describing the real purpose of IT within a business
  • Evaluating IT–business alignment
  • Considering three questions as they relate to the mission of your organization.
  • Taking a look at fiscal management and leveraging IT as an investment instead of a cost.
  • Finding ways that IT can actually help drive top-line revenue.
  • Discussing CIO effectiveness in engaging the board of directors.
  • Examining the most important role a CIO plays—business leader.
  • Discussing the type of metrics that matter to most business executives.
  • Learning to focus on what matters most to your key stakeholders.
  • Understanding how perception really is reality!

Many of us remember Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. In Clinton's Arkansas campaign headquarters, Campaign Manager James Carville had a list of three key points—the most memorable being, “The economy, stupid.”1 Although this might seem trite, it is important to understand the crystallizing impact of this statement. The Clinton campaign's ability to focus people on this message and leverage it as a rallying cry led to what many considered to be a surprising victory in that election.

As a CIO, I have been exposed to many technologists who have a great deal of angst regarding the fact that their ...

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