A recent report by research firm Gartner says that the desire to share content and to access it on multiple devices will motivate consumers to start storing a third of their digital content in the cloud by 2016. Just 7 percent of consumer content was stored in the cloud in 2011, but this will grow to 36 percent in 2016.  

The debate over Capex versus Opex becomes very tricky depending on what your shareholders want to do in the short term, medium or long term. This is often not documented and can sometimes leads to CIO - CFO conflict. Some organizations pursue a mix of Opex and Capex to balance the expectations but that should be done with a lot of caution. An overdrive at times can be disastrous. 

For CIOs, process is often seen as an impediment to quicker delivery! So, does that mean that the IT function needs to focus only on delivery and not processes? The answer is a definitive No! The way to address this is to successfully synergize between processes and delivery by creating and implementing best practices in project management that are repeatable processes and become second nature to the Project Manager. 

These two executive groups remain far apart on how to best address an issue that according to analyst reports, now costs organizations more than $30 billion annually. The problem is further exacerbated by the lack of communication between the offices of the CEO and CISO. Is it the lack of interest or lack of understanding? Or probably both? 

You pick up the delegate list at any CIO conference or round-table, and you would be amazed to see the virtual absence of women IT decision-makers. It is not that they stay away from such brainstorming sessions, the reality is that there aren't many women CIOs in the country. 

IT is no more a support function. It has to align with the business to help serve its customers efficiently. Therefore, it is not necessary for the CIO to be very tech-savvy. Instead, he should be extremely customer-centric and must focus on understanding the business needs of how to serve its customers to their delight. Only then he can prove his worth and justify his position.  

Cloud is a buzzword today and is hard to ignore. Most CISOs are skeptical about cloud because of data security concerns and some of them oppose it outright.I believe it is high time CISOs realize the change in technological advancement and interest of business. A good comfort level can be achieved by 'Follow the Data Model' approach. 

Business-IT alignment is the need of the hour. It is important for us to sit alongside our business leaders and discuss the problems that IT can address rather than just talk about some backend functions. We should deliver the solutions that the business needs, instead of telling them that here are the tools, use it and run your business.  

As environmental protection and sustainability issues top the agenda of many organizations today, there is a new designation in place - Chief Green Officer. The role involves systematically monitoring environmental impact on entire value chain, reducing carbon footprints, inducting clean technologies and bringing innovation into product design. This is besides creating awareness and offering sustainability experience to customers.  

One wonders that in a day and age when social media is creating multiple virtual colonies of like-minded people who are passionate hobbyists or ardent brand followers and consumers, how good is it to block social media sites at work, where people spend the better part of their waking hours?