What once took years now takes weeks. The fast-pace of technological development, supported by on-demand computing and the consumerisation of IT, means enterprise technology can now be adopted and used more quickly than ever before. So, how long do CIOs need to make their mark on an organisation?

IT strategy cycles traditionally run somewhere between three and five years. That schedule is consistent with tenures in the IT C-suite, with analyst Gartner reporting that the average time a CIO spends in post is four years and four months.

However, contract lengths vary considerably between sectors and nations. The Government Accountability Office, for example, reports the average tenure of government sector CIOs in the US is as low as two years. TechRepublic spoke to IT experts and got five top tips for how CIOs can act strategically in a digital age.

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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

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.”

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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

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.

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What makes a great CIO? And how can such leaders encourage the best perception of IT across the business, as well as foster the right type of behaviour among the technology team? silicon.com spoke to five IT leaders with five different perspectives.

Put commercial issues first and IT second - Success is not defined by how you interact with the business but how you become part of it, according to Steve Jeffree, operations director and group CIO at the Law Society.

“The future for the CIO who acts in a standalone manner is very limited,” he says, referring to his own additional annexation of the operations director role at the Law Society in March 2009.

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Now is the time for the use of such clichés to stop. If a CIO really isn’t engaged with the business, what on earth is the executive responsible for technology doing on a daily basis?

The answer is quite a lot, actually. What becomes clear is that CIOs do not spend hours talking of the need to spend more time with other functions because such connectedness is a given.

The context to this new level of interaction is change. Perceptions of technology within the business have altered rapidly over the past decade or so, shifting from being seen as a dark art that is best left to the geeks in the basement, to an essential backbone of business success that must be widely understood in order to create competitive advantage.

Such perceptions continue to alter on an almost daily basis, with the business forced to confront challenges across multiple technology fronts. These battlegrounds include cloud computing, social media and consumer technology.

But across all fronts, the CIO has to be in charge of one crucial component: information. Now, more than ever before, the executive responsible for business IT truly is the chief information officer.

For far too long, CIOs have been forced to justify the relevance of technology to the business. Brought into board level debates on an ad-hoc basis, IT leaders have then been asked to explain why spending on hardware and software is important.

More fool the business that still takes that closed approach. In comparison to other c-level executives, the CIO is the individual with the broadest view across all business functions. That great view across the enterprise should, in itself, be enough to guarantee the CIO’s regular seat at the top table.

But there is more. CIOs have long recognised what the rest of the business has only just started to comprehend; your success or failure as a modern organisation relies on your ability to understand data.

From structured data stored in stove pipes to unstructured data floating round on social media, successful businesses will be able to take data and create useful information that can help improve decision making and boost customer engagement.

The CIO, as the guardian of this information, is the person who will ensure data becomes useful knowledge that provides a business advantage. Now, then, really is your time.

The above editorial introduced the recently released summer edition of CIO Connect magazine

Other CIOs featured in the magazine include Malcolm Simpkin, UK CIO of general insurance at Aviva, and Jim Slack, business leader of IT operations and development at Co-operative Financial Services. As ever, thanks to all participants and contributors:

• Sunny Lee, executive director of IT at the Hong Kong Jockey Club
• Vint Cerf, chief internet evangelist at Google
• Malcolm Simpkin, UK CIO of general insurance at Aviva
• Jim Slack, business leader of IT operations and development at Co-operative Financial Services
• Trevor Didcock, CIO at easyJet
• Sean Whetstone, head of IT services at Reed
• Pat Kolek, chief operating officer at eBay Classifieds Group
• Cris Beswick, managing director at Let’s Think Beyond
• Rebecca Jacoby, CIO at Cisco
• Derek Drury, CIO at University of Salford
• Jo Stanford, group IT director at De Vere
• Dan Morgan, IT director at General Healthcare Group
• Jeff Smith, CIO at Torus Insurance
• Glyn Evans, director of business change and ICT chief at Birmingham City Council
• Paul Green, head of IT at Prism DM
• Mike Harris, entrepreneur and founder of Egg, First Direct and Garlik
• David Head, director at La Fosse Associates
• Raj Samani, CTO at McAfee
• David Longson, CTO at IBM
• Nathaniel Borenstein, chief scientist at Mimecast
• Francesco Violante, chief executive of SITA
• Jane Kimberlin, former CIO and head of Creaton Consultants
• Dominic Batchelor, partner at Ashurst LLP
• Inbali Iserles, professional development lawyer at Ashurst LLP
• Danièle Tyler, solicitor at Ashurst LLP

Pressure to look to the cloud, and its potential for cost-effective IT delivery, comes from all areas of the business. But who is more concerned about information security?

Is the CIO the executive who is most anxious about data moving beyond the corporate firewall and into the cloud, or is the finance director more worried about risk?

“There are multiple constituents,” suggests Rebecca Jacoby, global CIO at networking giant Cisco. “By nature, a big part of a CIO’s job is risk management and an understanding of specific security concerns. When it comes to the cloud, security is a real risk and the technology isn’t necessarily at the right level for most organisations at the moment.”

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The first was published before Christmas and includes comment from a series of CIOs who suggest why it is crucial to communicate the benefits of IT in terms the business can understand:

CIOs know that you are going to get left behind if you are simply an IT director who’s good with technology. Technology chiefs who make a real and lasting contribution at the executive level are able to communicate the benefits of IT in terms the business can understand. The successful CIO is now, more than ever before, the communicative CIO.

“I network with a lot of CIOs and I see that the successful IT leaders are socially adept and communicative,” says John Adey, chief operating officer and CIO at Star Technology Services.

“The best IT leaders have business influence because of their soft skills – if you can influence people, your technical skills won’t matter. A lot of IT people come up through a technical background but the successful CIOs are business-savvy; they talk about benefits not technology.”

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