Straight to the Top

GREGORY S. SMITH currently serves as a CIO for an organization in the Washington, DC, area. He previously served for nine years as the vice president and chief information officer (CIO) at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington, DC. Mr. Smith is the author of How to Protect Your Children on the Internet: A Road Map for Parents and Teachers and Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO. He has published many articles over his career, including “Talking at the Top of the World” in CIO magazine, along with a variety of technology and business topics in Forbes, eWeek, and Computerworld. Mr. Smith received a BS in computer science from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an MS in business from The Johns Hopkins University, where he also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Carey Business School graduate programs. He can be contacted through his website: http://www.gregoryssmith.com.

• Preface xiAcknowledgments xvPart One—Key Change Drivers and Trends Impacting the CIO Role Today 1Chapter 1 Why the Role of the CIO Continues to Change 3The State of the CIO 6How Important Are Core Technology Skills? 9What Did I Do to Prepare? 17Recommendations 19Notes 20Chapter 2 Technologies and Trends Driving Today’s IT Innovation 21Follow the Money 21The Major Technology Trends Driving Change 25Predictions for the Future 33What Did I Do to Prepare? 34Recommendations 35Notes 37Chapter 3 IT Standards and Governance and the Impact of Consumer Devices 39IT Governance and Its Benefits 39How IT Trends Affect IT Governance 41Portfolio Management of IT 51The IT Strategic Plan 54What Did I Do to Prepare? 56Recommendations 58Notes 60Chapter 4 Service Level Agreements: A Key to Improved Customer Expectations and Better Contracts 61Service in the Age of the Customer 61Service Level Agreements 66Annual Staff and Customer Surveys 73Vendor Scorecarding 76What Did I Do to Prepare? 81Recommendations 82Notes 83Chapter 5 Today’s CIO: The Teacher to the C-Suite 85Gaps in Expectations between CIOs and CEOs and other C-Level Executives 86Educating the C-Suite 87Creating a High-Performing IT Team through Education 88What Did I Do to Prepare? 97Recommendations 99Notes 100Part Two—The Modern-Day CIO 101Chapter 6 What Executive Recruiters Are Looking for, from Consulting Experience to Leadership Skills 103How to Get Noticed 103Leading Generation Y and Mentoring 106Tomorrow’s Leadership Skills 120What Did I Do to Prepare? 121Recommendations 122Notes 123Chapter 7 Cloud Computing Strategies and Risks 125A Cloud Computing Overview 125Growth Trends and Costs 135The Security and Risks of Cloud Computing 140Integrating with the Cloud 145What Did I Do to Prepare? 150Recommendations 150Notes 152Chapter 8 The Consumerization of IT 155Consumer Devices Permeate the Corporate World 155Growth Trends for Mobile Computing 160Increasing Costs and Security 163Mobile Device Management 164What Did I Do to Prepare? 168Recommendations 169Notes 170Chapter 9 Social Media Changes Everything 173Social Media Categories 173Social Media Titans 175Social Media Are the World’s Reporters 177Businesses Using Social Media 179The Risks of Social Media 182Facebook Fatigue? 184What’s Next in Social Media 185What Did I Do to Prepare? 189Recommendations 189Notes 191Chapter 10 What’s after the CIO Role? 193Career Next Steps 193What Did I Do to Prepare? 198Recommendations 198Conclusion 199Notes 200About the Author 201Index 203