• Explain the roles and responsibilities of an information technology department to support an
organization’s IT strategy
CIO Organizational Structure Memo
For this assignment, you will assume the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at KYLOD (i.e., you
are Jenny). Since you are KYLOD’s first CIO, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has asked you for a plan
for the organizational changes you need to make. One of the first things you realize is that the
organization that exists is just an ‘IT Department’ and you know that what KYLOD needs, and has hired
you to do, is to create an organization that fulfills the broad responsibilities of a Chief Information Officer.
You know that your proposal needs to be convincing to the CFO in order for you to get the resources you
need.
Assignment
You will develop a memorandum addressed to the CFO that explains how you want to change your IT
Department into a CIO organization and why. Your memo will address each of the topics listed below,
and should be written so that it flows well from one section to the next. In addition to the course
materials, at least one external resource (resource other than those provided in the class) must be used.
Two or more cited references will earn top credit. Use a separate References page to list just
the references you have cited. Remember to use the APA formatting rules and correctly cite and
reference your sources with APA format. The assignment must be submitted to Turn-It-In. Both
the Turn-It-In Report and Assignment should be uploaded to the assignment folder or the
assignment will not be graded until both are uploaded. Use the Grading Rubric to be sure you
have covered everything. Submit your memo in a Microsoft Word memo format, or a document that can
be read using Word that uses a memorandum format, with your last name included in the
filename.
Please include the following in your memorandum, ensuring that each section flows well to the next, and
that the overall memo creates a compelling justification for your new organizational structure.
• Introduction and Purpose – Open your memo with a brief (2 or 3 sentences) explanation of why
you are writing it.
• Leadership Philosophy – Since you are the CIO and a member of the senior leadership team of
KYLOD, it is important for the other members of the team to understand your leadership
philosophy and the management style you will use to meet the company’s needs. This should be
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a short paragraph that ties to the priorities and/or issues outlined in the Case Study, and lays the
foundation for the organizational structure you will propose below. Refer to course readings and
presentations on leadership. This is also a good area in which to do some external research.
• Internal IT Strategies – To show how your IT organization will support KYLOD, you will present
and explain five internal IT strategies. For Part 2 of your IT Strategic Plan, you provided at least
one example of an internal IT strategy. Identify your internal IT strategy from the ITSP #2
assignment, then add four more internal IT strategies, so that you have a total of five. The
strategies you develop must address: people, process and technology – at least one strategy for
each. Describe each of the five strategies, identify if they address people, process or technology
and explain how they will help improve the organization’s effectiveness. Refer to the “Creating a
Future Vision for the Chief Information Officer” from Week 2 for an explanation of internal and
external (business-enabling) IT strategies.
Please use the following table, copying/pasting it into your assignment (add lines if needed):
Internal IT Strategy
Description
People, Process, or
Technology
Explanation how this IT
Strategy will Help
Improve the
Organization’s
Effectiveness
• Current IT Department Structure – Use the information provided in the Case Study to draw an
organization chart depicting the current roles and responsibilities. You may take some liberties in
how you align the staff that is described in the Case Study, but all IT staff positions or groups
must be included in the structure. Be sure to introduce or explain your org chart in the memo.
Refer to course materials for an example of an IT organization chart. You may use the Shapes
tool or the SmartArt tool to develop your organizational hierarchy chart, or you may paste in your
chart from another drawing tool.
• New CIO Organization – Explain in a paragraph or two how a CIO organization is different from
an IT Department. Be sure to create a transition from the previous section. This may be an area
for you to do some external research.
• Key Services – List and explain at least five key services (more than five will earn top credit)
that need to be included in your new CIO organizational structure. You may eliminate functions
or positions from your current organizational structure if you believe it will improve your
effectiveness and/or efficiency; these should be explained. You should also add (and explain)
any functions that you will need in your new organization. Be sure these services are appropriate
to your IT strategies and note how each relates in your disc
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Please use the following table, copying/pasting it into your assignment (add lines if needed):
Key Service IT Strategy/Key Service’s Relationship
to IT Strategy
• New CIO Organization Structure – Briefly explain what changes you will make and why. Draw an
organization chart depicting your new CIO organizational structure. Be sure that the key services
you listed are covered by the new organizational structure. (Follow the guidelines for drawing the
organization chart given above for the current organization.)
• Key Milestones – Your memo should include at least five key milestones (tasks or events) (more
than five will earn top credit) associated with accomplishing the changes that you see are
needed to change the IT Department into a CIO organization. Each milestone should be briefly
described (in a sentence or two) and a target completion date should be shown. In addition, for
each milestone you should identify at least one issue or concern you have with accomplishing it.
An example using a milestone not related to the organization might be: The milestone is to
consolidate all servers into a new data center by Oct 2017. Some issues might be: (1) a secure
data center must be located, (2) it will require significant downtime for the corporate servers,
and (3) the initial cost will be high.
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