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

Introduction

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

—Charles Darwin

The Chief Information Officer's Body of Knowledge: People, Process, and Technology, written by experienced IT professionals, tells how the CIO and information professional might better manage IT budgets, projects, people, and overall IT operations. It is a compendium of how to manage both IT operations and one's career growth, balancing innovation opportunities and day-to-day operations with resource constraints. Most important, this book speaks to business leadership as a necessary quality of the successful CIO, since IT operations are the essential means for operational and competitive change.

In this introduction, I quote various chapter authors. I read the manuscript with a highlighter and pen in hand. When I returned to the text to begin writing, I found I had highlighted every chapter and so many key messages that I reluctantly selected only a few to quote. My apologies to the other authors but my intent is to give the reader a taste of this comprehensive book and a look inside the ideas, strategies, and operations of nearly 30 experienced information professionals.

In the preface, Dean Lane enumerates, “in David Letterman fashion,” the “Top Ten” characteristics one should look for in a CIO. These characteristics are well worth reading by any business executive. Number one is leadership. Leadership is built on all the other ...