The Chief Information Officer's Body of Knowledge: People, Process, and Technology

Chapter 14

Office of the CIO^a

Makarand Utpat

Today we find that certain trends, such as globalization, mergers and acquisitions, competition for market position and market share, regulatory compliance, and maintaining strategic advantage, have become cornerstones in radically shaping business dynamics.¹ Agility, having a holistic view of the enterprise, doing more with less, and lean methodologies have become more than just buzzwords in the corporate IT world. As a result, CIOs and their leadership teams are demanding that IT investments be spent wisely and that there is a compelling business case that demonstrates why they need to approve and fund new IT projects and justifies the risks and rewards.

Many global corporations have launched dedicated efforts and/or disciplines by forming enterprise architecture departments, program management offices, or strategic planning groups.² These disciplines exist at various levels of maturity ranging from intermediate for some to advanced for others. These disciplines typically work in concert with each other. The goals are many, including, but not limited to, rationalization of the IT landscape; building the next generation of the core competencies; leveraging real-world guidelines and applying industry best practices; and identification, prioritization, and management of portfolio investments in order to assess value, increase efficiencies, and realize long-term gains.

The content described in this chapter represents the results of such ...