Straight to the Top -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Part One Key Change Drivers and Trends Impacting the CIO Role Today -- Chapter 1 Why the Role of the CIO Continues to Change -- The State of the CIO -- How Important Are Core Technology Skills? -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 2 Technologies and Trends Driving Today's IT Innovation -- Follow the Money -- United States -- Globally -- The Major Technology Trends Driving Change -- Cloud Computing -- Mobile Applications and Devices -- Social Media -- Business Intelligence -- Virtualization -- Predictions for the Future -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 3 IT Standards and Governance and the Impact of Consumer Devices -- IT Governance and Its Benefits -- How IT Trends Affect IT Governance -- Cloud Computing -- Mobile Applications and Devices -- Social Media -- Business Intelligence's Shift to the Cloud -- Virtualization -- Portfolio Management of IT -- The IT Strategic Plan -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 4 Service Level Agreements: A Key to Improved Customer Expectations and Better Contracts -- Service in the Age of the Customer -- Service Level Agreements -- Contract 1: Large Global IT Hosting and Application Support Vendor -- Contract 2: Small Regional IT Services and Help Desk Vendor -- SLA and Contract Differences -- Annual Staff and Customer Surveys -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Vendor Scorecarding -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 5 Today's CIO: The Teacher to the C‐Suite -- Gaps in Expectations between CIOs and CEOs and Other C‐Level Executives -- Educating the C‐Suite -- Creating a High‐Performing IT Team through Education -- Formal Educational Programs and Degrees -- IT Training Courses: Targeted Instruction.

Certification: Does It Matter? -- Mentoring -- Informal Learning and Collaboration -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Part Two The Modern‐Day CIO -- Chapter 6 What Executive Recruiters Are Looking for, from Consulting Experience to Leadership Skills -- How to Get Noticed -- Leading Generation Y and Mentoring -- Tomorrow's Leadership Skills -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 7 Cloud Computing Strategies and Risks -- A Cloud Computing Overview -- How to Prepare for the Cloud -- Planning for the Cloud: How One Vendor Does It Well -- The Benefits and Effects of Cloud Computing -- Growth Trends and Costs -- Growth Trends -- Major Players in the Cloud Market -- The Security and Risks of Cloud Computing -- Security Certifications -- Security Risks and Mitigation -- Integrating with the Cloud -- Cloud Integration -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 8 The Consumerization of IT -- Consumer Devices Permeate the Corporate World -- Growth Trends for Mobile Computing -- Increasing Costs and Security -- Mobile Device Management -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 9 Social Media Changes Everything -- Social Media Categories -- Social Media Titans -- Social Media Are the World's Reporters -- The Syrian Uprising -- Hurricane Isaac: New Orleans -- The Colorado Theater Shooting -- Businesses Using Social Media -- The Risks of Social Media -- Facebook Fatigue? -- What's Next in Social Media -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 10 What's after the CIO Role? -- Career Next Steps -- Chief Executive Officer -- Chief Operating Officer -- Other Options -- What Did I Do to Prepare? -- Recommendations -- Conclusion -- Notes -- About the Author -- Index.