How the Cloud Transformed the CIO's Role in Meetings

Rumor has it that cloud computing will diminish, or even eliminate, the roles of IT professionals over the next few years. But that's not true, as IT people's jobs become more important as the cloud expands and businesses embrace greater computing power. Many managers already know this, and are starting to pay more attention to their IT team and also to their leader.

CIOs are even playing a bigger role in company meetings. This is because the “cloud” topic is no longer being discussed only among IT department professionals, but is now being analyzed in meetings involving managers from other areas and the board of directors. Next, we'll talk more about the importance of the CIO's role in company meetings. Check out:

The role of CIOs in meetings

before the cloud

Before the spread of cloud computing around the world, CIOs were not looked upon favorably. This is because, in the opinion of managers in other areas (such as marketing, finance and sales, for example), he was the leader responsible for a department that was not very useful, which generated unnecessary expenses – despite the fact that technology was already important for the growth of companies. companies at that time.

The marketing department, for example, was beneficial for organizations, as it attracted customers and increased their revenue. IT, on the other hand, only generated expenses and required a lot of investment in assets (hardware, software, computers, etc.), which did not generate any value and only served to support employees in their activities. In meetings, CIOs only discussed:

• The IT investments that needed to be made;
• The main objectives of these investments (to facilitate the professionals' routine, increase the productivity of the teams, update the IT department, etc.);
• The results generated by investments made in the past;
• The productivity of the IT department;
• The problems that arose and were solved;
• The new products or services developed by team members.

As you can see, before the cloud, the CIO and other leaders focused on the physical IT infrastructure and the expenses it generates. Little attention was paid to the value it was generating for the business. And this is no coincidence. The expenses generated by an infrastructure are very high, as they include the purchase of hardware and the payment of software licenses. And this eats away at a good chunk of the IT department's and company's budget.

after the cloud

After the dissemination of cloud computing and its adoption by companies, the focus of the CIO and other managers became another. After all, it eliminated the entire physical IT infrastructure, or at least part of it, and also the expenses generated by it. In addition, it has given greater computing power to organizations. That's why meetings are no longer talking so much about expenses generated by IT, but about:

• The value that the IT department can generate for the company;
• The alignment of IT strategies with business strategies;
• The ROI (Return on Investment) generated by the cloud and other technologies;
• How to use the computing power of the cloud to leverage revenue;
• The productivity of IT professionals;
• The implementation of technological trends arising from the cloud, such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device);
• The number of problems that arose in the environment and that were solved;
• The new products or services developed by IT professionals.
  Conclusion

As you can see, the cloud has made the CIO's role more important in business meetings, as he no longer just addresses expenses, and starts talking about how the IT sector can help improve the company's results. It is no wonder that managers are looking favorably on IT leaders and integrating their departments with Information Technology.

And you, what do you think about the transformation of the role of the CIO in meetings after the spread of the cloud? Tell us your opinion in the comments! [:]