In the fourth and final part of his series of blogs on the first 100 days as a new CIO, Alex Blues, Head of IT Sourcing at PA Consulting Group, reinforces the need to deliver projects on budget and to ensure the CIO’s visibility on the board spreads beyond IT-focused subjects.

We have already seen that a CIO’s budget will typically contain over 60 per cent in capital expenditure and business-driven projects. While the decision to do these projects may not rest with the CIO, they must ensure they are delivered well.

Typically, business cases are constructed on the basis of savings made, efficiencies gained, or revenue generated. When delivering complex transition projects, a useful approach is to start transitioning and signing off on key items that deliver benefits early and pushing items which deliver less value out to the end of the programme. Little thought is given to delivering parts of a project early, gaining some of the benefits early and maximising the return on investment. However this approach means the benefits can start hitting the bottom line straight away.

A final recommendation for newly appointed CIOs is to take advantage of their unique position in the senior management team. The knowledge a CIO has about the link between strategy and IT can prove invaluable in helping the company develop its corporate strategy. A CIO must put their hand up to take a big part in corporate strategy. This must not however be done at the expense of the day to day service – no CEO is going to trust you to deliver the company strategy if his PA's internet access is down.

My recommendation is to spend the first 100 days making a difference that will be felt sooner rather than later. Easing yourself in gently may seem the safe alternative, but by the time you start wanting to make real change, your honeymoon period will be over and you will not be forgiven so easily.

Alex Blues, Head of IT Sourcing, at PA Consulting Group