Strategic Management of Information and Communication Systems Mark P. Haselkorn Department of Technical Communication University of Washington [email protected] Haselkorn 2001
Dec 24, 2015
Strategic Management ofInformation and
Communication Systems
Mark P. Haselkorn
Department of Technical CommunicationUniversity of Washington
Haselkorn 2001
Overview
Introduction ICT System Management Y2K and ICT System Management The Role of the CIO Technical Communication and the CIO
Haselkorn 2001
Introduction
Standing Technical Communication on its head
Hypothesis: When the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) is properly understood, the training and experience of technical communicators, augmented by additional training and experience in management, best suit the demands of this position.
Haselkorn 2001
ICT System Management
Dynamic, “open” systems “System integration” goes far
beyond technical issues Balancing cross-organizational
tensions
Haselkorn 2001
ICT System Management Balance central management and local
execution Consider evolution of ICT issues over time Clarify ownership of and responsibility for ICT
systems Consider the impact of local diversity on ICT Consider the role of local autonomy in ICT Build trust between local ICT administrators and
central managers Strengthen horizontal ICT relationships across
the organizationHaselkorn 2001
ICT System Management Overcome funding disincentives to working
across organizational boundaries Assure that central ICT guidance is at an
appropriate level Address cross-boundary issues in life-cycle
management of ICT systems Tackle the informational effort needed to support
management of integrated ICT systems Address issues of organizational culture that
impact ICT Empower permanent organizational entities
focused on cross-boundary ICT issues
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management
Need felt to establish temporary entities to spearhead Y2K response
Not so much because the problem was large and important, but because existing entities did not encompass the cross-functional, cross-hierarchy, cross-organizational, cross-system issues involved
Organizations already had permanent homes for functional parts of their ICT system-of-systems; they needed homes for the space between those parts
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management Toughest problems occurred not within areas
under responsibility of an ICT manager, but rather within areas that cut across those responsibilities
These more holistic problems weren’t about “hard” machine issues—involved integration of and communication across the entire system of systems
“There are a number of areas that are very soft and it would be wonderful if they got a greater emphasis. The programs have their problems, but largely those are being worked. What isn’t being worked is the overall infrastructure.”
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management
Yet as difficult as it had been to focus on enterprise-wide ICT management during a “crisis” situation, managers knew it would be even more difficult to maintain this focus under “normal” conditions
“The enterprise as a whole is not being looked at. We may have management and policy, but strength from an enterprise standpoint is lost and we’re moving away from it… Momentum here that we gained through Y2K is rapidly falling away—We’re losing our opportunity to maintain the enterprise perspective.”
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Y2K and ICT Management
1995 Standish Group report: US spends more than $250 billion each
year on IT application development Approximately 175,000 projects Average project cost for a large
company is $2,322,000; for a medium company is $1,331,000; and for a small company is $434,000
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management
1995 Standish Group report: “A great many of these projects will fail.
Software development projects are in chaos.” 31.1% of projects will be canceled 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their
original estimates Lost opportunity costs are not measurable, but
could easily be in the trillions of dollars (e.g. unreliable baggage handling software at the new Denver airport cost the city $1.1 million per day)
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management
Standish Group estimated that in the coming year (1995) American companies and government agencies would: Spend $81 billion for canceled software
projects. Pay an additional $59 billion for software
projects that will be completed, but will exceed their original time estimates
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Y2K and ICT Management
While temporary Y2K entities have disappeared, there are legacies of Y2K aimed at addressing this ongoing management challenge
“[A]gents of change are… rewiring corporate culture one technology project at a time. These direct descendants of Y2K crisis management teams are more highly disciplined and closely managed than past IT teams… [T]he CIO has emerged as the driving force behind these collaborative implementations of technology.”
McCartney, Larry, “Change Agents,” CIO Insights: Executive Briefs, 2001.
Haselkorn 2001
Y2K and ICT Management
But while CIOs have increasingly been charged with managing an organization’s information and knowledge systems, there has been considerable uncertainty as to the exact nature of and appropriate skills for these positions.
What is enterprise-wide management of an organization’s information and knowledge systems?
What does an entity devoted to this activity do?
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO
CIO’s office initially seen as an extension of already influential acquisitions and system development function Technology the central component of an organization’s
information and knowledge activities CIO’s primary role as “owner” and manager of that
technology Activities centered on standardizing and
“keeping up” with new information and communication technology
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO
But as Y2K demonstrated, enterprise-wide ICT management is not primarily about functionally organized technology
If the CIO owns anything, it is the space between these nodes of responsibility
Focus on the conversation and interactions that link the functional parts into a strategic whole
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO Units responsible for fielding new systems:
“We need to do a lot of work on PC and server common operating environments. Because we are finding out that servers have different disk drives on them, different versions of Oracle, different versions of the operating system. And as a result of that we can’t distribute software in a rational manner.”
Units responsible for security:“From the information warfare perspective diversity is not such a bad thing. If every piece of software is absolutely standardized, one hole gets you in everywhere. When an adversary has to figure out which executable is on which computer among 1,300 possible options, that makes his targeting problem hugely more difficult. That’s a fundamental point that’s almost always missed.”
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO
Distinguish functionally bound ICT issues from enterprise-wide ones
Where issue resides within a functional responsibility, role is greatly minimized or non-existent (But often an incorrect assumption that a cross-functional issue is bounded within a particular functional responsibility)
When an ICT issue is identified to be enterprise-wide, take ownership
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO “Ownership” means assuring a single point of
contact providing consistent guidance at the appropriate level
Under normal circumstances, “ownership” does not mean that the CIO’s office should be that point of contact or own the problem parts
The CIO owns the space between the parts—the space that makes it a cross-enterprise issue
Primary role is to identify relevant organizational perspectives, determine best available representatives of those perspectives, and then link, guide, and empower those people and units to manage the issue
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO Under the CIO’s guidance, a cross-boundary entity
defined to represent the relevant organizational perspectives on an issue becomes the point of contact
Only such an entity, acting with the guidance and authority of the CIO’s office, can balance competing organizational goals that surround a cross-boundary ICT issue
CIO is the fulcrum in this balancing act—team-building, facilitating cross-boundary communication and activity, assuring that ICT activities are aligned with organizational goals and strategies, and institutionalizing desired change
Haselkorn 2001
The Role of the CIO
“Given the high risk for failure of teams, the CIOs who lead [collaborative] groups require business, technology, team-building, project management and communication skills to be effective.”
Jessica Lipnack, co-author of Virtual Teams
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The Role of the CIO
At special times, CIO must go beyond the “fulcrum” role to one of greater authority and stronger leadership.
“There are bureaucracies that are designed to slow down decision-making and there are places where you want to do that—but in this case, because of time urgency, the bureaucracies were either pushed aside or stepped aside and allowed that rapid reaction to take place. And you need to be able to adapt your organization to do some of those things.”
Haselkorn 2001
The CIO and Technical Communication
CIO’s office the glue that integrates the many facets and perspectives of an enterprise-wide ICT system
CIO works partly through central authority, but more commonly through the creation and ongoing support of cross-functional entities focused on cross-boundary ICT issues
Fundamental skills include communication, facilitation, team-building, and creative use of information tools—central skills of technical communication
Haselkorn 2001
The CIO and Technical Communication
CIO generally needs to adopt a perspective focused on strategic goals, the use of information to achieve those goals, and the role of individuals and information tools to facilitate that use
CIO’s perspective must consider the boundaries of organizational lines and functional distinctions, even as it works to remove their potential negative impacts on cross-functional information issues and objectives
Again, this recognition of multiple audiences and goals is the perspective of technical communication
Haselkorn 2001
The CIO and Technical Communication
CIO is owner of the information space between functional nodes of an organization
CIO is a communicator, a facilitator, and a politician
CIO is a technical communicator with extremely high-level management skills
Technical communication needs to partner with related fields to produce these people. They are sorely needed throughout industry and government
Haselkorn 2001