IT executives share insights into running IT as a business

While working at BMC software, I met with many CIOs who shared their challenges with effectively communicating the value of IT to business users. If you are a CIO who has this challenge today, you missed a great opportunity to network with fellow IT executives at the Technology Business Management Council (TBMC) annual event, held in early November at the Bellagio Convention Center in Las Vegas.

At the event, IT executives shared how they communicate the cost, quality, and value of IT investments to their business partners; and how this results in their C-suite colleagues recognizing IT as a respected, value-driven business- outcome organization.

But first, let me explain the challenge. Company executives, as well as company boards, are beginning to recognize that technology needs to be a core component of their business strategy; and as such, need to understand the cost and value of IT better. However, IT executives have always struggled with communicating the value of IT to their business users. The challenge is how to translate the cost of technology (servers, people, data centers, etc.) into actionable and data management that businesses can use to make insightful decisions leading to measurable business outcomes.

Fast forward to Nov 2019 when 1800 IT executives – including Ashley Pettit (State Farm), Adriana Karaboutis (National Grid), Atticus Tysen, Sharon Hutchins and Gregory Moreau (Intuit), Chris Burger (IHG) and many others – gathered for TBMC 2019. Here they shared success stories of how companies have mastered the concepts of Technology Business Management (TBM) that enable business leaders to make smart decisions as they analyze and plan the technology investments that create new customer experiences, optimize operational processes, and even support new business models.

I attended the event as I continue my research for my next book, “Strategic IT Governance 2.0,” where collaboration is a key component to successful project discipline, process optimization and leadership excellence.

These principles build upon my last book, The Strategic CIO, which provides a four-phase transformation model for CIOs to navigate to leverage the strategic value of technology. What I found most interesting from listening to the speakers at the TBMC, was how collaboration is a key component of the APPTIO solutions they use to support the concepts of TBM. The following are some highlights from the event.

One of the most interesting conversations was a fireside chat with Sunny Gupta, founder and CEO of Apptio, and Adriana Karaboutis, Group Chief Information & Digital Officer, National Grid. Gupta asked Karaboutis about the challenges CIOs have in today’s digital world. Karaboutis articulated the need for greater transparency, for providing insights, and for working more effectively with business partners.

She mentioned how today, we are in a digital world where we “shape, change and disrupt” business models in how we engage with our customers. Karaboutis brought the audience to a roar when she said:

One of Karaboutis’ key points was how company boards seek knowledge on the business value of IT. This is where CIOs can play an important role in providing awareness to company boards to help them understand the business value of IT. Her final thoughts were that CIOs need to understand how the business operates – how they make money – then find people in the business who you can benefit and go make it happen. Great advice from a seasoned business executive.