CIOs have been advised to promote themselves as
business-focused innovators, rather than IT experts, following
news that
Boots and
House of Fraser have axed the IT director role.
Both retailers decided that they no longer required an IT
director at board level after the completion of major technology
projects.
As reported in Computer Weekly last week, House of Fraser will
not be filling the vacancy left by IT director
Frank Berridge, who retired last month. Responsibility for
managing IT will instead be split between the director of systems
development and the head of computer services, who report to the
chief financial officer.
Berridge, who joined company as IT director in January 1991,
represented IT at board level for 16 years. His last project
involved integrating the IT systems of Beatties, which House of
Fraser purchased in 2005.
House of Fraser was acquired by the Highland Consortium last
October, and the changes in management followed a review of its IT
departments, said a spokeswoman.
Boots, which was taken over by private equity firm KKR in April,
has outsourced much of its IT function to IBM, Tata Consultancy
Services and Xansa.
A source inside the company told Computer Weekly that Rob
Fraser's role as Boots' IT director was to oversee large
integration projects, including a six-year, £350m SAP
implementation, and these projects had come to a natural and
successful end thanks to Fraser's involvement.
Following a management review, and in light of these major
projects being completed, the new owners decided that they no
longer required the IT function to report directly to the
board.
Despite the retailers dropping the IT director role, Berridge
believes CIOs still have a lot to offer businesses. "They should be
represented at board level directly. Often, they know as much as
other executives about how the business works, in addition to
having an understanding of technology," he said.
Laurie Orlov, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said many
chief executives admit to having low expectations of the role that
IT plays in the enterprise in terms of contribution to innovation,
process improvement and asset management.
"CIOs own half the responsibility for shaping the CEO's low
expectations - which means educating the boss to expect more," she
said.
John Ponting, who was CIO at
the Met Office before becoming head of legal and procurement
services when the CIO role was dissolved, said, "The key question
for any organisation is at what point does IT cease to be
innovative and become a tool of business?"
Dave Aron, research director at Gartner EXP, said IT directors
believe they are trusted and respected business leaders and, to a
great extent, they are right. But few CEOs share the same
unqualified view.
"This is partly because CEOs have a broad span of control, with
IT just one of many priorities. It is also because of CIOs'
technology and operations focus, which does not always allow them
to show traditional business leadership styles and behaviours," he
said.
Robin Dargue, CIO at drinks company
Diageo, said IT directors could lead decision making in the
boardroom more effectively if they found ways of proving that IT
delivers business results and innovation.
This could help overcome the view of some chief executives that
IT is "just a cost centre" that could inhibit business growth.
"CIOs should work hard to convince the CEO of the significance
of IT's role in delivering innovation and growth, but they should
place a time limit on this. If after three months the CEO still
does not appreciate IT, the CIO should find another company where
IT is appreciated," said Dargue.
He said the role of the CIO must evolve, moving from managing
technology to managing the delivery of business results through
innovation.
Tesco IT director Colin Cobain said, "IT directors should not
have to sell IT to the board. They should work with them to solve
problems. Part of this involves the IT leader having a clear vision
of where the business is heading and making sure that they leverage
the most relevant technologies to this end."
Robina Chatham, a former IT director and visiting fellow in
information systems at
Cranfield School of Management, agreed that CIOs must be able
to contribute to every item on the boardroom agenda - not just
technology.
"If IT directors sit in board meetings in silence on every topic
but technology, their value at those meetings and place on the
board will be questioned," she said.
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