The Practical CIO: A Common Sense Guide for Successful IT LeadershipAuthor: Jos_ Carlos EirasForeword by Tony Scott, CIO, MicrosoftIn today's ultra-competitive economy, IT must deliver solutions that enable the business to achieve its goals. IT must be aligned with the business; the goals of IT and the rest of the enterprise must be compatible and mutually supporting.The modern CIO must develop a comprehensive IT strategy that maintains the alignment between IT and the rest of the enterprise. In addition to supporting the business, IT must also be ready to drive the business.Few executives understand this better than Jos_ Carlos Eiras, the former CIO of GM Europe. In addition to holding key executive posts at GM, Eiras has also been a senior executive at General Floods, Philip Morris, DHL and other leading global enterprises.The Practical CIO examines the challenges facing IT from the perspective of top management. It is an invaluable guide to strategy and success in the modern business environment.Why is The Practical CIO necessary reading now?As the global economy evolves and transforms, IT executives face dilemmas of truly mythic proportions. Despite understandable feelings of helplessness, they must still choose their destiny. Whether they emerge as heroes or scapegoats is up to them.The Practical CIO focuses on 10 manageable strategies for success:1. Build a great team. As the manager of an indispensable organization within a larger business, one of your primary responsibilities is attracting, nurturing, promoting, motivating and preserving talent. This responsibility to find and manage talent extends well beyond the traditional boundaries of the company to include vendors, consultants, business partners and all the various outsourcers that IT depends upon. A deep pool of talent is a great asset and the best hedge against the uncertainties of a bad economy.2. Proactively establish goals for IT. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do or you'll always be trailing the pack. In a challenging economy, it's actually easier to set realistic goals and accomplish them than it is during periods of rapid growth. Since all areas of the business are in a cost-cutting mode, now is the perfect time to simplify your IT landscape by eliminating legacy systems and redundant components. Remember, IT owns the systems, so there's no excuse for not acting swiftly when the opportunity arises to ditch a costly and inefficient legacy system and replace or revamp it with a more cost-effective alternative.3. Design the IT strategy. Even in the best of times, you could not raise capital for a business unless it had a strategic plan. Think of IT as a business and think of your company's board of directors as a group of venture capitalists. Write out a strategy for IT, share it with the board and use that strategy as the template for everything you do.4. Hold all of your vendors accountable. Make certain they are delivering on their promises to you. Remember, they're part of your team. Manage your relationships with them and make sure the contracts you sign reflect your business needs and not just the needs of your vendors.5. Before negotiating do your homework. Very few CIOs relish the prospect of negotiating contracts with suppliers. Even fewer of them enjoy renegotiating contracts. But in a difficult economy, sometimes you need to bite the bullet, call a supplier and say, "You know, this deal just isn't working." That's when you need all your ducks in a row, because renegotiating a contract requires more than courage - you need to know precisely what you're trying to achieve and be ready to offer alternatives.6. Manage contracts, don't just sign them. Negotiating a good contract can be a burdensome

JOSÉ CARLOS EIRAS was most recently CIO at DHL Express U.S.A., a division of Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN), the world's leading logistics and transportation company. Prior to joining DHL, he served as European CIO and Global Services Information Officer at General Motors. He has also held top executive posts at General Foods, Philip Morris, and other multinational corporations. Eiras is a recognized industry expert and respected IT consultant; he has a solid foundation of support in the global IT community.