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It has become cliché to say that CIOs need to be more business savvy. It’s true, of course, but what does that actually mean and how do IT executives stay on top of their game technologically while also gaining business expertise? Moreover, once they gain this knowledge, will they move on to other corporate roles?
These are some of the topics we consider this month on Smart Enterprise Exchange. Several blogs and articles take a global perspective of these questions and offer practical advice as well. We also include firsthand experiences from CIOs and new academic research analyzing the trends.
Mark Chun, who heads the Center for Applied Research at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School, writes that there is a direct link between acquiring business skills and advancing business goals and innovation.
… [O]nly when the CIO provides a sustained, consistent and uninterrupted technology service can innovation be considered within the organization. Not only can legacy systems be a good foundation, but we found that without an integrated and mature architecture and infrastructure, many innovation efforts have been short-lived.
Based on his interviews with Asian as well as U.S. CIOs, Chun reports::
All of these opportunities for change — or failure — constitute the new landscape that business-savvy CIOs need to address and understand to move forward. ... Often, they must acquire new skills that include: Envisioning and understanding corporate strategy; change management; leadership; innovation (including leading improvements to the business operations and growing the business); process improvements; and an ability to manage the organization and talent. ….
Also weighing in is Joe Peppard, a Professor at the Cranfield School of Management in the U.K., who is conducting research into the need for CEOs to take an active role in IT — something not discussed often enough at many enterprises. As he writes:
... CEOs and their CXO colleagues play a pivotal role in determining whether or not their organisations optimise value from their IT spend. CEOs, in particular, set the tone for IT and whether it ultimately generates value. Unfortunately, most CEOs don’t seem to understand that the quest for IT value is not something that can rest with the CIO alone: all chief officers must recognise that delivering value from IT is a shared responsibility — starting at the top.
To test out some of these theories, we spoke directly to IT executives who are not only acquiring business expertise, they’re also using it to move into other corporate roles. Lloyd DeVaux, Chief Operating Officer at BankAtlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and former CIO for the bank and for Union Planters Bank in Memphis, Tenn. told journalist Doug Bartholomew that problem-solving skills are key to advancement as well as taking on non-IT related assignments. Read the full article here.
This was reinforced by a great conversation I had with Jonathan Kissane, SVP Corporate Development at CA Technologies, about ways that CIOs can be more involved in business activities such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) — where Jon says they can play a critical role. My full interview with Jon will appear shortly, but it was a rare chance to view IT from a business leader’s perspective. For example, he says, whether CIOs are involved early on, as part of the M&A strategic team, or are brought in late in the game — when integration problems are already bubbling up — can speak volumes about the IT/business relationship.
I hope you’ll find these articles and blogs relevant to your daily business life and your professional development. Please let us know about your own journey — and roadblocks — to gaining clout with the business. What is your relationship with others in the C-suite? What lessons can you share with your peers?
Paula Klein
Editor and Community Manager
Smart Enterprise Exchange
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