X
Business

CIO View: CIOs need to be part of business strategy

The old model of keeping the IT strategy and the business strategy separate is officially dead. Today's best CIOs recommend integrating IT strategies as closely as possible with business strategies in order to create real value.
Written by Munir Kotadia, Contributor and  Alex Serpo, Contributor

The old model of keeping the IT strategy and the business strategy separate is officially dead. Today's best CIOs recommend integrating IT strategies as closely as possible with business strategies in order to create real value.

Cesare Tizi, ZDNet Australia's CIO of the Year 2007, who has been CIO of both AGL Energy and Transurban, gave ZDNet Australia an insight into this process.

The problem is simple, said Tizi in this video interview. Business strategists are not interested in IT. The secret to fixing this is to "try to embed IT components into [the] business strategy."

What does this mean in a practical sense?

"Customer Relationship Management [CRM] is a good example", Tizi said. "If a customer gives us his name or mobile find number, we will find that customer and know everything about him.

Happier customers and better efficiency will no doubt perk the interest of those previously uninterested business strategists, claims Tizi.

Editorial standards