Listen Now

The cloud is ‘all the rage’ in the business world.  Vendors believe that ‘all the pieces are in place’ to be able to move many things – from storage to apps – to the cloud.  On the other hand, there seems to be little that hackers cannot get into – security in the cloud is a big issue.   Traditional models of owning hardware, purchasing software licenses and paying annual maintenance fees are based on the ‘fixed cost model’ and costs and fees go only one way - UP.  In the midmarket, where CIOs are asked to ‘do more with less’, there is a growing trend towards ‘variable cost models’ or ‘pay as you go’ and the cloud looks very attractive.   But, cloud-based applications often require you to adapt your business processes to the ‘standard’ and your internal customers complain loudly.  And, with new platforms comes the need to upgrade or replace legacy hardware and software.  There is no simple answer unless you are the vendor of these systems.  So, “TO CLOUD OR NOT TO CLOUD, THAT IS THE QUESTION”.  Michael Grosse is the CIO of a $250M family-owned company dealing with just this question. Listen to what triggered Mike's need to ponder this question, the big drivers he considered, the decisions he made and advice he has for fellow IT leaders faced with the same situation.  Mike is a life-long learner and many-trick pony with deep experience in IT who sits in the shadow of Churchill Downs. 

As an IT business leader, do you understand your business and have the business acumen (an understanding of how  company makes money, and what actions could improve the effectiveness of a business function to positively effect revenues or profitability)?  Gone are the days when the CIO was THE technology person in the company and technological competence was paramount AND SUFFICIENT to ensure CIO success.  Things have changed, and changing rapidly. The CIO is one of many technology people in the company, functional leaders and even individual employees fancy themselves as technically savvy and self-provision whatever they need.  The CIO’s ‘seat at the CEO’s table’ is no longer guaranteed.  The CIO needs to have a business impact to be taken seriously by the business leaders and to understand what business problems technology can solve and how to do it.  Do technology leaders in the midmarket have the business acumen that those in large companies are said to have?

If you are a CIO or a CIO-in-training, you do not want to miss this interview with Niel, a seasoned technology guru who was and early adopter of big data and analytics.  Listen to Niel's views on the evolving role of the CIO and practical ways of looking at what should be done in-house vs. outsourced, and what needs more capital vs. less.  He is currently implementing the SAP ERP system at his $700M company without customization.  Listen to his views on learning from his team, peers and experts rather than being holed up in his office.  He has written two books and hundreds of articles, received many accolades and runs the CIO Bootcamp.