云時代CIO速寫

????過去20年中，企業里很少有哪個高管的角色像首席信息官一樣活躍。這些年來，首席信息官的職責發生了很大的轉變。上世紀90年代，首席信息官主要負責軟硬件的部署，后來隨著企業IT部門紛紛將軟件開發和數據中心業務外包出去，管理外部承包商就成了首席信息官的主要職責。不過隨著云計算和移動技術這兩項關鍵技術的興起，如今首席信息官的角色又在經歷新一輪的轉變。

????這兩種新興技術在獲取信息的方面為我們提供了兩種史無前例的途徑，首席信息官們以何種方式應對這次技術變革或許將決定他們所在的企業在未來幾年內的競爭力。云計算和移動技術也是連接顧客的全新模式，這種聯系產生的信息量是過去難以估量的。它們不僅提供了一種新的經濟模式，同時也需要企業具備新的數據管理技術。

????為了保持企業的競爭力，首席信息官們必須成為“信息企業家”，促進企業內的創新和業務模式改革。今天的首席信息官一方面要做商人，另一方面要做首席技術官，要能夠利用科技的消費化趨勢，在依托于云端的移動世界里與商業伙伴、企業員工以及顧客建立聯系——否則就只能眼睜睜地看著競爭對手搶得先機。

????云技術已經在消費領域蓬勃發展起來，其代表產品有文件存儲服務Dropbox、亞馬遜（Amazon）和谷歌文檔（Google Docs）等?，F在云技術正在朝企業領域進軍。企業再也不用像過去一樣為了創新而發出什么建議征求書了，因為現在企業已經沒有必要再添加內部服務器或構建新的軟件。憑借云技術和低成本的移動設備，加上靈活的開發方式以及大數據和內存技術，企業現在可以以非常低的成本進行創新。首席信息官們不應抗拒這種概念，而應該順應形勢，將它看成一種釋放創新能力的途徑。

????荷蘭國際集團旗下的ING Direct網上銀行就是個很好的例子。它是目前最大的網絡銀行。這家銀行并不害怕云技術——因為他們自身就代表了云技術。如果沒有云技術，它就無法生存。與許多傳統銀行相比，ING Direct能夠更快地適應顧客的需求。在收購了第一資本銀行（Capital One）之后，ING宣布將推出一種遠程存款服務。顧客可以通過個人電腦直接將支票存入個人帳戶，也可以使用ING Direct的移動應用給支票拍一張照片，輕松完成儲蓄?，F在ING Direct一邊在思考如何令未來的交易系統更加支持這種支票即時成像功能，一邊已經把視野放在了傳統的批次處理系統之外，考慮著如何讓顧客直接通過手機處理個人賬戶。

????除了創新潛能之外，云技術還有一些實際的好處。項目成功后，企業可以迅速、無縫地擴大項目的容納能力，而無需投入大量的先期資金成本。具有前瞻性的首席信息官會建立安全的、基于云端的“沙盤”，而員工則可以在上面構建新的業務模型。如果項目成功了，屆時就有了支持自動擴容的經濟和技術基礎。這種做法顯著減小了創新帶來的風險和摩擦，同時也讓首席信息官具備了提高企業競爭力的能力。

????隨著越來越多的公司開始接受移動設備，云計算也將變得越來越重要。處理器、網速和內存能力都已達到一個拐點，消費者已經可以隨身處理搜索、電子郵件、地圖和日歷等事項。智能手機和平板電腦大行其道，以至于專家預測，等到了2014年，老式的個人電腦占所有聯網設備的份額可能會下降到20%以下。智能設備的興起也意味著數據的井噴，而這需要大量的基礎架構，另外還需改進儲存和分析這些數據的傳統技術。簡言之，現在越來越多的公司都已經開始去防火墻之外去解決這些問題，而不是在防火墻內，因此“云經濟”和新的商業模式已然不可避免。

????企業不應該認為自己對這種轉變免疫?，F在員工都希望可以在自己的移動設備上同時連入商務數據和自己的私人數據。人們不會在乎自己的工作和生活攪在一起。新一代的年輕人很難理解為什么老板必須控制自己的手機或平板電腦。許多企業要想招募到最優秀、最聰明的年輕人才，就必須允許員工將自己的設備帶進工作場所，同時提供鼓勵創新和連通性的環境。

????Few key roles in a company are as dynamic as the CIO has been over the past 20 years. CIOs have come a long way, from implementing hardware and software packages in the 1990s to managing outside contractors when economics pushed IT departments to outsource software development and data centers. Yet another shift is now redefining the role of CIO, driven by two key technologies: cloud and mobile.

????Both offer unprecedented access to information, and the way CIOs approach these innovations can determine the competitiveness of their companies in the next few years. Cloud and mobile technologies are entirely new models for connecting to customers that produce previously unfathomable data, require new data management technologies, and offer a new economic model.

????To keep their companies competitive, CIOs must be "intrepreneurs," driving innovation and new business models within their companies. One part businessperson, one part Chief Technology Officer, today's CIOs can capitalize on the consumerization of technology to connect with business partners, employees, and customers in the cloud-based, mobile world they inhabit―or face competitors that do.

????The cloud has been thriving in the consumer space, led by products like Dropbox, Amazon (AMZN), and Google (GOOG) Docs. Now the cloud is working its way into the enterprise. Gone are the days when a company needed RFPs to innovate. Proposals for adding in-house servers or building new software just aren't necessary anymore. Cloud-based technologies and low-cost mobile devices, plus agile development methodologies in tandem with big data and in-memory technologies allow companies to innovate at a very low cost. CIOs shouldn't fight this notion; they should embrace it as a philosophy for unlocking innovation.

????ING Direct is a great example. They are the largest Internet-based bank. They don't fear the cloud―they are the cloud. Their business couldn't exist without these technologies. They adapt to customer demands faster than many traditional banks. Following its merger with Capital One (COF), ING announced the coming of a remote deposit service. Customers will be able to deposit checks directly into their accounts from their computers or by simply taking a picture of a check with the ING Direct mobile app. As they think about the future of their transactional systems to support this instant imaging of checks, they are already looking beyond traditional batch systems in an effort to provide straight through processing from their customers' phones to their accounts.

????Beyond the innovative possibilities, the cloud also has practical benefits. Businesses can quickly and seamlessly scale their capacity as projects become successful without large up-front capital costs. Proactive CIOs will create secure, cloud-based sandboxes where employees can build new business models. If and when the project is successful, the economics are there and the technology is there to support auto scaling. This dramatically reduces the risk and friction of innovation and makes the CIO an enabler of competitiveness.

????The cloud will be especially crucial as more companies embrace mobile devices. Processors, networking speeds, and memory capacity have all hit an inflection point, putting search, email, maps, and calendars in consumers' hands. Phones and tablets have become so popular that experts predict that good old personal computers will make up less than 20 percent of the devices connected to the Internet by 2014. This proliferation of smart devices means a proliferation of data. A proliferation of data will require massive infrastructure and a re-consideration of the traditional technologies used to store and analyze this data. Simply put, there are more companies solving these problems outside of the firewall than inside the firewall, which makes the economics and the business model inevitable.

????Businesses can't assume that they are immune to this shift. Employees now expect access to both business data and personal data on their mobile devices. People barely blink when their business and private lives intermingle. The millennium generation hardly understands the concept of their employer owning their phone or tablet. Many companies will need to let employees bring their own devices in order to recruit the best and brightest of the newest generation of workers and provide environments that encourage innovation and connectivity.