Book Review: THE BUSINESS-ORIENTED CIO

THE BUSINESS-ORIENTED CIO

The Business Oriented CIO

Author: George Tillmann

ISBN-13: 9780470278123

Topic:  Business & Economics

Format:  Hardcover
Language:  English
Publication Year:  2008

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REVIEW:

The Business-Oriented CIO: A Guide to Market-Driven Management introduces the Market Driven Management approach, which applies and adapts some of the best for-profit business thinking for use by CIOs and IT managers. IT departments are integral parts of businesses; if the electronic components like e-commerce sites fail, the business will come to a screeching halt. Run your IT department like a business rather than a reactive entity that only functions to fix problems, and transform your image from that of service center to a true business partner.

The book is crucial for the IT guy in the company.  As a manager my experience has been a struggle to get IT aligned with operations and sales.  Tillman makes a substantial number of points that serve as food for thought and further exploration. For example, when IT develops their goals for the year, it should not be done in a vacuum.  If IT’s goals are not there to make operations and sales better, then the CIO does need to re-align.  Tillman makes the strong point that IT needs to be keenly aware of where the business is going if they are going to contribute to the effort.

About the Author

George Tillmann is a former Booz Allen Hamilton partner, CIO, and management consultant. He has helped nearly 100 IT organizations worldwide and is the author of more than two dozen articles on information technology management appearing in publications such as CIO, Strategy + Business, Optimize, and Computerworld. He currently splits his time between writing and working as a private consultant.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Part One: The Fundamentals.

Chapter 1. In Search of Overhead Heroes.

Chapter 2. It Governance.

Chapter 3. It Strategy and Planning.

Chapter 4. Portfolio Management.

Part Two: Learning from the Best.

Chapter 5. Customer Management.

Chapter 6. Market Intelligence.

Chapter 7. Service-Offering Management.

Chapter 8. Performance Management.

Part Three: Pushing the Envelope.

Chapter 9. Organizational Competencies.

Chapter 10. In Search of Customer Service.

Chapter 11. Local Heroes.

Index.