Straight to the Top: CIO Leadership in a Mobile, Social, and Cloud-based World, 2nd Edition

PREFACE

For the past decade and a half, I have had the luxury of serving as the chief information officer (CIO) for some wonderful global organizations. Before accepting my first CIO post at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), I had the privilege of serving as a principal consultant for one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, as an information technology (IT) director at a Fortune 200 financial services firm, as a defense IT consultant, and as an adjunct professor at one of the top 20 American universities.

The role of IT has been changing for decades and is changing still. Looking back, I reflect on the days of centralized computing on mainframes, client-server technology, web 1.0, telecommunications advances, and mobile computing gains—most recently, the significant advances in smart phone and tablet technologies. Today we have new drivers for change. We are heavily leveraging cloud technology, social networking, advanced telecommunication and wireless technologies, the virtualization of everything technical, and the advancement of consumer devices in the corporate world. As a result, the role of the CIO in any organization continues to be demanding and requires solid technical skills, business acumen, and exceptional communication skills to properly succeed.

Preparing for the CIO role takes careful planning. Staying in that role takes continued education in modern technologies, trust from your staff and other C-level executives, and the ability to deliver results ...