The Four Major Points to the Success of a Government CIO 1

The Four Major Points to the Success of a Government CIOBased on Executive Summary: The Successes & Failures of a Governmental Chief Information Officer

Case Study on Management Styles

by E. Rey Garcia, MPA CandidateThe University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)

PAFF 6315: Management of Government Information SystemsFall 2015, Module One

September 14, 2015

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The Executive Summary on the Successes & Failures of a Government Chief Information

Officer (CIO), summarizes the framework by case study on the types of management styles that a

public CIO should or should not follow. Four major point are essential in order for the CIO to

succeed at project management.

The Four Major Points to Success:

Stay Current – A successful CIO must stay current with the latest government

technologies. Become an active member of IT associations, attend national IT

conferences, trainings, webinars, online courses, etc.

Be an Innovator – A successful CIO is an innovator or trendsetter. Be a leader of

technology, not a follower.

Know Your Literature – The success of a CIO depends on his or her knowledge of the

projects. Immerse yourself, without micromanaging your staff in the research, planning,

design and all technical methodology that the project entails. By knowing your literature,

you will be able to sell your idea.

Sell Your Idea – A successful CIO must engage with staff, department heads,

administrators, city council, and public. It is also imperative that the CIO builds lasting

relationships with vendors who do business with the agency. This will ease the process of

The Four Major Points to the Success of a Government CIO 2

selling your idea to the administration and the community when the budget planning

process begins.

A successful CIO must be able to influence by staying current and finding the right infrastructure

that is within budget for the agency. The CIO must possess analytical skills and know the

technical aspects of the project at hand. Finally, the CIO must be a project leader and have both a

vision and a destination with a strong delivery team that is well-trained and knowledgeable of the

literature.

References:

Brown, E. (2009, July 30). Project Success and Failure and The New CIO - Eric D. Brown. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from http://ericbrown.com/project-success-and-failure-and-the-new-cio.htm

Expert Project Management: Project Manager to Project Leader? - A Definition of Project Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2015, from http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/leader/definition.htm