CIOs are the new stewards of the supply chain. Due to the growing digital footprint and impact of systems and architecture with business processes, their role has become more important than ever.

Here are eight steps CIOs and IT decision makers can take to successfully work with the supply chain: 

1. Make time to manage both IT and the supply chain

CIOs juggle many different priorities and can struggle to meet competitive demands. As IT and business processes become more interconnected, CIO's should contribute more to business strategy such as the supply chain. 

But many organizations have a centralized 'information' function, which is where enterprise resource platforms come into play. ERPs bring together the IT and business processes for a more succinct and efficient strategic execution.

2. Negotiate buy-in

While the CIO can manage the supply chain, partnering is crucial. Information leaders need to think carefully about how their function supports the supply chain and ensure there is a structure in place to encourage collaboration. Managing the matrix of logistics, vendor relationships, IT and finance requires oversight and negotiation skills with functional managers.

3. Participate in the sales process

CIOs have not traditionally played a central role in sales, but there is a real opportunity for them to provide insight to the process to help ensure alignment across functions. The CIO's detachment from the day-to-day operations allows them to bring external perspective whilst they ensure everyone is in sync with objectives.

4. Own organizations' data

Many companies rely on disparate data sources in multiple functional areas to operate. Through the elimination of information silos from the business that presents a single source of truth, CIOs can prevent information overload and confusion.

While the ERP was designed to bring data sources together, data lakes present a massive problem — there's no reliable way to extract insights. IDC estimates that unstructured content accounts for 90% of all digital data, much of which is locked away across a variety of data stores in different locations and in various formats.

5. Stay involved throughout the procurement spend cycle

Procurement goes beyond budget responsibility as the "gatekeeper" — it prepares the business case for vendor engagement. Through the matrix of 'buy/build/invest/partner,' procurement can provide information to partners in the supply chain about how to be more effective in making spend choices.

CIO's as supply chain stewards can provide a lot of input, especially around the investment life cycle. From contracting a service provider through to managing performance and KPIs, re-contracting or replacing the technology, CIOs are powerful because of their role as the chief owner of IT systems and the terabytes of stored data.

6. Focus the supply chain on the metrics that matter

Companies choose metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the supply chain to deal with specific challenges and priorities. However, when there are too many different KPIs, the result can be confusion and lack of clarity around the real objectives of the organization.

This is true especially when those KPI's don't have external or aggregated industry input. CIOs can play an important role in identifying KPIs to the ones that matter. With a focus on a few metrics, companies are better able to provide clear direction and align the business behind the objectives and goals.

7. Advise on centralization of business functions

CIOs should advise on the right operating model for the supply chain, drawing on their own experiences of IT digital transformation. A more centralized model for functions, such as finance, HR and procurement, enables companies to achieve economies of scale. It also facilitates better collaboration by bringing together expertise in one place and leveraging it globally.

Shared service centers are an example of centralization. Many organizations, for example, have an HR business partner and finance business partner who works across functions. Imagine if that was the case for procurement.

While some organizations have procurement shared centers, they are the last ones to hear about an investment. In this sense, the supply chain CIO can unify all shared service centers, which will help ensure real-time communication and save monumental costs.

8. Investigate the supply chain for risks

Most companies have a global complex supply chain that comprises secondary and tertiary layers. With operations far from a company’s direct control, it can be a challenge to identify exposures, understand and mitigate these risks.

Working together with functional heads of the business, CIOs should focus on gaining visibility into secondary and tertiary layers of the supply chain and ensure they have appropriate control over their external partners.