How CIOs Balance Flexibility and Reliability in Uncertain Business Environments

The Information Technology (IT) organization has evolved from a backroom support function to a strategic business partner in organizations that use information technology to provide competitive advantages. Today, IT organizations operate within turbulent business environments dealing with change and uncertainty, supporting businesses struggling to survive while also demanding advanced IT to stay competitive. Rapidly changing IT is a major component of turbulent business environments. This results in an IT management paradox – rather than stabilize IT infrastructures and minimize technology changes, chief information officers (CIOs) should be encouraging and embracing the very IT improvements that are contributing to the turbulent business environments. They must be aware of the environmental impact of change and uncertainty and develop flexible IT organizations to minimize threats and leverage opportunities. The long term goal of this research is to develop an IT flexibility framework to create and manage an IT organization that is flexible and agile, yet is still reliable and cost-effective. This paper focuses on the early aspects of this research – understanding how conditions affecting change and uncertainty impact the IT organizations and its flexibility.