Notes and key takeaways from the 2012 CIO Agenda session at the 2011 Gartner IT Symposium.

The role of technology in business is increasing, but that does not necessarily mean that the role of IT is increasing.  IT has been an ingredient for success, but now technology is the business.

Now there is a commercially definable standard for cost, quality, service and it's coming from the cloud. IT can no longer exist under the shield of fear-uncertainty-and-doubt.

Re-imagination is about finding new answers to new questions, not new answers to old questions.

Re-imagining IT requires creative destruction.  What am I going to sacrifice in my existing structure/budget to push forward?

2012 top-4 priorities: Increasing enterprise growth, attracting and retaining customers, creating new products or services (innovation), improve operational performance.

2011 top-4 priorities: Increasing enterprise growth, attracting and retaining customers, reducing costs, improving business processes.

Only 31% of activities are rated as unique to the business or yielding competitive advantage in the market. This is a big problem because this is where IT should be focused.

Too much of what's being worked on is simply not significant to the business.

2012 Global CIO Technology Priorities according to a worldwide Gartner survey:

1. BI
2. Cloud computing
3. Collaboration Technologies
4. Legacy Modernization
5. IT Management
6. CRM
7. ERP Apps
8. Security
9. BPM
10. Mobile Technologies
11. Virtualization

"Let anyone write any app, as long as access to the information is controlled."

To get quick results:

• Leverage existing public infrastructure.
• Leverage existing data.
• Assume that your end user is an idiot (i.e., make it simple).

The biggest digitization gap is in customer sales and service. This is where the biggest opportunities  exist.

Delivering a new value proposition requires recasting IT resources and skills. At the top of the list from the perspective of effectiveness and frequency is:

• Use of contractors
• Skills outsourcing
• Internal training

These are the places to focus efforts for maximum return. Use contractors and infuse them into your organization. You get mentoring and more immediate results. The value proposition is high.

Re-imaging IT requires a different focus to create different value.

It use to be about: Scope, On-time, on budget.

Now it's about: Choice, Speed and Scale

Focus on: Cycle time, productivity, throughput. How quickly can you respond to requests from the business?