Melbourne, 23 April 2010. Large enterprises, private and public sector alike, are increasingly moving towards shared services as a model for delivering common applications and ICT infrastructure services. A newly published Ovum report titled "Is your CIO function mature enough" provides a model for assessing the maturity of CIO functions in the context of a shared services strategy.
"The trend towards shared services is shining a spotlight on the maturity of CIO functions", says Ovum's Dr. Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director. Shared ICT services strategies often start out focusing on the creation of the shared services entity and the transition of services and resources from divisions and business units into a shared services centre - usually located at corporate level. "Little thought is given to the changes required in the enterprise's CIO functions", comments Dr. Hodgkinson.
Once a shared service is established, it becomes apparent that its success is primarily in the hands of its customers. "Divisional and business unit CIO functions play a critical, and often under-valued, role in prioritizing and marshalling service demands", adds Dr Hodgkinson, based in Melbourne.
Immature CIO functions lead to uncoordinated and fragmented demands being placed on the shared service provider. This 'many-to-one' dynamic inevitably leads to unsatisfied customers and undermines the sustainability of the shared services model. Mature CIO functions, on the other hand, have the influence needed to better align business demands with the shared services provider's capabilities and to promote a strategic, enterprise-wide, perspective in decision making around shared services. Mature CIO functions enable 'intelligent customer' behaviors.
The bottom line is that the sustainable success of a shared services strategy depends on the maturity of CIO functions in terms of their remit, the range of activities they perform and the reach of their enterprise-wide influence. Any shared services strategy should explicitly include consideration of the impact of shared services on CIO functions, and visa versa.
The report provides a model for assessing the maturity of CIO functions in the context of an enterprise-wide ICT strategy. The model can be used to assess the maturity of CIO functions in terms the remit given to the CIO by the business, the range of strategic planning, strategic control and services provision activities performed and the degree of enterprise-wide influence that the CIO has. It provides a basis for dialogue around the CIO role and its adequacy to support enterprise-wide ICT strategies such as consolidation, rationalization and standardization of shared ICT applications and infrastructure services.
