His game plan for the coming years will revolve around a number of priorities and strategies: making the organisation an example of trustworthy computing; ensuring privacy of data; and ensuring high availability. Data and server consolidation will also be key, and he is excited by developments in the StorageStorage Area Network (SAN) space. "Every CIO will be embarrassed to have his storage utilisation rates published, because you can end up with more disks than you need," he quips. Finally, his focus will continue to be on inculcating strong values in his organisation, through training and encouraging consistency of approach, with the aim of building a collaborative, learning organisation. Alles zu Storage auf CIO.de

On the Boss(es)

Unsurprisingly, expectations of a Microsoft CIO are very high. ReportingReporting to the very top of Microsoft's management, Devenuti characterises his relationships with (Microsoft CEO) Steve Ballmer and(Chairman of the Board and Chief Software Architect) Bill Gates as "very different". Alles zu Reporting auf CIO.de

"Steve Ballmer expects the CIO to keep the business running smoothly, and to lower TCO." This can include working with Devenuti over budget matters and so on, in a very business-oriented conversation.

With Gates on the other hand, Devenuti talks technology, about where Microsoft's pain points are, what the organisation is having a hard time doing, and to thrash out what can be done quicker. "These are more fluid conversations," says Devenuti. These meetings are a good chance for the product and IT groups to explain their viewpoints, and another step in the effort to be Microsoft's "first and best customer", he adds.

It is relationships such as these that are key to the success, not only of his role, but of that of any CIO. "Ultimately, it's about building strong constituencies. If you'd told me four years ago that the IT role included this, most people would have laughed. But you have to build relationships across the organisation, and you need to understand and foresee where the business is going."