Top 10 barriers to strategic IT success

7. The wrong mix of run, grow, transform

Many CIOs use the run, grow, transform (RGT) model to manage their IT departments, seeking to allocate the right resources to each of the three categories. But getting those allocations right is a challenge, says Scott Saccal, CIO of Cambrex, a contract drug manufacturing organization.

“It’s not a new challenge, but it’s becoming more urgent to have that balanced portfolio of investments as we get past the hype cycle for some new technologies like AI,” he says, “because if you have too much in run and grow and not enough for transformation, it leads to potential displacement in the marketplace.”

But Saccal points out that too little in run or grow also could stymie how well IT can deliver on its objectives. As such, Saccal is always looking to allocate the appropriate resources to each category to ensure success but admits it’s tough. He adds: “It’s about continuing to involve stakeholders at all levels of the organization to get the right mix.”

8. Demands for shiny objects

CIOs are often warned against being distracted by shiny objects for fear it will distract them from technologies that actually deliver value to their organizations.

Other executives haven’t gotten the memo, says Mikhail Papovsky, CEO and founder of Massaro Consulting. Consequently, CIO executive colleagues often badger CIOs to test whatever might be labeled the latest-and-greatest at any given moment, convinced that those hyped-up technologies will be a silver bullet for their business challenges.

“CIOs feel bombarded by all these requests thrown at them,” Papovsky adds. “The CIO has a set list of priorities, and now they have an executive asking for an analysis or a tiger team to take a few weeks to explore something. But a couple of weeks of the CIO’s superstars [diverted to these requests] throws the CIO’s ability to deliver on priorities into question.”

Indeed, 24% of IT leaders told Foundry/CIO.com that “responding to inquiries from senior management and/or directors” was a challenge to their strategic success.

To keep on track and avoid such distractions, Papovsky advises CIOs to insist on the business case for such requests to determine whether chasing any shiny objects truly warrants a recalibration of existing priorities.

9. Shadow IT

Similarly, the willingness of other executives to make their own technology purchases can create obstacles for IT, says Mike Shaklik, a partner and global head of CIO advisory at Infosys Consulting. That typically forces CIOs and their teams to shift away from their planned work to implementing, integrating, configuring, securing, and managing systems that don’t fit with the IT roadmap nor the organization’s strategic vision.

Shaklik says the CIOs who avoid such issues are those who have become full partners to their executive colleagues, have entwined IT into the business strategic plans, and consistently deliver the IT initiatives with the expected business value as promised.

10. The lack of enough agility, adaptability

The 2024 State of the CIO Survey found that 42% of CIOs say responding to changing business conditions is another obstacle to their strategic success.

But some CIO advisors and IT leaders say the issue isn’t so much changing business conditions — business conditions constantly change — but instead the inability of the IT organization to respond and pivot as quickly as required.

Taglienti says CIOs need to build IT departments that embrace change and can quickly pivot as circumstances, technologies, and organization needs evolve.

“Change is happening more rapidly than we’ve been used to. So having the ability to be innovative, transformative, and to understand how to address sudden changes [in the landscape] is really important for CIOs,” Taglienti adds.