The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World

A Dose of Common Sense

It's hard to be the CIO, even in the best of times. In difficult times, when everything around you is changing and transformational leadership is required, the job can seem overwhelming. That's why I want to close the book with some practical advice from three CIOs whom I respect greatly.

My good friend Joseph A. Puglisi is the CIO at EMCOR Group, a mechanical and electrical construction and facilities services company with about $5.6 billion in annual revenues. His advice on outsourcing is short and sweet:

The goal is getting the most out of your human capital resources. What is truly unique or adds value to the business, keep in-house. You can outsource all the rest. This is not a terribly radical philosophy, but it works.

Someone with knowledge of the business is always likely to be useful, says Joe. But does it make sense to have someone on staff just to write service tickets or reset passwords?

Keep the special skills in-house: business analytics, business intelligence. You need those people to help you understand how well the business is performing . . . and they can add real value to the organization. Look for people with expertise in the business you are supporting.

Joe also likes to note that only two industries refer to their customers as “users.” Sadly, IT is one of them.

Another good friend, Hank Zupnick, is the CIO of GE Real Estate, a unit of GE Capital. From Hank's point of view, neither outsourcing nor the cloud can hold a candle to good IT ...