Catching Up With The CIO

It goes without saying that corporate chief information officers (CIOs) have plenty on their plates: maintaining budgets, getting and retaining capable staff, keeping up with ever-evolving technology. And the challenges change and grow depending on the industry the CIO works in.

Many CIOs cite universal challenges, such as the rapid pace of change, staffing acquisition and retention, and the need to drive innovation within the company. But others face hurdles that are particular to their employers’ business.

“We’re in an industry that is a mix of financial services and manufacturing,” says Mike Degeneffe, senior vice president and CIO for Shoreview-based Deluxe Financial Services, a division of check printer Deluxe Corporation that deals with banks and credit unions. “These industries have very different challenges and cost pressures. Our business requires a systems infrastructure that enables rapid product introductions with strong information privacy and security controls, delivered in the most cost-effective way.”

"We are counting on technology standardization to reduce our system complexity."

“Globalization,” says Dave Brady, vice president of global IT for Eden Prairie–based telecommunications company ADC, when asked what his biggest daily issue is. “We face the challenges of transforming business processes and IT systems to support global markets and supply chains. In addition, there is the challenge of competition from low-cost manufacturers that results in significant cost pressures.”

Cris Ross, CIO for health care retailer Minneapolis-based MinuteClinic, says, “For health care providers, I believe the key issues are implementation of electronic medical records systems to improve quality and lower costs; and keeping up with innovations introduced by health care payers, like pay-for-performance and consumer-directed health care plans.”

Similarly, Joanne Sunquist, CIO for Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, cites interoperability—the capability of different programs to exchange data via a common set of business procedures—and the rapid emergence of new computerized medical equipment and information technology.