CIO imperatives: Optimization and innovation 

In a struggling economy – and even in an unsettled period of recovery – the words optimization and innovation form the basis of nearly every executive's rallying cry around the world. The in­tent, or rather the goal, is to inspire employees to streamline operations, reduce costs and increase productiv­ity, while laying down a solid founda­tion for growth in advance of better economic times.

As the CIO of SAS, I witness every day how these themes form the nucleus of our IT department’s strategic plan and guide my management team’s actions. I view the role of CIO as being similar to that of a ship’s head engineer, who manages the technical operations of a large vessel. It’s a critical organizational role; even more so in stormy waters.

With this in mind, the alignment, ef­ficiency and focus of my team plays an essential role in maintaining SAS’ market leadership, by applying high standards of service to meet internal and external customer expectations. I expect many of you are in the same boat.

Today, as CIOs, we must approach optimization and innovation from three standpoints: people, process and technology. In terms of people and pro­cess, we need to focus on things such as efficiency, agility, change management and productivity, and every employee should be empowered to find ways of improving and innovating each day.

Where technology is concerned, cost-effectiveness, integration, consolidation, globalization, operational insight and virtualization will be critical to achieving more with less and, ultimately, improving organizational performance.

The issues we face today as CIOs are truly global in nature. Collaboration and sharing of best practices amongst senior IT executives will provide a fertile ground for achieving our mutual goals of optimization and innovation and it's in this spirit that the current CIO Insights report has been compiled. In these pages we address some key challenges and opportunities for CIOs today. The articles and case studies, gathered from around the world, are meant to inform, inspire and to motivate you as IT leaders, in your ongoing efforts to optimize and innovate – in waters both calm and rough.

Bio: Chief Information Officer Suzanne Gordon oversees the IT infrastructure and support services at SAS. A past ComputerWorld  Premier 100 IT leader, Gordon has held a number of IT and consulting leadership positions in her 30-year tenure at SAS.

Chief Information Officer Suzanne Gordon oversees the IT infrastructure and support services at SAS.