CIO Brand Value

Every enterprise has an IT function though the name it goes by may be different. Not many call it EDP or MIS anymore, IT is the most prevalent, BT is catching up and there are a few variants which I wrote about sometime back. Similarly the title of the leader has manifested itself in many ways, CTO, CIO, Head, GM, VP, SVP, EVP – IT and some not so common ones that are either legacy, futuristic, or far removed from convention.

Every person in the enterprise has a view on IT and the persona it represents; this is determined by personal experience and hearsay. Sometimes it is relative to past experience in other companies, in most cases it is based on (un)fulfilled expectations and the buzz in the company. The industry, its associates and partners add or confuse the perception with their views. CIO and the team collectively are thus labelled based on these facts, experiences and views.

CIOs and IT organizations like all beings driven by Maslow’s hierarchy yearn for acknowledgement and recognition. They work hard to create their aura and earn respect with solutions and dialogues that demonstrate understanding beyond technology. They walk the talk, meet customers, and engage with stakeholders to stay ahead in the race. In many cases they succeed in creating a lasting brand value, in few they remain challenged despite doing everything right. Why ?

The basic foundation of IT branding happens every day with desk side support on the laptop, desktop, printer, application, network access, email, and various other things that we take for granted. No one cares until something breaks and that incidence ends up being the tag by which IT gets labelled. One incident gets extrapolated to generic statements of (in)efficiency. Some IT organizations have active communication processes to manage this; most don’t leaving a wide gap on how they are seen.

How many CIOs invest in building the brand they and their team represents ? Business IT Alignment is not only about projects being executed or the discussion the CIO has with the Management teams. BITA happens every day with every interaction anyone within IT has with any other non-IT person (normally referred to as user) within the enterprise. This cannot be left to passive management; it has to be actively managed across the levels.

External branding is another aspect of visibility and credibility that requires a strategy and plan. Go to any conference, event or panel/roundtable discussion, you will find the same old faces on the stage. It would appear that CIOs were born with stage fright; most are happy to be part of the audience, their views rarely get aired (everyone has a view).  Nowadays social media and internet presence too contribute towards the identity of the CIO who represents the IT success of the enterprise.

The combined persona is finally the way s/he is portrayed to the world at large. If the CIO does not actively manage this, it will be managed by forces that s/he does not control. The CIO could then just be an entry in a database or one of the featured ones in a search. If people read about you and read what you stand for, your views on varied or specific subjects, it adds to the perception of who the person is. Some manage this well, the rest leave it to divine intervention.

I believe that CIOs should invest in building the brand not just internally, which is easily done by constant communication and discussion beyond transactions. They should also actively manage their visibility and branding across the IT industry and their chosen industry; participation in industry specific events, membership to bodies, talking to tech journalists and participation in social media make a great combination to get started. Is there more ? It all depends on where you want to go !

I don’t have time is the first lament (please read “Being Busy”), how do I get started is the second; ask the ones who have made it or wait until I write about it.

Mr IT Vendor, grow up

A few weeks back, I was at a round table discussion organized by one of the big IT vendors which focused on “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure”, amongst other things. A gathering of about 15 CIOs was invited to explore the adoption of desktop virtualization, its associated merits, challenges and opportunities. It was an opportunity to engage, that once again failed to engage the IT leaders.

The group had a fair representation across industries from manufacturing, banking, insurance, retail, IT enabled services, and some more. The agenda was fairly simple, with the expectation to understand how different industry segments view VDI and what has been the journey thus far. Of course, it was about market sizing and qualifying leads that could result in some business from the vendor’s perspective.

Discussions started off with differing perspectives on filters that every CIO applied to their business operations to determine the suitability of desktop virtualization in their environment. Some amongst them included the kind of work undertaken (task, analytics, office automation, and graphics intensive work), volume of desktops per location, type of applications used, and not the least, ROI on such an initiative. In the same breath, challenges were also debated listing cost and resilience of connectivity (specifically in the Indian context), licensing impact, cultural issues, and again ROI.

Within some time, it was evident that the vendor and CIOs were talking different languages; the former talking about the technological innovation, and the latter focusing on business benefit. With no translator or moderator, the two conversations found it tough to converge on common ground. Thus, the anchor closed the discussion after about 90 odd minutes with some CIO doodles labeling VDI as Vendor Driven Initiatives or Very Dumb Idea!

Post panel networking had an interesting insight shared by the vendor CEO with the anchor; the CIOs today are not willing to discuss technology anymore. This is making the task of selling to them a lot more difficult as compared to what it was. For sales persons to get into the customers’ shoes and then have a discussion requires different skill sets than currently available.

My rebuttal to that is “Mr IT Vendor, what else did you expect from the CIOs?” Over the last decade, expectation levels from the CIO have shifted from a technology advisor to a business advisor. CIOs have seized this opportunity (not challenge) and many have gone over the tipping point to take on incremental roles in business. To expect this level of discussion from the same vendors who always have “IT business alignment” as one of the top 3 priorities reflects that they too need to embrace the same change that they have been preaching so far.

The IT vendor evolution is a paradigm that I think CIOs have to start contributing to, else they will continue to be at the receiving end of inane discussions and presentations around technology, not winning with the business. Get started and do your good deed of the day, so that the next CIO they meet will not go through the same pain.

What's in a name ?

In recent times, there have been many consultants, research entities and academia discussing the IT organization’s transformation. The proposed concept seeks to rechristen IT to BT to reflect the new nature of the expected role. The rationale is largely around the fact that business drives technology within an enterprise. So the function should be called business technology (BT). Many CIOs like the new nomenclature, and have attempted to adopt this new symbol that represents their purported evolution and alignment.

Flashback to 2002; I interviewed for a Fortune 50 company’s Indian operations. The process progressed well, and I joined the company (which had a federated IT organization). The corporate IT organization was responsible for standards, infrastructure, architecture, and many applications that were supporting the operations. Then we had Manufacturing IT, which focused on the requirements of the manufacturing plants, connecting to suppliers, managing the manufacturing process, and running the warehouses. The company also had an R&D IT function that empowered the large and globally spread research teams with enabling technology solutions that were critical towards maintaining the company’s leadership position. Each IT organization head reported to the respective function head with dotted line to the global IT head; they had the flexibility and independence to create solutions or choose vendors. Last but not the least was the function called Business Technology, into which I was inducted.

Business Technology worked with the sales organization. It existed in almost every country that the company operated in, and reported to the CEO. It was the largest group and also the most powerful, since the sales teams connected with customers, and thus also had the power to garner larger IT budgets. Thus this name signified a closer relationship with business. It provided technology initiatives that impacted life everyday on the field connecting with customers, while competing with others in the industry. Not that those other teams were not aligned to their respective business folks, but the impact of changes was slower, and largely created internal efficiencies or benefit. Thus, every introduction to an outsider required a five minute discourse on why we were called Business Technology.

Was BT any different? We still had our challenges around vendors, change management, new initiatives, budget approvals, technology adoption, political issues, everything that a normal IT organization experiences every day. As the CIO, my role was acknowledged with a seat on the management table, but like every other CXO, it required consistent performance to keep it there. The basic expectation from the CIO was to create business value, challenge status quo, and participate in all discussions around the table that influenced the company’s future direction.

So, what about the role today? The CIO is required to do all of the above, sometimes even fight to get a seat on the management table; in a few cases where the CIO does not report to the CEO, they are dependent on other CXOs to be their voice in the management team meetings. Will the change in name to business technology bring about the transformation and fast track the evolution and acceptance of the function better than when it is plain old IT? I guess not–the enterprise, the IT leader, and the culture largely contribute to its success. BT happened almost a decade back, evolution is catching up.

After all, as the bard said it a long time back, “What’s in a name; that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”!

Succession Planning for the CIO

Over the weekend, I was returning from a trip along with a score of other CIOs when an interesting debate started as the aircraft was taxied for take-off. In jest, a fellow CIO raised the question, “What would happen to the industry, our companies and the IT world at large, if the plane were to have a mishap? Apart from loss of 20 of the IT industry’s brightest minds, what other repercussions would the industry see, or our companies feel?” It set off a chain of thoughts which required serious thinking.

Every mature organization gives a lot of focus to developing layers of management. These organizations encourage its leaders to identify high potential talent, which can be groomed to take on higher responsibilities. Such an exercise is of help when the organization faces attrition at senior levels or expands, creating new opportunities for existing leadership teams. In such situations, the next levels of leaders are able to take on the mantle with minimal disruption to operations and strategic directions.

However, life does not always follow a pattern. Thus, there are disruptions when employees leave suddenly, or the planning process has not been able to groom a pipeline of leaders. Hiring from outside normally creates a gap, and learning curves can be counterproductive. This does not imply that organizations should always promote internal talent, but a move to provide the opportunities internally does definitely offer continuity.

Coming back to the IT organization, CIOs have come to the fore over the last decade. CIOs have taken on business challenges, and proved themselves by engaging the enterprise beyond usual technology solutions. Their contributions have been recognized, and many have permanent positions within management teams. In a few cases, they are also invited to join the Board.

As the CIO’s stature grows, so does the teams’ aspirations. Gaps in business understanding, communication, and team management are narrowing across IT staff. However, grooming a successor requires a different approach very similar to Boards grooming the next CEO. The CIO should consciously work towards creating the next level of leaders who s/he can depend upon in cases of exigency, and also provide additional bandwidth to take on sudden increases in demand or business growth.

Nurturing high potential talent to become a CIO does not necessarily have to be from within the IT function. Aspiring and talented individuals from other functions could also be good candidates. This is borne out by the fact that some enterprises have appointed CIOs from business functions in the recent past. The CIO needs to recognize that lateral hires can be as effective as technology staff, while taking a dispassionate view.

A common grievance is that the high potential next level CIOs seek opportunities outside more often, so why go through the rigmarole? If opportunities for growth are not aligned to the aspirations of the next level of IT leaders, they will seek to create their career growth outside. This can be managed to some extent by setting the right expectations, communication, and finally the CIO challenging the CEO to explore growth. Unless the CIO takes on new opportunities including lateral movement, the retention challenge will be difficult to address.

Are you grooming your next level to challenge your position? Are they ready to take on your role, should you decide to move laterally, or out of the organization? If not, start now. You owe it to yourself and the company, because your growth depends on this.

Fortunately, the flight landed safely. As we collected our luggage, I had some solace that the talent pipeline was strong.