With all the high-powered visions of IT at the cutting
edge of the world's economy, it is easy to become misty-eyed at the
prospect of IT providing strategic business leadership. Computer
Weekly asked Paul Burfitt, global CIO at AstraZeneca,
about the realities of his job
Countless reports and column inches in IT publications have
debated the difference between the IT director and the CIO. The
latter is generally seen as the more prestigious role, implying a
seat on the board, or at least easy access to it. But Paul Burfitt,
global CIO at pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca, does not agonise
over his job title or who he reports to.
"It is very difficult to generalise what a CIO does, as there is
no general CIO definition," he says. "It's what you do to add value
to your business that counts.
"I am not saying it is irrelevant who you report to – it is
important. Not because of their label, but whether that person
actually gives you the support, energy and inspiration to help you
deliver. If I reported to someone who did not do that, I would want
out."
Nor does Burfitt focus on the hands-on running of IT, either in
day-to-day or larger operations. The reason is a practical one:
with a company the size of AstraZeneca, monitoring all IT
operations would be virtually impossible.
"I am the global CIO for AstraZeneca but I don't have direct,
hands-on control of all the company's IT resources. It would be
impractical to have direct control over IT in every country where
the company operates. My role is to see the overall framework of IS
policies, standards and strategies, and to empower people to
deliver and contribute locally within that.".
Instead, as an executive board member, Burfitt focuses on what
most other company directors do: setting targets for IT within
AstraZeneca.
"I spend most of my time on the IS vision: the priorities,
objectives and targets, and how IS contributes to deliver value to
business. I have difficulty with the term 'IT strategy' because it
separates IT strategy from business strategy.
"I meet with members of the executive team three or four times a
year. These meetings are a challenging debate, to steer the IS
function towards the company's goals. I am very clear about our
business objectives and our vision for IS, and so is the executive
team."
Managing staff is another major challenge. "I spend my second
biggest chunk of time on people," says Burfitt.
"Recruit good people – it makes an enormous difference. I do not
want IS people who only 'throw IT over the wall' or are system
builders who let business find the value of IT."
Burfitt believes that staff need to focus on the value of what
they are doing to the business, rather than seeing their work in
isolation. "IS has a shared responsibility for delivering value
from its systems. I insist the milestones are business milestones,
not IT ones. Have your implementation party a year after you have
delivered it and measure its business value," he says.
Burfitt's third most time-absorbing activity is ensuring that IT
systems are efficient across an organisation, through careful
delegation, "You won't get into the chief executive's office if his
PC is down!"
Burfitt's other main activity is less welcome: IT governance.
The role of IT in corporate governance, such as a company's
disaster recovery arrangements, has become higher profile since the
11 September terrorist attacks in the US.
"I was surprised to find I spend so much time on IS governance,"
says Burfitt. "We have been feeling there were too many reviews and
debates which have been slowing us down. So we have been clarifying
accountability and the role of committees."
But with so many demands on a CIO's time, coupled with the
relatively new nature of the job, how is performance measured?
Burfitt uses balanced scorecards, a software suite with
performance indicators. "But you have to prioritise. You can't
improve everything all the time. Business and IS priorities change
every year and you have to be brave enough to say no, if a priority
changes."
Are you a chief information officer or an IT
director?
The terms themselves are academic, but CIO headhunter Cathy
Holley thinks the roles are fundamentally different. "A CIO is not
just an IT director with a bigger budget. They spend their time
completely differently," she says.
The top two concerns of CIOs are career development within an
organisation – networking and "branding themselves" – and working
out how IT can deliver shareholder value.
Meanwhile, IT directors or would-be IT directors should not
underplay their technical knowledge. "The first thing they tell me
is, 'I am not a techie.' Why are they are ashamed of their techie
roots?" asks Holley.
To Holley, shunning the technology dimension of the CIO role is
to miss a trick. IT is a specialist source of knowledge that CIOs
bring to the corporate picnic. No one else in the organisation is
as well placed to see how technology can contribute to shareholder
value.
"Sometimes CIOs describe their role as a sanity check to ensure
that IT strategies hang together. They also look at technology
futures and budgets, and supplier management is a new entrant to
the list," she says.
"The rest of the time they are thinking about how to deliver
shareholder value. They don't just have a seat on the board – they
belong to the board, the executive team. They talk to City analysts
and spend little or no time with suppliers talking product. They
talk to customers."