1. Think process, not event

Modernization remains a constant item on the CIO to-do list, so the task should be a standard part of IT’s schedule.

“Companies that do well have turned modernization into a process instead of an event. It has to be a continual process or you end up playing catchup,” says Robert Dvorak, president and CEO of advisory firm BlueHour Technology. “You have to have a process that you adhere to; you have to make it a continual function within IT.”

Dvorak worked with one CIO who managed the IT environment like an investment portfolio, ranking components as either buy, hold, or sell. Those deemed “sell” were slated for modernization first, while those categorized as “buys” and “holds” were driving the business or fundamental to the business. Dvorak says the approach may be novel, but it created an effective process for ongoing evaluation, continuous modernization, and rationalization.

2. Create a framework to guide decisions

Michael Bradshaw, who has held the CIO position at Kyndryl since the IT service management company spun off from IBM in 2021, developed a framework around five core guiding principles to facilitate key IT decisions.

Those principles are data centric, platform first, cloud based, automation led, and zero trust (so that everything is secure from the start).

“This helps us move faster, because it’s the rubric for how we make decisions; it guides us,” Bradshaw explains. “Having this framework that outlines the principles allows us not to get bogged down in the process but to remain focused on making principle-driven decisions.”