Driving transformation with IT starts with transforming IT

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.

I was just perusing the Enterprise CIO Forum and noticed the video of Canadian Pacific’s CIO Heather Campbell titled Canadian Pacific CIO transforms IT function.  In the video, the CIO describes the transformation if the Canadian Pacific IT group and their long road from an ‘under-performing’ group that was underfunded to a group that could deliver strategic technology projects to their clientele within just a few weeks.

There are some pretty interesting things discussed in this video…I’d highly recommend jumping over to watch it…its short but packed with good stuff.  After you watch it…drop back over and let’s digest what was said…I’ll wait.

Let’s discuss… 🙂

Ms. Campbell had the wisdom to understand that the IT group was under-performing..and had historically under-performed for the organization.  She understood the issues and immediately sought to rectify them.

So…what was the first thing she did…or at least the first thing she reported she did?  She didn’t reorganize. She didn’t bring in consulting companies.  She did something much more simple…much more relevant.

She and her IT team sat down with the business to understand how they can work better together.  In fact, they initiated a strategic planning process to build the first IT and Business Strategy in the history of the organization.

The next step? Build an agile environment.  Not necessarily an “Agile” environment…but one of flexibility and agility.

Canadian Pacific build a fast moving, capable and responsive team that is focused on the business’ needs…and from our outside vantage point – things look really good for Canadian Pacific, their CIO and their IT staff. The Canadian Pacific IT team transformed themselves from an under-performing organization to one that is looked at as a business partner and one that provides true competitive advantage to the organization.

A great quick video and story of how a CIO and IT has transformed themselves – and their organization – by focusing first on the business and then on the technology to meet business objectives.

Image Credit: Change By tidefan on flickr

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.