May- 20199GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKThe speed of change is increasing as is the amount and complexity of technologiesand accomplish, in the back of our mind the thought remains, "everyone else is doing this, it must cost less. Do I really need to spend the time gathering all that data? Whether we consider it at the time, marketing is effective. We are all bombarded with constant data on magic quadrants, best practices, surveys and outcomes from other implementations. Does it simply become a self-fulfilling prophecy?Consider, for instance, this measure of success: Three years ago, Company X had only 10% of its infrastructure and the computing needs in the cloud, but now it has 90% in the cloud! Wow, simply moving to compute to the Cloud is a measure of success? Really? Perhaps success for the hosting services that derive income from Cloud hosting and perhaps the business unit that gains flexibility in ramping up or down based on need and paying for only what is used. But to make a general statement that-simply moving compute to the Cloud is a measure of success, is stupid. Every decision should be a business decision if it makes sense to move to the Cloud then, by all means, move there, but if there are no business drivers and the cost is more (as we have found in many cases), functionality is equal or less then why make that decision? Simply to say you've moved to the Cloud? More marketing fodder.It may sound like I need a nap, while that is true, I have simply written what we all are thinking. The speed of change is increasing as is the amount and complexity of technologies. All of the reasons I love this profession, our ability to change and make a difference in our organizations, communities and the world are limited only by our ability to learn, adjust and implement the right tech at the right time in the right situation. I will leave you with this, some of you will have taken exception to my earlier statement about leading IT and not having an IT background (which is because that describes you) if I have learned nothing else in over thirty years of doing this it is that nothing is ever black or white. In some cases and situations it works, in others, it does not. I only pose the question as to why it seems ok for top management to consider hiring non-IT people into IT leadership positions, yet rarely are IT leaders considered for anything outside of technology. When in fact, the CIO has the most complete view of the organization in today's environment.Something else to think about while I nap.
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