The CIO Role, etc.

Thanks to all who submitted topics and questions. The pipeline is healthy and I believe that there is a good mix of technology, management and leadership subjects for your consideration. Please keep the suggestions and comments coming!

Today’s topic comes from an old (old in the sense of having known him for a while, not in the sense of “aged”) colleague. He writes:

“I have a topic for your site that might be of interest – The role of the CIO.  I have noticed that the CIO role is becoming a prerequisite to the COO or CEO position.  It appears many CIO’s are coming from the business vs. growing up through the ranks of IT, and take the role to bolster their resume.  With IT such a critical component of today’s businesses, the CEO is expected to have a strong understanding on how to direct the expensive and limited IT resources.  I see the role CIO of old shifting to that of the CTO for IT careerists.  Assuming this premise and carrying it on to the next level what are the critical skills in managing technology going forward.  It would seem that outsourcing and integration expertise would be at the top of the list. – your thoughts?”

There are a few subjects here that are interesting to ponder.

•    First, is there really a CIO to COO or CEO career path?
•    Second, are more CIO’s coming from the business versus growing up though the IT ranks?
•    Third, is the CTO role more of the “top IT leadership” job for IT folks than the CIO role?
•    And lastly, what are the critical skills for IT leadership going forward?

It’s not clear to me that there is a CIO-to-CEO career path, although I do believe that there is or was a CIO-to-COO executive career path. Because of the heavy reliance of operations on technology, it makes sense that the two would become one over time. In some companies, I’ve seen this sensible progression give way to the CIO reporting to a “Head of Shared Services” function, along with Finance, HR and Procurement, which I do not think of as a traditional COO role.

Why is this being done? In those organizations that have adopted this model, I believe that it is because the value proposition of IT has not been delivered upon and the information technology contribution to competitive advantage is perceived by the business as relatively low. Therefore, the IT organization is seen in a similar role as the Finance and HR support organizations and managed accordingly.

There have been some instances where business executives have been given responsibility for IT and either added or taken the CIO title. In the cases that I am aware, it seems to be born from IT being perceived as being out of alignment with the business for an extended period of time. Attempts to address the situation with new CIO’s have either had little or no success, so a successful business executive is then brought over to IT or is given responsibility for the function in addition to their current role.

In the cases that I have seen where the titular CIO is a business executive, the CTO or head of IT Service Delivery is responsible for the IT “factory” and is accountable for delivering on the IT value proposition as defined by the CIO. The role is that of a CIO, despite lack of the formal title.

This leads to another question – can a business leader effectively lead the IT function without any background in it?

If  you were a CEO, would you have a CFO who didn’t have a background in Finance?

If you were a CEO, would you have a COO who didn’t have a background in Operations?

I could go on, but I think that you get the point.

Why should IT be any different?

Whatever the title, if the CIO role is indeed to maximize the value of Information Technology to the business, I believe that knowledge of technology and its application thereof, is essential to success. The question of who has the title is more of a level-based question driven by the role of IT and its value proposition to the business. Therefore, whatever the title, I still see the CIO role as executive level for the IT careerist.

In terms of critical skills for managing technology going forward, I believe that knowledge and understanding of a services-based model (reference link) and how to apply it in the real world is a prerequisite for any successful executive in a CIO role.  That opens up the possibility of effectively multi-sourcing services in an efficient manner as the value proposition for IT services dictates. Please note that the service-based model is not only for what you would think of as IT Commodity Services, but also includes IT Solutions Delivery and the IT Business Relationship Services.

To support the managed services and multi-sourcing strategies, outsourcing and integration are two important capabilities for any CIO and to that short list I would quickly add deep skills in Organizational Change Management. With change as a constant, the ability to lead through it is essential to the success of any IT executive.