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How can you help our company be more profitable?
I am business focused and empower corporations to use information technology as a tool for business growth. Information Services (IS) should be a facilitator in this process. Too many CIO’s focus of the Operational issues associated with supporting applications, running the infrastructure, and day-to-day maintenance. Whilst these are important issues they are not the end of the story.
Corporate applications are only the starting point for a value proposition that the Information Services department should bring to the average corporation. The real value provided by IS and the CIO will come from the ability to improve business results.
Best value will occur where data from applications contributes to the corporate business intelligence capability. This will contribute to a continually improving business understanding (e.g. how we are performing, what our market position is, where we are headed, etc.).
Tell me how you would handle multiple projects?
I have spent much time during my career working for consulting organisations at a senior level. This has necessitated managing multiple projects across multiple customers at the same time, each project having a different level of complexity.
I focus on the deadlines and priorities associated with each project and ensure that staff (whether they are part of my department or the business unit involved) are available to respond to the deadlines and priorities at the appropriate time.
There are occasions where business demands have a tendency to overload project teams. It is important to manage business expectation for projects being delivered. Often this requires saying no to additional work or manage changing priorities through the project board.
Describe your management style.
No Surprises!
I strive to ensure that business sponsors are aware of progress in all active projects through project boards and continual updates.
From my team I expect them to define and agree project deadlines and work to meet that timetable. Where problems arise I expect to be informed as soon as possible and for the project team to draw up a plan that will be agreed by the business
If projects are time-boxed into small parcels that provide continual delivery then an issue in one area should not be terminal to the success of the project. This will allow the problem item to be considered in isolation and broken down into its component parts. Tackling the smaller problem will aid successful delivery of the whole even where the problem faced seems insurmountable.
As a senior IT executive I will expect to be part of working teams in the following areas:
- Contributing to the C-level team.
- Building a team a competent managers reporting to me.
- Building successful project delivery teams to drive projects forward.
- Manage change through project boards.
How are you able to meet aggressive deadlines?
The key to meeting aggressive deadlines is having the ability to say "NO!".
Business pressures are such that in most organisations every project is needed to be delivered yesterday. The key to delivering projects on-time and in-budget is controlling the scope and ensuring that it is managed correctly using the right skills and resources.
Projects must be initiated in a timely manner in order to ensure successful delivery.
What role is your best fit?
I am looking for a senior role in your organisation. The following are some of the scenarios that I envisage:
- CIO for national or international corporation.
- Partner or head of a practice for a consulting organisation
I am willing to talk about other roles - Call me!
How have your technical skills been an asset?
As a technology expert I have always felt that technology should aid business development.
Every CIO will need to focus on the operation side of the role. However I believe that there is another aspect to the role - improving business results.
This is accomplished by using the data from applications to contribute to corporate business intelligence, when combined with market sector performance it is possible to understand the corporation's market value. This will enable C-Level executives to identify market trends early and respond rapidly.
If you have further questions about how I can add value to your organisation then please call me to arrange a meeting.
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