Gary C. Kern presents:
Technology Balance‌The Tales and Scales of an IT Leader August 27, 2015 Indiana Technology Symposium
“…life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada.” Ellen DeGeneres
BALANCE: FROM YIN & YANG TO PROS & CONS
I.T. Management
The center of it all – a major balancing act.
Technologist I.T .
Business Leader Manager
• Techie Skills vs Managerial Skills • Peter Principle? • Big Picture thinking may impact tactical technical decisions • QUESTION: Should a CIO have more focus on Tech or People?
Security
Productivity
• Passwords / Single Sign-on, MDM, Multifactor authentication, Admin Rights Filters, Whitelists / Blacklists, CPU • You never wish you were LESS secure • “Just let me do what I need to do to do my job” - What IS that? Insurance. • QUESTION: Is there anything on the horizon to make security easy?
Cost Negotiation
Features Functionality Ease of Use
• The ‘administrator’ wants things cheaply, the technologist doesn’t want ‘cheap’? • (To Vendor) “I want it all free, you’d like a million $, we just need to find an agreement someplace in the middle” • Don’t be “cheap” on tools that make you more effective • QUESTION: How do you determine / obtain the (full) value out of a new tool?
Business
- NEEDS - Customer
• “Back Office” driven decisions – shareholder value & efficiency • The Customer EXPERIENCE – do they care if it’s easy for us to do? • Does a “best of breed” decision help or hurt? • “We do most things very well, but the total package not so much” • QUESTION: Can you make an efficient internal operation = a customer focused one?
Support
Projects
• How much effort is spent on maintenance & problem resolution? • “Production Support is Job #1” • What new things are sitting waiting? Can you dedicate resources to those items? • ALWAYS a proactive use for “1 more FTE” • QUESTION: How do you determine the right mix of staff allocation?
Process
Innovation
• Similar to Support vs Projects, but… • Paving the cow-path so it’s easy to follow or looking for the new highway. • Documentation, Policies, Procedures – some things NEED strong Process. • Think outside box– A: the right Q:! • QUESTION: How do you encourage innovation while getting efficient?
Trust
Verify Partners / Vendors
• Dependable Partners are really staff adds. • YOU are still responsible for what your vendor does on your behalf – only you can fully own YOUR issues. • Vendor Management still takes time, FTEs. • Internal aspects: Project Team, Employees • QUESTION: What actually makes someone a good PARTNER? How do you know?
Comfort
Growth
• Areas of comfort = areas of familiarity and expertise. Need to get comfortable with frequently used skills. • However, Growth & Learning come when you are uncomfortable and challenged. • Constructive CONFLICT not a bad thing • QUESTION: How do you get yourself or your team comfortable with discomfort?
Work
Family
• We are now ‘technologically’ available all the time to our employers – does this extend to our home life too? • Stress relief for both – disconnection? • Volunteerism / Community Involvement • QUESTION: Does 24x7x365 available impact BOTH work & home life??
YOU
Questions? Follow-up? Gary C. Kern, VP & CIO, MutualBank Immediate Past President, Muncie Civic Theatre Founder & Past President, AITP-ECI LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gckern/ Twitter: @garyckern Email: gary.kern@bankwithmutual.com