CIOs can thrive as pace of change quickens, argues Des
Lee
New skills are needed for CIOs to ride the changes that will
transform IT. And forging effective new relationships both outside
and within the business will be vital.
Chief information officers are now recognising that the future is
not entirely in their own hands, as can be seen from the latest CIO
ConnectCensus.
For the past three years, being a CIO has not been easy. While
the rest of the enterprise was enjoying a mini boom, the poor CIO
had been called to task to spend less money, provide functionality
to the business "on demand" and at the same time, deliver secure
"end-to-end" service across the whole corporate stretch. Two out of
three is not tolerated! Rather like waiting for a piano to drop on
your head!
This relentless pressure to cut costs reduced the IT function to
that of cash cow. Faced with the possibility of getting rid of
people and putting service "on risk" CIOs retaliated in the only
way possible, by beating up the suppliers. The results are plain
for all to see in the details of the CIOCensus, which surveyed 122
CIOs from a wide range of industries and the public sector. Three
out of four CIOs still feel that their efforts to build strategic
relationships are simply not matched by suppliers.
Now at last, there are some rumblings deep in the organisation
that there is a new role for IT to play and the business is ready
to back investment, but only if certain conditions are met like no
"pioneering" and "who controls"!
So the question is, does the CIO have a future? The answer would
appear to be a resounding "no", unless certain change factors are
demonstrably met. Traditionally, CIOs were divided into two groups:
"architects" and "plumbers". Plumbers connected up pipes down which
data flowed. The plumbers' key attraction was technology,
technology and technology in that order.
Architects, on the other hand, took the strategic business plan and
figured out how best to deliver on the promises through the prudent
application of IT. However, the role was one of sweeping up after
the parade - the CIO had not yet made the quantum leap of being
seen and recognised as an essential contributor to the art of what
was possible.
Many would argue that the new role for the CIO is that of
"change warrior". But to fulfil this role well requires a totally
different approach and a new skill set. If we are to examine the
new skill requirement for managing change, then of course you still
need the CIO's staple capability of analytical skills backed up
with a good grounding in technical knowledge.
But here is the rub, to be a good change manager, you also need
excellent communication skills and political nous. Sadly, these
qualities have never been top of the list when recruiting a new
CIO.
Going back to the census, all of the CIOs interviewed believe
that significant IT-related opportunities have yet to be exploited
in their organisations. The key question is, by whom? Backing up
this key point, there was unanimous agreement that there is real
need to improve relations with the business by adopting a
"realistic two-way or three- way by including suppliers" method of
communicating with the business, end-customers, suppliers and all
who need to know. It is not enough to publish a weekly newsletter
or run out usage statistics based on erroneous service level
agreement figures. Also, it is essential that the new message is in
businessese and not technospeak.
There is no doubt that the next thrust for the new CIO will be to
continue to improve business processes and provide key financial
information as usual, but the emphasis is less on exploiting new
technologies and more about improving business efficiencies. But
this time the role has to be proactive, not reactive.
Consequently, many of the new breed of CIOs are being recruited
from the business. In many cases, the change of CIO coincides with
the appointment of new chief executives and non-executive
directors. The new breed of leaders tends to be IT literate. It is
interesting that two years ago, the CIO's aspiration for their next
post was to be the CIO of a much larger organisation. But,
surprise, surprise, last year half of CIOs declared their goal was
be a chief executive within five years.
So what can be said in summary? Certainly among the CIO community,
the latest census would have us believe that CIOs' optimism on the
business outlook is wavering, although half are still of the
opinion that the global economy is sound. There are variations
across sectors. The good news is that there is a general feeling
that investment money can be found for the right business venture.
Of course, the case must be well presented and articulated.
To compete in the new arena requires much to be done through
practising communication and political skills, although the jury is
still out on whether these skills will be home grown or bought
in.
On the suppliers' side, suppliers must realise that relationship
builders who will put the time and effort in to understand the
change agenda will be long-term winners. But this activity will
also require a new skill set away from the traditional product
knowledge base.
So, is there a role for the CIO in the future? Probably not in the
present form, but existing CIOs should take comfort in the fact
that there is a real challenge out there to seize with both hands.
What will the future CIO look like? Probably from a business
background, part pirate, part politician and part entrepreneur.
Technical skills will be hired in as suppliers are asked to bear
the brunt of emerging technology research in a true business
context. After all, somebody has to be capable of specifying,
managing and delivering an "in-sourcing" project”.
Des Lee is the founding director of
CIO-Connect