Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 10 | Page 57

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You ’ re the writer of a book called Managing Information Technology . What can CIOs learn from this ?
It ’ s actually a book written not about technology , but it ’ s a book about how to manage technology , which I thought was something that is lacking . Because during my early days as CIO , I searched for things to help me and I was not able to find anything .
So it ’ s really a guide , so to speak , to learn from years of experience and I guess the pains of that in terms of managing a technology organisation , and how to at least minimise the risk and maximise the success of it . It really talks about organisation structure . It talks about governance , about how to manage IT operations and how to manage IT projects .
Do you make a distinction in the book between strategy and dayto-day operations ?
Yes . Day-to-day operations is really about keeping the lights running and that has to be balanced as well with strategy because it evolves continuously . So one has to be prepared to change and to manage that change effectively . That ’ s the dual role of the CIO . The third probably most important role is being able to translate business needs into technical requirements that can be implemented through projects . Sometimes that ’ s the big gap , the business leaders have an idea of what they want but they don ’ t know exactly how it can be done . Usually that means doing it through technology . On the other hand , the technologists are not fully aware of what the business needs are so one has to marry both .
How have you used technology to improve your own business processes ?
When I started 10 years ago , it was really more about redefining and streamlining processes in the organisation . So that meant implementing transactional systems that would make our core processes more efficient .
So we are talking about procurement processes or supply chain processes , inventory , metre reading and billing . Once that has been in place the shift now goes
CASE STUDY

I THINK THERE ’ S HUGE ADVANTAGES BY HAVING AN INTEGRATED IT

AND OT .

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