July 2010

Use of social media will enrich CIOs professionally, as well as on the job. Allessandro Saralli, at Poste Italiane (pictured at right), is a prime example of an IT executive who understands the importance of the new technologies.

By Beth Bacheldor

It’s been widely acknowledged that businesses that ignore social media could lose a competitive edge. Arguably, the same could be said of Enterprise 2.0’s influence on a CIO’s career. To stay relevant and to succeed professionally, CIOs need to be educated and active in Web 2.0 technologies.

At a bare minimum, CIOs should be participating in social networking — whether it’s a professional networking site, mobile apps or collaborative platforms on the job. Besides the business benefits they’ll gain, it will also help them overcome stereotypes that portray CIOs as impediments to Enterprise 2.0 progress. “CIOs have to be very aware of these technologies — and good CIOs are aware both of the opportunities and also of the risks,” says Kevin Sealy, a Senior Client Partner who heads up the EMEA CIO practice at executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International in London.

Even a few small social networking projects will earn the CIO trust among advocates such as younger employees, partners and customers, experts say. Korn/Ferry’s Sealy says CIOs have to harness the talent of Gen Y workers who use social media, laptops and mobile computing in their day-to-day lives. The question for CIOs is: “How do you give [these workers] the flexibility and freedom to work without exposing the corporation to data security risks?”

Poste Italiane’s Efforts

Alessandro Saralli, a 26-year IT veteran and an IT Team Leader with Italy’s national postal services operator, Poste Italiane S.p.A., understands these conflicts well. IT executives have to understand what people want, he says. “That means it’s important to change their own skills and to transform themselves.”

Saralli thinks that Enterprise 2.0 technologies will help improve business agility, flexibility and time to market. He is advancing Poste Italiane’s Network 2.0 project, which involves the creation of value-added services based on unified messaging, video conferencing, VoIP and other emerging technologies, along with development of service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Personally, 46-year-old Saralli regularly uses LinkedIn to network with his peers and is an ardent iPhone user to keep up with work correspondence and also to access applications such as TripAdvisor when he travels.

Poste Italiane is known for its progressive use of IT: The organization operates nearly 14,000 post offices and is highly automated. More than 80 percent of its correspondence is sorted using automated systems, and postal delivery workers — which the agency calls electronic postmen — are equipped with hand-held computers and small printers to help streamline their duties. The organization also offers its products and services via several self-service options: the Internet, telephone and soon, through DTTV (digital terrestrial TV). As for social media, Poste Italiane has a Facebook page and a Twitter account for customer interaction.

Nevertheless, the postal service proceeds cautiously with enterprise Web 2.0 projects, according to Saralli. “Security and compliance will become more and more important,” in this new, open world, he says.

Overcoming Concerns

CIOs clearly need to securely manage their Web 2.0 initiatives, says Jessica Hawkins, Associate Analyst at Ovum Research in the U.K. She recently authored a report that found concerns over data security inhibiting government agencies in Europe, Canada and the United States from embracing Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and social networking. When asked about the main obstacles to implementing collaborative technologies, 44 percent of 150 respondents cited security concerns. In Europe, the figure was more than 50 percent. (See related article about cloud security here.)

In spite of obstacles, Saralli expects Poste Italiane’s use of social media and collaborative tools to expand. “The generational turnover will simplify the adoption of Web 2.0 among Poste Italiane’s customers, but the path is still long,” he says.

Perhaps the best advice Saralli can offer about how CIOs and IT executives can enhance their organizational and their personal use of Web 2.0 is this: Ultimately, successful adoption and use is about people, not technology. The technologies work, but CIOs must get people to agree and build consensus, he says. “This means that process, organizations and policies are most important.”

Beth Bacheldor, a freelance business and technology writer, is based in Wilmington, N.C.

ASK THE EXPERTS

Alessandro Saralli,  Project Manager, Poste Italiane

Alessandro Saralli has more than 25 years of experience in information communications technology. He is currently a Project Manager with Poste Italiane, overseeing a major SOA redesign of the postal service’s application infrastructure. Prior to that, he worked as an IT Architect with Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. He is a frequent participant and speaker at IT events around the world, including the Gartner Application Integration & Web Service Summit 2006 in Barcelona, the SOA World Convention, and the 2007 CIO Italia Summit in Lugano, Switzerland, among others.

Saralli is a member of Smart Enterprise Exchange and can be reached via e-mail.

Kevin Sealy, Senior Client Partner, Information Technology Officer, Korn/Ferry International

Kevin Sealy has 25 years of experience in the information technology industry. He specializes in appointing senior IT professionals across all industry sectors, and has worked with many leading companies on high-profile CIO placements. He is based in London.

In his previous position as a partner in IBM Business Consulting Services (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting), he led the delivery of technology strategy and systems integration work with blue-chip clients internationally.

Sealy’s consulting work focused on the management of the IT organization and the delivery of complex technology and systems projects, including program management, IT transformation, technology strategy and IT management.

Sealy began his career in the IT department at Mobil Oil Company Ltd. He holds a master’s degree in physics from Oxford University and is a member of the Institute of Business Consulting (MIBC) and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).

Jessica Hawkins, Associate Analyst, Ovum

Jessica Hawkins is an Associate Analyst working in Ovum's Government Technology practice. She focuses on central government across Europe, with a particular focus on the U.K market. Among her recent reports are those on mobile applications in the U.K. public sector; U.K. central government, ITS market forecasts and trends; and identifying opportunities as purse-strings tighten. Hawkins has also contributed to various consulting and research projects and is involved with specific client opportunities. She joined Ovum six years ago, during which time she has managed the Euroview daily comment service (now Straight Talk), which covered European software, IT services and telecom markets. She also was an editor for Ovum's Broadband Wholesale, Wireline Strategy and Broadband Content advisory services.