Working in the Vortex
Most days the modern chief information officer faces climate change issues: changes to the business climate and environment driven by fluctuating economies, tighter regulation and compliance, ever more complex business structures, human resource issues - the list goes on. It is a vortex environment that requires a wide palette of skills. To keep pace with the growth, speed and complexity of operating in such a vortex , CIOs have morphed into technical specialists with strategic and visionary skills, and are turning their attention to the challenge of developing more robust risk-management strategies and policies.
In the "bad old days", technical specialists were not considered part of the strategic management team but merely part of the back office of the business. The focus was on creating technology solutions as requested by the company. Typically, this used to involve getting a specification brief, then retreating to the basement to spend the next eight to 20 months working to produce something that met those specifications.