“De-concern me!” - the rallying cry of the CIO as service broker

Our sales team had an interesting request from a new customer recently. Their CIO challenged us to “de-concern me” with the design, provision and management of integrated IT and network infrastructure. In other words, he wanted to focus on delivering a service to the business, and not worry about the technology that makes it work.

The need to “de-concern me” highlights the changing role of the CIO for me as CIOs make the transition from technology managers to service brokers. CIOs are highly IT literate and remain the pivotal decision-maker but realise that there are aspects to IT that don’t need their hands-on involvement any more. This is a growing trend with over 65% of European CIOs reshaping their role in this way.

Their motivation? Returning to this real life case, the drive to “de-concern me” was more than just about taking the technology detail out of the equation. This particular CIO wanted the organisation to be more agile, with the ability to scale in line with how his business was changing. His experience was that traditional providers couldn’t offer the sort of flexibility required by this lean, global organisation. He didn’t want service based on head count or full time equivalents to be thrown at solving a problem or managing an existing infrastructure.

So what else was this CIO looking for in this next generation of IT Service provider? Here are the key questions:  

• How fully do you understand my business and the business outcomes that I must achieve?
• How much will you challenge me and my own assumptions – what new thinking do they bring to the table?
• Can you create a commercial and service contract that mirrors my commitments to my internal customers?
• And what happens when things change – what’s your ability to respond when new requirements arise out of the blue?

De-concern me” is not about the abdication of responsibility. It means letting go of the details of IT and networking infrastructure but not the strategic oversight nor the need for the service provider to justify their technology decisions. The key here is how the CIO and the provider have agreed defined service characteristics based on commonly understood metrics that really should be benchmarked and independently audited.

The CIO taking a “de-concern me” line isn’t right for every situation and our research highlighted earlier shows that not all CIOs and IT departments are at this stage. But I do believe it shows where the future role of many IT departments lies. Going back to this particular customer, the CIO has a position at the top table of the organisation. Internally he is seen as a value generator not a cost centre by the business; and he has succeeded in delivering the responsiveness and agility that this organisation needs. However, as IT applications, infrastructure and networks become more diverse and available in new, more flexible ways, this role will continue to change. There is already a recognition that the IT department will evolve to become the internal IT and comms service broker for the organisation, de-concerned about everything but service quality, assurance, value and business outcomes – just as it should be.