What CIOs Should Avoid

1
What CIOs Should Avoid

• Pradeep Gupta
• Chairman, CyberMedia Group

2
About CyberMedia

• Est .1982, South Asia's first and largest
  specialty media group among India's top five
  magazine publishers
• 15 publications, 12 websites, 150 events, a
  weekly TV program all lead in their domains IT,
  Telecom, Consumer Electronics, Biotech,
  Entrepreneurship, Legal
• Major brands include
• Dataquest, PCQuest, Global Outsourcing,
  VoiceData, Living Digital, BioSpectrum, Dare,
  Hallsburys Law Monthly
• The group's media services include market
  research (IDC India), content outsourcing
  (Content Matrix)

3
The stakeholders

• CEO
• Shareholders
• Colleagues
• Vendors/ customers
• Team
• And of course deliver IT

4
My CEO doesnt understand technology
He is not proactive about process improvement,
business innovation, managing IT assets
He refuses to listen just cant convince him
My role is not clear
I cant grow any more in the organisation
5
Murphys Law
Technology is dominated by those who manage what
they do not understand.
6
No point in taking risks
IT is not strategic in this company
There is no better way
I am not responsible for PL
I dont have enough budgets
7
Dalai Lamas Instructions for life
Take into account that great achievements involve
great risk. When you lose, dont lose the lesson.
8
Cross-functional teams dont work here
Have to use external consultants to pin issues
Other C level positions are more important
Easier to work with external groups than from
within
Why should I share information
9
A Quote
Winners are a part of the team Losers are apart
from the team
10
Customer Insights are for the marketing guys
I squeeze every penny out of my vendor
The vendors are my technology guides
11
The CIOs lament
Whenever a system becomes completely defined,
some damn fool discovers something which either
abolishes the system or expands it beyond
recognition.
12
Only good for specific tasks
Dont want to learn anything new
Dont understand what I expect of them
Always looking for other opportunities
13
Andrew Carnegie
When you go digging for an ounce of gold, you
have to move tons of dirt to get an ounce of
gold. But when you go digging, you don't go
looking for the dirt, you go looking for the
gold.
14
And Finally - Execution

• I know everything
• Payback!! What payback?
• I am a cost centre
• My budget is too small
• I know the jargon
• Data policies/ old hardware/ green IT/ IP/
  security why take the headache

15
Confucius Says
The road to success??.. is always under
construction