Determine Who Should Own the it Measurements and Associated Processes

¶ … IT measurements and the associated processes? When asked this question, 'who should own' or manage the IT measurements and apportion the associated processes of the IT department, it might be tempting to respond, 'why the CIO of course! Who else?' But in many real-world business scenarios, the CIO cannot do everything, despite his or her comprehensive job description. "The sheer logistics of the CIO job are overwhelming," notes business technology reporter Polly Schneider Taylor.

One IT director noted that frequently "CIOs die on the vine of meeting management," partly from sheer exhaustion -- but also a lack of comprehensive skills in managing people and delegating authority. (Taylor, 2001) In other words, CIOs are often overstretched, overstressed, and sometimes simply do not enjoy coping with the necessary management maneuvering techniques, delicately diffusing personality conflicts at meeting.

Even if a CIO glories in such personality-charged atmospheres, all single CIOs are still "charged with showing the way toward new, business-critical uses of technology," a developing and uncertain job description. And they are "nonetheless remain responsible for the day-to-day functioning of internal and external networks, enterprise systems and all those desktop computers." (Taylor, 20010 Running a tight IT outfit and leading corporate IT strategy at the same time is exceedingly difficult, and it is often better to have different 'heads' of networks, systems, and more general computing needs.

Another potential solution exists for further delegating the roles and responsibilities for IT measurements and associated processes. The first is to appoint what is known as a deputy CIO. The deputy CIOs in such a jointly managed organizational IT departments fulfill complementary but different functions, as the deputy might spends his or her days navigating the politics of other managers in the organization or soliciting government and outside funding to line up support for various organizational initiatives and other enterprise wide initiatives.

The more conventional CIO role-player serves as chief of operations, rallying the technical members of the IT staff, leading major projects, and orchestrating everything from budgets and hiring to upgrades of the city's fiber-optic network. After all, although some CIOs "can effectively wear both a strategy hat and a technical or operational one," both in terms of personality and also, given the increasing demands placed upon IT in an age of fiscal constraints, time, two managers with different responsibilities can better address IT technical and organizational needs.

(Taylor, 2001) In the case of such a dual managerial structure, responsibilities need to be clearly defined and once defined, designed to minimize internal politics, jockeying for position and confusion of who is in charge need to be carefully managed. Seconds-in-command may still be unusual, but CIOs who have created the positions report that they have more time to craft big ideas and hone management relationships. However, this is not the only way to structure the complex needs of IT.

While in some organizations, one CIO can be in charge of systems measurements, and the deputy in charge of the more forward public relations side of IT, some organizations might be so vast further delegation is required. In some cases, a single corporate CIO can oversee.