Besides the problem of being branded as an IT leader, a CIO faces many other issues within a corporation that s/he is trying to grapple with. In this blog I have raised three key issues that I got to understand from the CIOs in my conversation with them over the past one month. These are issues of (i) Change Management within IT, (ii) Procurement of IT and (iii) IT's Importance in an Organization.  

A few months ago a CIO twitted: "It's hard to be strategic with your pants on fire." Most CIOs will resonate with this phrase. CIOs are less strategic and more 'fire-fighters'. This is not a generic comment but based on facts and experience. Those CIOs who are moving out of technology manager's role, and taking up strategic position, are preparing for the long-term.  

The big question today companies must ask themselves, repeatedly, is how can they proactively engage their consumers to a point that they will become an integral part of products and services launches, and build up better businesses practices on a win-win scenario? The challenge is not in asking the right answers, although that's hard enough. It's following through with the answers. 

To achieve success, the CIO has to improve business communication and alignment skills. There is a need to identify everyone who has a direct hand in influencing the IT, people from lines of business, functional experts, and change managers. The CIO should pull in people with the right knowledge, skills and experience needed.  

People management skills are an absolute must for CIOs, especially in times of crisis. Usually CIOs come from technology background, and it is often found that hard-core techies lack people skills. This leads to problems in the team, and therefore needs mentoring in leadership qualities. 

No IT department is immune to crisis and it is a test for every CIO to deal with more than one at the same time. There could be those with red flags that need instant troubleshooting while there are others more chronic in nature that require a long-drawn strategic handling. No matter what shape and size the trouble, here are a few quick points to ponder. 

The Global CIO role comes with its own set of challenges. In my view, while coordinating with diverse P&Ls, the key challenge is to develop an effective common platform that they can leverage, and to establish certain common platforms in a situation where these have not been established before.  

One of the biggest challenges that every CIO faces is to plug the leakage of intellectual property through social media sites and mobile devices. However, there are some simple steps that organizations can take to address the challenges posed by cybercriminals lurking on social media sites. 

Often, we mistake the symptom for the problem and try to attack the former. Sometimes we get into problem-solving mode without even understanding the problem. This happens because of multi-tasking and the pressure to perform faster. The best way to avoid mistakes is to find the real problem. This also enables the person questioning the user to analyze in various perspectives.