August 2014 – Update on the road to CIO

I started this blog a few months ago with the purpose of recording my journey as I transition from a technical network engineer to the CIO role, along with advice for others that want to eventually become a CIO and looking at a number of issues that CIOs face from the point of view of someone on the outside looking in (or up).  I’ve since come to realize that this journey that I’ve set out on will take time and weekly updates regarding that week’s topic in my Human Resource Management subject is not necessarily of interest.

I’m currently part of the way through the third subject of my master’s degree and once complete I will have reached the halfway point of my degree.  I’m trying to concentrate solely on completing the course, rather than also taking on any other learning activities, such as further ITIL certification.  So far my subjects have included management, IT management issues and now human resources management.  The remaining subjects will cover organizational change, finance and strategy.

We are currently undergoing a fair amount of change at work with our CIO resigning and moving on.  I will not be applying for the role as not only am I grossly unqualified at this stage, there are many people internally who would be more suited, plus they are hoping to hire externally in order to get a fresh set of eyes looking at IT.  What I am hoping to do is to position myself and prepare to take advantage of any possible restructure or shakeup that occurs once a new CIO comes on board.  To that extent I’m currently preparing a report that follows on from the IT strategy developed last year and outlines how we can improve our IT by moving to a service delivery based model – made possible now since our previous CIO was very averse to implementing ITIL or any other service delivery frameworks.  Although this report was not necessarily a task of mine that came from the strategy, by displaying leadership in this area I will hopefully be in a position to take any opportunities that may arrive in the coming months.

Feel free to let me know what you’re doing to move forward on your own journey to become a CIO, especially if you are just starting out like I am.  Please leave a comment below or contact me on twitter @theroadtocio