This year, MIT is celebrating its 150th anniversary. That’s over a century and a half of knowledge-sharing that has lead to breakthroughs in science and engineering—innovations that have improved both social and economic welfare, year after year.

I am reposting here a version of an interview about our upcoming CIO Symposium that appears at: NEWS@MITSLOAN, Vol: XX Issue: 25 April 25, 2011

Graham Rong, SF ’06, has been the chair of the MIT CIO Symposium since 2009. Dean David Schmittlein noted that this event brings together MIT Sloan’s leading research and education with great CIOs, business leaders, and innovators from around the world. It is a platform to engage in problem-solving dialogue, gain strategic insights, and obtain solutions to improve diverse organizational and business issues for the present and well into the future.

Recently, Graham shared some of his thoughts regarding business trends, being a leader in innovation, and how his time at the MIT Sloan continues to shape his perspective.

Q. Reflecting on your experience at MIT Sloan and the CIO Symposium, what were the drivers for the past themes and topics? Were the ideas based on the economic climate or technology?

A. We have a different symposium theme every year. It is driven by industry trend-setters in global CIO leadership and corporate IT. But the common thread carried through the years is that it is always forward-looking in nature. A small group of us usually spends weeks drafting a theme based on research and reviews with thought leaders, both in academia and industry. Ideas for specific panel topics are based on the economy and tomorrow’s technologies.

For example, last year’s theme, “Top-Line Growth and Bottom-line Results,” reflected the initial stage of our economic recovery. Turning a corner means being aware of and ready for the best opportunity to glean top-line or optimal growth. A recovery period is a time of opportunities and options for fresh avenues, but one still needs to focus on the current (realistic) business operation.

Q. The subject of leadership has always been a recurring discussion topic at these symposiums. What leadership qualities did you learn through your MIT Sloan experience and what are the skills needed to lead innovation in business?

A. The academic research and entrepreneurial experience provided me with an excellent balance between technical aptitude and business acumen. At MIT Sloan, particularly in the Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership, we worked side by side with a diverse group of global leaders, representing a very broad range of industries. It’s a great opportunity to discuss and share lessons learned on every possible business topic—technical, operational, and managerial. This enriched my background. It gave me an understanding that an important leadership quality is holistic thinking. This is another dimension to forward thinking, which is also a crucial attribute to being innovative. What I mean by holistic thinking is to be inclusive or comprehensive in acquiring actionable knowledge. That is, the collective intelligence I gather to make strategic decisions represents an entire body of information—insights not just from the consumers, but rather from key business influencers, including complementors, partners, buyers, suppliers, regulators, and special interest groups.

Q. As the MIT CIO Symposium is a link between academia and the global business world, how did you integrate the faculty in the development of this event?

A. We always work closely with MIT faculty. We have an academic keynote panel with five renowned MIT faculty members who share their latest research and inspire the business world. They give the business world a glimpse of pioneering efforts and future technologies. It’s a great way for the faculty to introduce peer-reviewed innovations to global executives. At the same time, the MIT faculty has an opportunity to dialogue with global CIOs and business leaders and get first-hand information on issues. Industry perspective and practices of the latest technology or business models can trigger new research ideas. As domain experts, MIT faculty members also participate in the review and judging of two of our highlights—the CIO Innovation Leadership Award and the Innovation Showcase. The showcase selects 10 outstanding companies representing cutting-edge B2B solutions that combine both value and innovation to Enterprise IT. It connects CIOs and senior IT executives with some of the most creative minds in enterprise IT. The relaxed atmosphere of this showcase allows everyone to stay in touch with the state-of-the-art thinking while networking with other IT executives. The second highlight is an award that honors CIOs who bring business value by orchestrating organizational change via the innovative use of IT and business processes. For the future, we are considering an advisory board of outstanding CIOs and business executives so that we continuously have a pulse on trends, insights, and challenges.

For more information, visit www.mitcio.com

Many executives talk about aligning IT and the business, and some actually collaborate on small projects or one-time efforts. Very few, however, work as closely together as do Jim Walker and the IT executives at recently created financial services giant, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Corporate mergers and acquisitions can create huge headaches for all involved. And the merger of the two giant investment companies in June 2009 created the largest, global wealth-management brokerage in the world, with $283 billion in assets under management by the end of last year. That’s quite a headache! It necessitated “the largest integration effort” of two firms in the history of wealth management based on the number of accounts, assets and systems that need to be merged, according to Walker, COO for the Investment Strategy and Solutions Group, the wealth management arm of the new company. And a large part of the integration involves merging the IT systems to be used by 18,500 financial advisors in 42 countries, as well as about 6.8 million consumers worldwide.

Walker participated in a panel discussion about IT value at the MIT CIO Symposium in May, where he said that there is often "creative tension" between a CIO and the COO. At MSSB, he said, for better or worse, “We are joined at the hip."

After the panel, Walker told me that CIO Moira Kilcoyne has taken an active role in the corporate merger efforts, and now she and her team — including ISSG business unit IT director, Dan McGuire — continue to work in lockstep with Walker on the ongoing integration efforts. It’s clearly an example of business and IT teams working together daily; they also hold regular weekly meetings to assess progress, he said.

The two-year restructuring and system integration — which is about halfway complete — affects the entire business and is the highest priority for the new company, Walker said. He reports back to corporate COOs and other integration executives. MSSB combines Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group with Citi's Smith Barney in the U.S., Quilter in the U.K., and Smith Barney Australia’s retail units.

Staying Focused, Looking Seamless

One of Walker’s roles is to ensure that the focus remains on the business value of IT systems and process automation — not on the technology itself. In such a huge endeavor, the end results have to be kept in mind and “the tangible value has to be demonstrated,” he said. Additionally, Walker advised other executives at the conference to stay focused on a project’s goals and not allow the projects to mushroom and distract them from the original plan. “Sometimes, it’s harder to stop doing things than to start them,” he said.

At MSSB, Walker also evaluates the business risks of IT decisions and serves as a liaison between IT and the rest of the business. “I can help get resources or I can say no … I have a track record with the business units,” he told me.

The biggest challenge? Making sure that the integration work done behind the scenes is seamless to end users and consumers, he said. “It’s a little like putting an old engine in a new car,” he said. “It has to run smoothly.” And a good part of his job is to make sure systems not only run smoothly but that headaches are kept to a minimum.

I hope to follow up with Walker and the IT team as the massive integration efforts wind down to see how well they’ve achieved their goals. At the same time, I’m sure that the partnership between business and IT will remain an ongoing relationship.

Jim Walker is Chief Operating Officer, ISS group, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
MSSB’s Investment Strategy and Solutions Group is the wealth management arm of Morgan Stanley. He works closely with business units in ISS and across the company in developing strategies, building relationships and managing risk. He is also responsible for investment research delivery and The Investment Group — the high net worth asset management business — as well as finance, legal technology and human resources.
Prior to this position, Walker was Director of Finance, Risk and Strategy for Global Wealth Management Investments at Citi. He also spent 20 years at Merrill Lynch as Chief Administrative Officer, Americas, for the Global Private Client business.
He holds an advanced degree from MIT’s Sloan school, where he was a Fellow and where he continues to lecture and teach.

Here are some highlights and great quotes I want to share with you from yesterday's panel on Emerging Stronger from the Downturn:

--Bob Brennan, President and CEO of Iron Mountain: “Driving top-line growth is the only sustainable way to grow. Top-line growth doesn’t come from cost-savings. You can’t take out any more costs.”
--Sundar Subramaniam, chairman and founder Knome and Cambridge Technology Enterprises, on accountability and security: “If you are committed to change, you will figure out the rest…otherwise, you will never change.”
“Existing business has a high need for security; innovative business can take more chances.”
--Bob Burke, President, CEO and Director of ATG: “The CIO is a business facilitator…just as we are for our customers…they are a unifying force among all the silos.”
--Bob Brennan on CIO responsibilities: “Separate the I from the T; emphasis is on finding great people; don’t hunker down” and just focus on technology. Being a CIO is becoming a “ridiculously hard job; CIOs can’t play defense.” We look for so many qualities, it's like seeking a "purple squirrel."
--Chris Capossela, Senior VP, Microsoft: “CIOs want solutions, not products; they don’t want to be ‘sold to.”
--Sundar Subramaniam: CIOs who are mired in legacy have only three choices: migrate to something new, rearchitect what you have or “burn it and start over.”

Valauble advice or unrealistic in your everyday world?