TheUK's CIOs may be less successful than their counterparts in
other countriesbecause they are less likely
to report directly to the CEO of the company, according to a
global study by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Fifty per cent of CIOs in organisations surveyed report directly
to the CEO, although more than 90% report to one of the chief
officers. The study has found that one of the
keys to success for a CIO and the IT organisation appears to be
a direct reporting line to the CEO of the company.
In addition, although 66% of overall survey respondents say that
IT is well aligned to the business strategy of the company and
fulfils business requirements, more CIOs are perceived as utility
managers - managers of a commodity - than as improvers of business
processes or entrepreneurial innovators.
The study also reveals that UK IT workers are the most negative
about their departments. They report poor translation of decisions
into action, frequent second guessing of decisions, and a lack of
successful reaction to change. IT is more likely to be seen as
sending conflicting messages with information generally not flowing
freely.
The global survey, which is still in progress, seeks to
understand what differentiates successful IT organisations from
their competitors. It uses Booz Allen's
OrgDNA Profiler
system to diagnose the health of companies. Since its launch in
October 2007, the IT OrgDNA survey has been undertaken by 1,500
participants - widely distributed across a range of industries. The
majority of respondents are in management positions, typically
senior or middle management, and many have been in their positions
for more than six years, indicating that they are well placed to
judge the health of their IT organisations.
The CIO and the healthy IT organisation
Booz Allen's analysis has revealed a number of links between the
health of IT organisations and attributes of their CIO.
CIOs that have better visibility - through advantages such as
being closer to the CEO - tend to have healthier IT organisations.
These companies are able to transform decisions into action
quickly, and staff understand the impact of their actions they tend
to be well aligned to business strategy and fulfil business
requirements.
CIOs whose style has identified them as "utility managers" are
less likely to preside over healthy IT organisations than those who
improve business processes or innovate. Their organisations are
characterised by a lack of clear responsibility and slow
information flows. The perception of CIOs does seem to depend on
the respondent's perspective, however, with non-IT staff more
likely to label the CIO a "utility manager" than IT staff.
Centralised IT organisations were found to be healthier than
other structures. More than 60% of participants in the survey have
centralised IT organisations, with separate demand and supply
structures being less common. Decisions are less likely to be
second guessed, and these organisations are better able to deal
with change information flows more freely within these
organisations, and they are more likely to be aligned to business
strategy. It is worth noting, however, that the respondents with
centralised IT are likely to be smaller organisations. Larger
companies are likely to need more sophisticated models.
Half of IT organisations are 'unhealthy'
About 50% of the IT organisations surveyed have been
conclusively diagnosed as unhealthy, indicating that the
organisation's key characteristics - a combination of decision
rights, information, motivators and structure - are
dysfunctional.
Organisational characteristics go some way to explaining the
health of IT organisations, but survey respondents' perspectives
may also impact these results. For example, senior managers are far
more likely to describe IT as healthy than those in line management
or staff functions furthermore, non-IT staff have a slightly more
negative view of IT than those in the IT department.
How to become healthier
Although national, industry and respondent characteristics seem
to influence the evaluation of IT organisations, there also appear
to be some controllable factors that may drive organisation
health.
Non-IT respondents describe less healthy IT organisations than
those who work within IT:
- Only 34% of non-IT respondents agree that IT translates
decisions into action quickly, compared with 43% of IT
respondents.
- 42% of non-IT respondents feel that IT is not aligned with
business strategy, compared with 34% of IT respondents.
- 45% of non-IT respondents state that IT does not meet business
requirements, compared with 33% of IT respondents.
How effective is your IT organisation? Participate in the survey
>>