The CIO for SMB

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Check out this excerpt from the folks over at CIOZone.com. They recently interviewed Peter Coffee from SalesForce.com about the future of the IT business with respect to cloud computing.

Here are some of the important points that I take away from it:

• The IT department for most companies will shrink due to cloud computing and outsourcing.
• Most SMB will be able to reduce the size of their data center dramatically by utilizing the cloud.
• The Cloud will allow SMBs to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

How will the CIO’s role change as the result of the cloud and virtualization?

He’ll be less of a capital budget and procurement person and more process-oriented. And he’ll be sitting at the head table discussing business opportunities and competitive issues. In the past, CIOs would note on their resumes that they successfully managed an SAP implementation for a Fortune 500 company. You’re not going to see that anymore.

Where is this new breed of CIOs going to come from?

In the past, they came up through the cargo hatch of the IT or MIS department. Today they’re more likely to be a vice president of a business unit who has moved into the CIO slot.

And the IT department itself?

It’s growing much smaller and will function less like divisions of infantry and more like a special forces unit with a very specific mission to add value. Capgemini came out with a study recently saying that IT was almost disappearing.

Read the entire article at CIOZone.com.