ENTERPRISE 2004 CIO SPEAK: CIO–Career Is Over?

CIOL in association with Dataquest recently organized a CIO conclave–C

Change–probably the first of its kind in the country. With almost eighty CIOs

from India’s top companies assembled under one roof, what transpired was an

engaging story of the changes that are happening in the CIO’s world.

"Does CIO mean ‘Career Is Over’," queried one participant at

the start of the conclave? Though said in jest, there was more than a hint of

seriousness in the question. For a long time, the IT department was a speck of

oil within an organization of water. Standing out, moving along, but not

integrated. The technologists did impressive–and sometimes useful –things

with data. The others did the real work. These questions about the utility of

computing disappeared in the nineties. But the impressions about the people

manning the technology did not. Technology honchos could manage machines, but

not the real world people–marketing, finance and whatever else modern

organizations do for their growth. Consequently, there was no role for the CIO,

once the pinnacle within IT was reached. Thankfully, that impression is now

changing.

Organizations will find it better to have at the helm somebody who understands technology the best SHYAM MALHOTRA

However, the challenges in this transition are still formidable. As

organizations become more technology dependant, IT has become more integrated

with all other functions. That has increased the technologists understanding of

the operational complexities of an organization. Technology has also been

demystified and users are much more comfortable with it than they ever were.

That also means that the T-Shirt CIO has become–or has been forced to become–the

Suited-CIO. He or she has to understand business realties more than technology

complexities. More time and energy is spent in working with business heads, than

with software or hardware. This implies development of communication and

managerial skills that were earlier incidental. But it cannot be at the expense

of lagging behind in the technology domain. Evolving communication technologies

have to be mastered and married to computing technologies, since most

applications need both.

Many CIOs have managed these changes successfully. What is more difficult to

manage is the return on investment question. As technology outlays increase to a

significant portion of total spend, and as applications integrate in real time

with operations, the return that technology brings to the bottom line is queried

relentlessly. But this is difficult to quantify as it does not lend itself

easily to mathematical calculations. So, how do you measure the return that a

sophisticated customer response system brings to the bottom line? How do you put

in the balance sheet the value of correct and upto date information to the

operating managers? How do you prove that computing power on each desk is adding

to the efficiency of the total organization? And based on this, how do you

conclude how much of IT deployment is right? Or what is the optimal spend on IT

in an organization? Studies that have been conducted of more IT intensive

organizations versus less technology intensive organizations are inconclusive.

Mainly because the intensity of IT deployment just measures the money spent. It

does not measure the usability of the applications and the efficiency with which

they are deployed. These questions will disappear over time as the cost of

technology continues to decrease and as its indispensability to operations

increases. There are no straight and standard answers and none were therefore

found at the conclave. But experience sharing did help in finding arguments that

would appeal to the CEOs heads, in their hearts they know that answers are not

easy.

What was more heartening was the opportunity set that is coming the way of

present day CIOs. If technology is closely wedded to operations, and in many

case is the company itself–Google to take an example–there is no reason that

CIOs cannot aspire to become CEOs. Organizations–whose underpinning is

technology–will find it better to have at the helm somebody who understands

technology the best. The flip side of course is that the technologist always

does not know how to run a technology company. But if the technologist can

develop the necessary skill sets for management, he is the best man for the job.

So will the CIO become extinct in the near future? Unlikely. But like the

dinosaur the danger is there if there is no adaptation. The timing and

conditions are just right. The world needs technology savvy managers–as

opposed to technologists–like never before. Those who can adapt will find the

going good. For them the Career Is Open.

SHYAM MALHOTRA The author is

Editor-in-Chief of CyberMedia, the publishers of Dataquest.