CIOs: 'Focus on leadership, environment and new techs'

IT leaders need to address issues as diverse as leadership succession, environmental impact, their relationship with HR and new technologies as they head into 2007, said analyst Gartner in its annual CIO New Year Resolutions.

Top of the list is the need to address the imminent loss of senior members of IT departments. With many CIOs due to retire in the next few years there will be a huge loss of knowledge and wisdom that is already creating uncertainty in IT departments.

In the research note, Gartner VP Mark Raskino urged CIOs to "identify your best Generation X people born in the 60s and 70s, then start giving them challenging projects and operational responsibilities to complete their experience".

Environmental concerns will also need attention in 2007. Raskino told silicon.com that IT chiefs need to lessen their departments' impact on climate change by looking at ways to reduce power consumption and carbon output.

Encouraging home working, for example, would reduce petrol emissions, significantly reducing a company's carbon footprint.

With new technologies creating changes in how people work, next year IT leaders will need to work closely with HR managers to help companies to adapt. Work styles such as remote working and what Gartner calls "collective intelligence" - collaborative knowledge-sharing through wikis and the like - will only become more commonplace over the next 12 months, Raskino said.

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Raskino warns CIOs will probably face a "lack of comprehension from the HR department" on technical issues but "his or her challenge is to overcome that".

Despite the hype over Windows Vista, Gartner advises CIOs to focus on developments such as web 2.0 rather than worrying about whether to upgrade to Microsoft's new operating system. Raskino said in the research note: "Make your decision about a technology and then stop debating it."

Gartner also suggested CIOs take time to learn about useful "trend-setting" technologies such as virtual communities like Second Life and 3D printing. A corporate presence in Second Life could give a company exposure to new demographics, while 3D printing technology, as it becomes cheaper and more reliable, could prove useful to businesses that require models and product prototypes.

Raskino said by learning about emerging tech, CIOs will be able to avoid "getting hijacked in meetings and corridors" by their tech-savvy employees and be able to form their own views about new business tools.

So what should CIOs stop doing in 2007? IT leaders should refuse to accept further reductions to IT budgets to fund other areas of business, according to Gartner. They should instead focus on using savings from one IT project to fund another.

Raskino told silicon.com the resolutions are all about "nagging stuff" that IT leaders "could do, should do but don't get around to".