The Adventures of an It Leader - Book Review Essay

The Adventures of an IT leader is more of a fiction. It shifts its chief attention to the problems present-day Chief Information Officers face. The book focuses on a company known as IVK Corporation. Jim Barton, the main character in the book appears to be shocked when the CEO tells him that he would be the companies next CIO. In the beginning, it is not very clear whether the task is too big for him or why he was surprised by the call. To make matters worse, Joe who was initially the head of loaning operations was a prominent critic of the IT department. The irony evident in that part of the story makes it more captivating.

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As the story unfolds, gets himself ready for the new task the company has accorded him. The book paints him as a non-technical person, but he is willing to learn what he does not know. The literature is a manifestation of the challenges faced by all CIOs. It is never an easy task. From the first chapter of the book to the last, Joe has something new to learn as far as information technology is concerned. The logic behind hidden IT cost and all the mystery surrounding the IT budget is among the first things he gets to understand in his new capacity. Later on in the book, he is pressured by other leaders within the corporation to explain the value of IT. Although he finds it hard, he tries his best to save himself from the harassment. Through his day to day activities, he has to deal with multiple challenges among them formulation of a concise IT portfolio as well as project management. The company is in a crisis of the delivery method to be used. He has to make tough decisions on the delivery method to be used and why. He is torn in between Waterfall and Agile.

In the progress of the story, Joe experiences his first crisis in his capacity as a CIO (Austin, 34). The company's network is under serious threat after hackers gain access to it. He learns that after he is informed while having lunch with the company's head of infrastructure. At this point, Joe exposes the former CIO who could not cater for the security of the system. He is much determined to take care of the mess. He appears very much worried because it is his department and more so, some senior members of the company had been fired after the menace. As the story ends, Joes matures in his role and can provide the best services to the company. He gets to learn other aspects of the influence of emerging technologies on IT and the balancing of human resource.

Just in his line of duty, Joe had various proposals for various projects. However very few members of the company would back him, and if they did, they were all over him. That provoked him to an extent they had to join hand with Maggie to prove a point to the doubters. He has two primary objectives that he is eager to achieve. The first is to identify a means of funding IT projects and then to review the mechanisms used by the company to support IT projects alongside the criteria for selection. In his review of the Volkswagen America, Joe comes up with a series of ideas on how it is to done systematically without necessarily leaving the entire workload to the IT department. It is unfortunate that not even the CEO of the company is on his side no matter the good work. The book is an accurate reflection of the challenges that CIOs face in their daily activities. They ought to stand tall and follow their professional ethics and as well help in the achievement of business set objectives.

Works Cited

Austin, Robert D, et al. The Adventures of an It Leader. Harvard Business School Publishing, 2016.