More than anything else, CIO Connect’s 2012 Horizons research of more than 200 technology executives shows the target for high-quality IT leaders in the digital age is getting broader and wider. As the executive responsible for technology, the CIO looking to take advantage of the leadership opportunity must embrace transformation for the benefit of the business.

IT leaders are used to change; in short, they have to be. The mechanics – the basic building blocks of the IT industry – change and flex almost continuously with time. Today’s fundamental business technology has always been tomorrow’s potential legacy system.

But decades of enterprise IT implementations mean constrictions associated with legacy technology have become an issue common to all businesses, regardless of sector or specialism. And the modern pace of change in the digital age could, from the point of view of the sceptic, serve to create more complexity.

CIOs who managed what seemed like the fast-paced transformation associated with distributed computing and electronic commerce, now find themselves confronted with lightning speed change. The confluence of mobile, consumer, cloud and social technologies means the defensible enterprise perimeter has become a nebulous concept.

Our Horizons research shows CIOs recognise employees now demand a free choice of mobile device, and use such tools to draw on enterprise information on-demand. Building a firewall and locking down access is no longer an option because technology, and the knowledge it enables, is being democratised.

Yet the pace of change is no reason to be scared. Savvy CIOs are embracing consumerisation and showing the business how technology can help engage with customers whose opinions were previously hidden. It is the CIO, rather than the marketing director or another c-level strategist, who must grasp the nettle and demonstrate how going digital improves the business.

Responding CIOs also recognise that the cloud, although in its infancy, could help the business to really use IT flexibly and to create an approach to technology that concentrates on value-added outcomes, rather than being constrained by the fears of legacy infrastructures.

Now is your opportunity to finally address the embedded perceptions of the IT department, where the technology team is viewed as practising a dark art that only acts to reduce the potential for change. Leadership in the digital age means the converse is now true and CIOs must show a business-enabled approach to IT that is agile and light-to-the-touch.

Your first step towards success – whether working as a change leader, digital designer or a shared services executive – is to grab the attention of the chief executive and to work with trusted partners to deliver set objectives that relate to specific business outcomes. Now, more than ever before, is your opportunity to change the business for the better.

The above column summarised CIO Connect’s 2012 Horizons survey and was included in the recently released edition (issue 37) of CIO Connect magazine

While political and business leaders around the world fought to stabilise the global economy, CIO Connect sought best practice evidence to show how technology can help drive continued efficiency gains in the public and private sector.

Early foresight came at the annual conference in October and left attendees with a sense of how the rise of consumer IT means the role of technology leadership in the modern organisation has never been more crucial.

Further evidence of the significance of the digital agenda came in the weeks following the conference, as CIO Connect magazine secured exclusive interviews with two of the most important men in UK IT.

Issue 37 cover star Rob Fraser of Sainsbury’s provided a string of examples to demonstrate how the retail giant is using technology to create innovative projects that help the business meet stringent targets and deliver ever-improving service for the customer.

Cabinet Office permanent secretary Ian Watmore, meanwhile, took time from his hectic schedule to outline to CIO Connect how he and his colleagues are using technology to help push transformation in central government, an initiative that is producing lasting benefits in terms of efficiencies and cost savings.

Both interviews proved one thing above all else: the digital agenda is now the business agenda and every organisation, whether public or private, needs an expert at the helm that can help make the right decisions regarding technology deployment.

Economic stagnation continues to be accompanied by technological development and 2012 is likely to see more pressure for innovative approaches around a number of key areas, such as cloud computing, social media and information management. The CIO must be ready.

The above editorial introduced the recently released edition (issue 37) of CIO Connect magazine

Cover star Rob Fraser,  head of IT at retail giant Sainsbury’s, explains how a successful strategy ensures technology skills are connected to business objectives.

And in an exclusive interview, recently-appointed Cabinet Office permanent secretary Ian Watmore says the increasing importance of technology means good leadership is more crucial than ever before. As usual, thanks to all participants and contributors:

• Ian Watmore, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office
• Rob Fraser, head of IT at retail giant Sainsbury’s
• Hakan Carlbom, CIO at EQT
• Peter Erceg, chief security officer for UK mobile operator Everything Everywhere
• Katherine Coombs, IT director and information security officer at buyingTeam
• Andrew Bover, head of ICT at 1st Credit
• Bill Limond, CIO at the City of London
• Piergiorgio Grossi, IT director of the Ferrari Formula 1 racing team
• Eugene Buyakin, chief operating officer at Kaspersky Lab
• Alexander Erofeev, director of market intelligence and insight at Kaspersky Lab
• Christian Christiansen, vice president at researcher IDC
• Phil Everson, leader of the IT effectiveness team of Deloitte
• Matt Peers, CIO at Deloitte
• Sandeep Phanasgoankar, president and CTO of Reliance Capital
• Chris Webber, senior editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit
• Sheree Lacy, programme transformation director at BT
• Steve Sturr, executive director of global services at Dell
• Julian Self, group operations and IT director at IPD
• Wayne Smith, head of IS at Birmingham Airport
• John Bates, CTO at Progress Software
• Frank Land, former chief consultant at LEO
• Jim Norton, president of the British Computer Society.
• Geoff Colvin, writer and Fortune senior editor
• Nick Kirkland, chief executive at CIO Connect
• Alistair Russell, advisory practice director at CIO Connect
• Dominic Batchelor, partner at Ashurst LLP
• Inbali Iserles, professional development lawyer at Ashurst LLP
• Danièle Tyler, solicitor at Ashurst LLP
• Rudy Giuliani, New York City Mayor from 1994 to 2001
• Deepak Jain, senior vice president at Wipro Technologies
• Roger Camrass, independent consultant and former CIO
• Mike Gualtieri, principal analyst at researcher Forrester

In a collaborative age, where engagement inside and outside the business is a given, IT leaders have to work harder to develop top communications skills. I recently spoke to some IT experts and produced five top tips for silicon.com on smarter engagement.

1. Employ a communications specialist in the IT department - Matt Peers, CIO of consultants Deloitte, is part of the new, younger generation of IT leaders. He has recently taken over technology stewardship at the company, bringing with him more than a decade of customer-facing experience from high-street retailer Carphone Warehouse.

Strong engagement with all interested parties is the absolute crux of the matter for Peers. “I base all my leadership on good communications,” he says. “Engagement is the key component for successful IT.”

Since joining Deloitte, Peers has helped work towards the recruitment of an internal communications specialist for the IT department. This specialist will analyse IT strategy and help define in simple terms how line-of-business executives can benefit from the good work of the technology team.

“It helps you concentrate on the type of message that you are really trying to get across to the rest of the organisation,” he says. “Having a head of internal communications for IT is not about technology but about demonstrating the capabilities we can provide to users across the business.”

To read the rest of the feature, please click here.

Opinion 1 – Apple tech best suits certain industries: “Enterprises used to drive innovation and that is now definitely not the case,” says Julian Self, group operations and IT director at information specialist IPD, who says people are now entering the workplace with their own devices and their own demands.

“There’s significant pull-through from consumerisation,” says Self. “If strategies to allow workers to buy their own device continue to increase in number, then we will see much more Apple technology in the office. But is it really enterprise-ready?” Self believes the answer is definitely ‘yes’ for some organisations in specific industries, such as media and marketing.

But while he believes MacBooks have a great reputation, and that iPhones and iPads can be used as channels to create apps that build brand awareness, he is not convinced there will be a rapid move towards a broad range of Apple-led enterprises.

“Our clients don’t really make decisions in the field and, in many businesses, people still need a Windows-led approach,” says Self. “At the same time, attempts by Microsoft to move towards gesture-based computing might have an unexpected effect and show sceptics that other operating systems and techniques, such as those produced by Apple, can work in the business.”

To read the rest of the feature, please click here.

Tip 1 – Identity the themes and address the customer: John Bates, CTO at Progress Software, says last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico was the first example of a major company such as BP having its reputation damaged through an inadequate response to social media: “They didn’t respond effectively and they got badly hurt,” he says.

Much has been written about the oil giant’s struggle to incorporate social media into its communications crisis plan. Bates says CIOs must help the business identify underlying issues addressed through social media and find a means to deal with customer-identified themes.

“Social media is a series of events and Twitter is the medium that can potentially damage the reputation of governments and businesses. If someone says something about your organisation, you need to raise the issue and understand what the sentiment says about your business,” Bates adds.

“Social is not just about the technology. It’s actually more about the culture. The 21st-century customer understands the culture of social media. Your business has to understand why people would want to go out on to the internet and to collaborate.”

To read the rest of the feature, please click here.

The release of the magazine was held back to include a special report that summarises the best practice evidence on consumerisation emerging from CIO Connect’s annual conference in London. As usual, thanks to all participants and contributors:

• Dan West, IT director at ASOS.com
• Cliff Burroughs, group IT and lean director at United Biscuits
• Bill Chang, executive vice president at SingTel
• Rajneesh Narula, professor at Henley Business School
• Neil Farmer, IT director at Crossrail
• Adam Gibson, CIO at Odgers Berndtson
• Rob Gibson, director of business systems at the Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Michael Chui, senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute
• Jon Page, advisory principle at EMC Consulting
• Sanjay Mirchandani, global CIO at EMC
• Tony McAlister, CTO at Betfair
• Jonathan Earp, CIO at Informa
• Julian Self, group operations and IT director at IPD
• Simon Meredith, UK and Ireland CIO at IBM
• Mark Foulsham, head of IT and operations at esure
• Mark Leonard, executive vice president at Colt
• Steve Jeffree, operations director and group CIO at the Law Society
• Mark Settle, CIO at BMC Software
• Marcus East, CIO at Comic Relief
• Alistair Russell, advisory practice director at CIO Connect
• Andy Bristow, director at Hays Information Technology
• David Head, director at La Fosse Associates
• Lewis Martin, change manager at Brit Insurance
• Sean Harley, technology operations manager at Sky IQ
• Adam Banks, CTO at Visa Europe Services
• Deepak Jain, senior vice president at Wipro
• Dominic Batchelor, partner at Ashurst LLP
• Inbali Iserles, professional development lawyer at Ashurst LLP
• Danièle Tyler, solicitor at Ashurst LLP
• General Sir Mike Jackson, former head of the British Army
• Roger Camrass, independent consultant and former CIO
• Katie Bell, marketing director at Middlesex University
• Sally Fuller, director of strategic propositions at Kcom
• David Fosberg, vice president at Samsung Electronics
• David Smith, ex-people and IT director at Asda
• Ian Watmore, chief operating officer at the UK government
• Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks
• Jason Hill, business solutions strategist at VMware
• Ian Sherratt, director of corporate business strategy at SCC
• Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist

Reed was speaking at the CIO Connect annual conference that took place in London last week. There was loads of insight from speakers about the best way to deal with the increasing influence of the consumer over business technology, most of which will appear in the autumn edition of CIO Connect magazine.

But Reed had a particularly strong take on engagement. His entire organisation is focused on simple, honest communication with the customer. And when it comes to creating a social media strategy through Twitter, Reed’s advice is simple: “Talk as you would talk to your friends, but without the swearing.”

Rather than confusing customers with acronyms and double-speak, Reed encourages executives to “keep it natural”. Which I think is a pretty concise summary for how businesses should approach all forms of communication.

Executives always seem keen to take hold of the latest mobile technology and be part of the consumer revolution. But just how far that enthusiasm translates into serious business use with Apple’s iPad and other tablets is not entirely clear. So silicon.com talked to five IT leaders about the current state of tablet adoption and the likely route of future development.

There’s little doubt that tablets, in particular the iPad, are the subject of incredible fanaticism. You only have to watch the news during an Apple product launch to see the fervour among the company’s legion of devoted fans. But such excitement must be tempered in a business context.

“They’re just a tool and should be treated as such,” says Hampshire County Council CIO Jos Creese, who says technology in the organisation must be judged on its value and effectiveness. He says tablets could help break the tendency of executives to hide behind laptop screens during important meetings. Yet, again, he says real success must relate to business outcomes.

To read the rest of the feature, please click here.

Technology is still often seen by other business executives as a service, rather than a business essential. At the same time, ever-increasing consumerisation means workers across the organisation now have clear views on how they think internal IT should operate. silicon.com spoke to five IT leaders to get their take on how CIOs can help change perceptions.

Method 1. Become the champion for innovation - Comic Relief CIO Marcus East says perception has long been a challenge for IT functions and departments. It’s a challenge that has increased in recent years, with employees eager to understand why they cannot do things in the office that they can do at home with consumer IT.

“Arguments about the need for corporate security used to be enough to stop non-compliant users in their tracks, but that approach won’t work anymore. IT leaders need to address this issue and become the champions for people’s use of technology in their organisations, rather than trying to resist innovation,” says East.

To read the rest of the article, please click here.