Convergence, Yes; Alignment, No - ' Obsolete Enabler'

For some companies, is it sufficient to just be aligned?
Any company for whom technology is a strategic enabler will become obsolete if it doesn't reach the convergence stage.

Are "converged" companies early adopters of technology?
A company does not have to be an early adopter of technology to be converged. In fact, it's a misnomer to think that just using new technologies makes you converged. Many of the companies that are not doing so well have new technology. They are misusing technologies. Now, we don't argue with the idea that companies have to adopt newer and newer technologies. Technology is getting better and better every day. The question is, do you utilize technology to make business better?

We're seeing evidence that CFOs are playing a bigger role in IT decisions. Are you seeing it too?
IT is very much an investment decision. So I'm in violent agreement with the view that the CFO is becoming more important in IT from an investment and legal point of view. CFOs are the owner of that, so their role will increase on that matter.

If CFOs are playing a larger role in IT, does it mean CIOs' role is growing smaller?
That's where the difference between the obsolete CIO and next generation CIOs come into play. Someone has to know technology usage. The CFO's role is not technology usage, but analyzing from a financial point or view whether IT investments are good or bad investments, and how we make money from operating cost. So it's not an either/or tradeoff for CIOs, but how they rise to the occasion. Are you the person who decides which desktop to buy, or what the sales and channels should be? I always see a CIO's role increase when he or she takes that point of view and develop the higher level skills they need. But I see few CIOs like that.