Those who've been there warn first-timers to beware of unrealistic expectations. It's like playing the piano. Va. Unless the CIO is willing to invest some time and knows what he or she is looking for, the Internet can be disillusioning. I n contrast to the role of opportunity visionary, the CIO should also play the skeptic, piercing the puffery of pundits and vendors. We must put an air of pragmatism on it, too, because there's a lot more hype than reality.
Pragmatism is perhaps most important in the area of standards and interoperability.
CIOs need to ensure that they are working in a standards-based environment and that the systems they assemble will interact. Another IS executive pounding out NII policies and procedures is Paul Weekes, Motorola's director of information technology management. As a member of the Financial Services Technology Consortium, a cross-industry working team dedicated to defining the NII, one of his top concerns is ensuring security of electronic payments. Few businesses will trust financial data to the wiles of today's Internet, where anyone from hackers to housewives might take an unauthorized peek. The consortium is studying ways to electronically verify identification to validate financial transactions.