The New Normal in IT. Gregory S. Smith

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       Managing Electronic Records: Methods, Best Practices, and Technologies by Robert F. Smallwood

       On Top of the Cloud: How CIOs Leverage New Technologies to Drive Change and Build Value Across the Enterprise by Hunter Muller

       Straight to the Top: CIO Leadership in a Mobile, Social, and Cloud-based World (Second Edition) by Gregory S. Smith

       Strategic IT: Best Practices for Managers and Executives, Second Edition by Arthur M. Langer and Lyle Yorks

       Trust and Partnership: Strategic IT Management for Turbulent Times by Robert Benson

       Transforming IT Culture: How to Use Social Intelligence, Human Factors, and Collaboration to Create an IT Department That Outperforms by Frank Wander

       Unleashing the Power of IT: Bringing People, Business, and Technology Together, Second Edition by Dan Roberts

       The U.S. Technology Skills Gap: What Every Technology Executive Must Know to Save America's Future by Gary J. Beach

THE NEW NORMAL IN IT

      HOW THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC CHANGED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOREVER

       Gregory S. Smith

Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

      Published simultaneously in Canada.

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       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Smith, Gregory S., 1963- author.

      Title: The new normal in IT : how the global pandemic changed information technology forever / Gregory S. Smith.

      Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2022] | Includes index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2021056410 (print) | LCCN 2021056411 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119839767 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119839781 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119839774 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Data processing service centers. | Information technology. | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020—Influence.

      Classification: LCC HD9696.C62 S548 2022 (print) | LCC HD9696.C62 (ebook) | DDC 005.74—dc23/eng/20211228

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021056410

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021056411

      Cover Design: Wiley

      Cover Image(s): © amtitus/Getty Images, Who is Danny/Shutterstock

In memory of Sondra Lundy Schaeffer.

      This book is dedicated to all the professionals in the medical community, first responders, essential employees, and IT experts for getting us through the worst of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

PREFACE

      For the past 30 years, I've had the pleasure of working in the IT industry across a variety of sectors (financial services, Big 5 management and IT consulting, U.S. national security/defense, environmental, public policy, education, and healthcare). During my career, some areas of knowledge and experience have become more important in the strategic role as a chief information officer/chief technology officer (CIO/CTO) than others. Until 2020, the information technology (IT) operational and strategic playbooks for various industries were pretty set and focused around deploying applications, knowledge management systems, technology infrastructure via a mix of cloud and on-premises installations, and security – mostly centered around physical office buildings and data centers where most staff worked. As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic that originated in early 2020, everything IT related has changed and will likely remain different forever. Companies are moving to full or partial remote workers with more tolerance for broader geographical ranges of resources. In addition, they are shedding corporate office locations or at a minimum, reducing the office footprint significantly to reduce costs. Why? Because the pandemic of 2020–2021 showed how valuable information technology can be to an organization and that we have proven that organizations are more productive working remotely away from expensive corporate office buildings.

      The role of the CIO/CTO going forward will change globally forever as a result. The purpose of this book is to share with others my experience and predictions alongside other CIOs across a diverse set of sectors (energy, manufacturing, academia, transportation, consumer products, financial services, and nonprofits) regarding the future strategy deployment of technology post Covid-19. I plan to cover three broad areas. First, what the postpandemic new normal looks like for IT leaders regarding resource sourcing, the office of the future and how collaboration tools will continue to accelerate a hybrid office/remote work force across the globe. Second, I will discuss how risk mitigation and specifically disaster recovery testing and planning will adapt to include worst-case scenarios. Third, my CxO (CIO, CISO, COO, and CEO) panel and I will share how today's CIOs are adapting their IT governance approach to meet the new IT normal and how key performance indicators will likely