The Top 5 reasons you still need a CIO
by Mike Mahon, CEO – Zia Consulting
Traditionally the primary role of the CIO was to secure and govern information, while also making technology investments that provided cost savings for the company. This “legacy” CIO role, which focused on reducing costs instead of adding new value, has been criticized widely since 2008 as having little knowledge of what it actually means to be a CIO or sit on a board. Their primary stakeholders were typically the company’s employees and it’s been noted that they have limited ability to relate to customers or investors—and limited relevance in the strategic direction of the company.
In the context of document and records management, CIOs face a number of barriers in executing their role. First, there is an issue of enterprise content management (ECM) avoidance. CIOs have not been successful at engaging customers in utilizing available tools. Typically these tools are challenging to understand, difficult to use, and time intensive. This is not solely the CIO’s fault; the industry as a whole has been providing advice, guidance, and consulting that has ignored users and poorly implemented the business tools that drive productivity. Several research studies have shown an overwhelming amount of failure in the industry regarding ECM implementations. Not only is it challenging to input information, it is difficult to locate the information once it is entered. In addition, the cost and complexity of the in-place systems are high for the value they bring.
Finally, CIOs are challenged to manage a massive amount of content and keep up with the ever-increasing pace of business. Content is exploding in areas such as mobile, social, electronic, and paper. With no way to effectively manage these areas, the CIO loses trust with the board or CEO. According to a recent AIIM research study, a “Stunning 82 percent of firms lack an enterprise-wide content management solution, and half of all content still sits outside ECM systems…” The bottom line is that if the CIO’s core job responsibilities are still security and governance, they are not doing their job!
However, Zia would like to offer 5 reasons you still need a CIO and how we can make sure they are still in place in 2016:
(1). Solve ECM avoidance once and for all! CIOs have the capacity to provide a solution to this problem. Using our solutions, that actually provide a competitive advantage, CIOs can respond to what the business needs (e.g., governance, security, reliability, scalability, and connection), while at the same time delivering what users want (e.g., ease of use, simplified processes, ability to collaborate, access through existing tools, and the ability to search and access information through mobile devices).
(2). Solve SharePoint! With Adhere for Alfresco from Zia, CIOs can finally solve the puzzle that is SharePoint. Users demand it, IT really struggles with it, and it continues to grow out of control. We can show you how to use SharePoint with your users, but manage the complexity, bloat, archival, and governance needs of the business with a solution that delivers integration and synchronization, federated search, simple and smart business processes, and more.
(3). Solve the Dropbox problem! CIOs can use our Universal Document Security (UDS) Solution, powered by Covertix, to address the risk of your company being the next Sony. You can lock down any piece of content, anywhere, within any system at any time and never worry about it being stolen or misused. Forget the Dropbox (or Google Drive, USB or Email) problem—security at rest or in the wild is handled.
(4). “Everyone’s a records manager (and nobody knows it)”! Our EasyRM solutions provide a strategy for automated governance and records management. If you were working in our system, you would be able to email, use Office products, and collaborate internally and externally with customers, without ever knowing you were in an ECM system or declaring records.
(5). Solve the tactical problems and become strategic! Once we deliver on the promise of ECM (governance, integration, cost-savings, and freed-up content), we can build systems of engagement that will contribute to the growth of your business. Together, we will provide you with new ways to do business that give you the ability to move out of a cost center and into the business itself.
In the future, we expect many more of our customers to share the same vision as a leading mortgage insurer: “this solution isn’t about cost savings or ROI, without this solution we don’t have a business!” Similarly, a leading property and casualty insurance provider completely rebuilt their business processes—leveraging Document Automation Solutions from Zia—delivering not just cost savings but increased customer satisfaction and time-to-revenue through this strategic initiative.
More recently, we have seen other CIOs that buck the traditional challenges presented above. With the right training and tools, CIOs can play an integral role in the success of any business. Quoted from the article “Why a Company Should Consider Adding a CIO to the Board” by Peter High, “Boards will increasingly think about including the strongest CIOs on their boards to ensure that they do not have any blind spots in their plans both from an innovation and from a risk mitigation perspective.” Zia provides the solutions that will propel companies into the future and CIOs into the boardroom!