I have spent the past while researching, Googling really, the 2013 top CIO priorities. I thought that, by doing that, I would begin to understand better what the serious concerns are for CIOs in 2013 and beyond. But how disappointed I was. Why? I’m glad you asked.
Well, if I combine all the data, without trying to prioritise anything because that would be just too confusing, the list looks something like this:
- Innovation
- Cloud
- Big Data and BI
- Mobility
- Social
- Integration
- Customer-centric
- Legacy Transformation
- Security and Business Continuity
- Cost Control
Gosh, I even found a list with Health Care on it?? And one, more erudite list, suggests that CIOs should work on turning the 80/20 rule around.
You may well be looking at this list and thinking – that’s a pretty good list, what are you on about? What I’m on about is that in all the lists that I looked at, not one single list spoke about Skills – or People, if you will. As far as I know, there is still an IT skills shortage – world-wide. And, as far as I know, we are still not producing enough candidates from universities. Heck – correct me if I’m wrong here, please.
If I’m right, why is People Development not a top concern? And, if people costs constitute between 50% and 70% of the IT Budget, then turning the 80/20 around is a piece of cake. Focus on your people and you’re most of the way there.
And the REAL reason that I’m carrying on about this is because – take another long, hard look at the list, and then tell me, which of these priorities does not also include People Development.
So, because a picture speaks 1000 words, I had a go at visualizing this from my angle. And this is kind of how it looks.
So, I was left with the question: How is anyone going to make any of this happen without the right skills in place at the right time and cost?
If you don’t have a Human Capital Strategy in place that plans to have the right skills in place, this becomes a “wish list”, not a “priority list”.
If you need an IT Human Capital Strategy, we can help you, so please contact us.