We must lead in a way that doesn’t close off discussion and collaboration

JEFFREY COHEN
CIO
The MENTOR Network

Jeffrey is currently the CIO at The MENTOR Network, a $1B leader in Human Services. In coordination with business leadership he is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation, and management of the organization’s business systems and IT infrastructure. Prior to Mentor, Jeffrey was the Vice President of information Technology for Magellan Biosciences, a private equity backed medical device company specializing in diagnostic equipment. For almost three years he oversaw the strategic transformation of Magellan’s worldwide IT and communications systems to leverage cost while refocusing IT in support of the company’s growth objectives.

Challenges in technology to meet enterprise needs in 2013 and expectations

There are 3 significant challenges. First, bring the promises of Big Data to the masses. Everyone is talking about Big Data, but the typical successful examples are dot-coms and huge enterprises. There are thousands of $100M-$1B companies that could benefit from this capability, but the analytical skillset not to mention system costs are too challenging to overcome. Second, right-size ERP systems to the value they bring. Let’s face it, they are necessary, but their value relative to their cost to implement and operate isn’t there. Lastly, determine a way to make infrastructure management as agile as software development can be. Our profession has done some great things to accelerate value of business applications only to be slowed down by infrastructure challenges. The cloud solves this, but not everything can be in the cloud.

The areas in business environment where solutions do not yet exist or not up to the mark, and which if existed, would've made job easier

1. Network simplification. It’s too complicated and our ability to leverage what is possible is limited by that complexity. With greater bandwidth needs, solutions just don’t exist to easily address short of “bigger pipes.”

2. IT Management solutions. Everyone talks ITIL, but highly usable systems with transparent views to the business just aren’t there.

My roles and responsibilities as a CIO

My role has not changed as much as the perception of my role. I’ve been fortunate to be in situations in which the CIO isconsidered a partner at the executive table reporting to the CEO. While intellectually my peers understand the CIO is more than “the tech guy”, it takes time for their hearts to understand what that means. Over the time they begin to appreciate that technology by itself won’t bring value, so my role must be to bridge the technology capability with the business need and suggest business changes that bring value to the enterprise and would benefit from technology.

Technology Trends Impacting Enterprise Business
Environment

Mobile – and particularly BYOD Mobile – is on the top of the list. We happen to have a highly distributed workforce so mobile technologies are the only way we can provide systems. The challenge is how to leverage that mobile ecosystem most cost effectively and in a compliant manner.

Lessons I learned as a CIO that can help you

I would share 3 lessons. First, be patient. Technology doesn’t add value by itself – it takes people to implement significant process changes that are enabled by technology. This change, however, takes time. The slow pace of change is human nature that is exacerbated by the topic being one that many don’t fully understand. Second, lead through collaboration. We are all trained to reinforce that the business sets the priorities. And while that is true, the ramification of those priorities and the solutions to deliver those priorities are IT’s responsibility to understand and communicate. So, we have to lead a bit; however, we must lead in a way that doesn’t close off discussion and collaboration. Third, know the money. The strategy will only take you so far. You also have to understand the economics of IT and how those economics translate to the business.