The roadblocks in IT leaders making their own tech decisions

Though some CIOs support IT leaders in their decision making, others worry about the complexity it adds on

Chief information officers have long been the gatekeepers to enterprise technology revenue. However, as the role of the chief information officer is expanding and as there has been an explosion of software applications that they need to navigate, their responsibilities have changed. Joe Williams writes for Protocol about what CIOs feel about handing over the tech stack decision-making to the other IT leaders. 

• Years back, when software meant just on-prem, vendors from SAP and Oracle used to spend weeks convincing CIOs to purchase their contracts. 

• Now providers are increasingly targeting non-technical roles with solutions. A new trend is reaching out to the line of business leaders and other lower-level staff instead of the traditional tech decision-makers

• This has become the starting point for shadow IT feel many CIOs

• 27% in leadership positions for IT say that their company relies on traditional IT now to become a data-driven enterprise. Over the next five years, they are expected to diminish this number by 17%.

• The proliferation of SaaS is the best example of this shift. Vendors are increasingly successful in building products designed for specific industries or job tasks and then expanding to other departments.

• But it's also posing a quandary for CIOs who are grappling with how much buying power to delegate outside their immediate purview.

• Employees outside of IT have become more knowledgeable on the subject of technology, which is a reflection of the increase in the number of applications across job functions and the various education initiatives.

• Businesses understand the need for better communication between systems, so the rise of Shadow IT has become more relevant.

• Some organizations have reacted to the excessive use of shadow IT by reorganizing the company chart and promoting closer collaboration between top technologists and other business unit leaders.

• It's clear some CIOs are trying to embrace shadow IT, and some IT managers are trying to block access to a shadow IT system. Unfortunately, this means vendors will need to train sales reps on both scenarios.

What We Think

CIOs should implement a SaaS governance policy in their organizations. This will help CIOs and business unit leaders to work together through the software’s lifecycle right from procurement to termination.

You can read the full article here.