Transcripts of the Panellist Q&As
Our Panellists
London
Robin Dargue, CIO, Diageo
Richard Williams, Group CIO, AstraZeneca
David Taylor, best selling business author and ex CIO
Birmingham
Michael Gray, Commercial Director, NHS Connecting for Health
John Silitoe, Service Delivery Director, Serco Solutions
David Pirie, Director of Information, Taylor Woodrow Plc
Steve Jeffree, Interim CIO
Leeds
Daniel Pollick, Global CIO, DLA Piper
Ritin Patel, IT Director, Interflora
Chris Martin, IT Director, E-Buyer
Myron Hrycyk, IT Director, NYK Logistics
Questions
- Should we encourage people from outside IS to take leadership
roles in IS?
- From the survey 62% of respondents used external advisors,
but only 10% thought they added “significant value”. Why do people
use them?
- What is the career path for an IT Professional?
- What is the evolution of Disaster Recovery?
- How do we understand new technology trends are amongst consumers?
- How do you foster innovation?
- How can you demonstrate IT value to the CFO?
- How can we improve relationships with vendors and the business?
- When electricity was first used commercially, companies had
the role “Director of Electricity”. Does the future hold the same
for the CIO?
- How do you stop projects from failing?
- How do you improve your relationship with the CEO?
- Are CIO’s involved enough in influencing an organisations
strategic direction for the future?
- What are your views regarding multi or single sourcing? Do
you think that multi sourcing is a knee jerk reaction?
- Is there ever a situation where it is right to outsource
the entire IT function?
- When outsourcing what one quality should you look for in a
vendor above anything else?
- From the survey it is suggested that the CIO and IT organisations
are not very good at communicating with wider business. Do you agree?
- How do you get your IT team to communicate with the rest
of the business?
- How do you manage a CEO who has set up own Wi-Fi connection
and therefore thinks that they understand IT?
- How do you get business buy-in to your project?
- IT has amazing opportunity to bring business together. Have
the panel had experience of this?
- The survey suggests that people expressed a desire to move
in the next few years, but were unlikely to. What is the impact of this?
- It’s good to see CIO’s at board level but what
are they prospects of a CIO becoming a COO or CEO?
- How do CIOs balance cost reduction with the needs to provide
a quality service?
- If it’s fundamental that CIOs save money, then why
isn’t value one of their top 3rd party requirements?
- What should you look for in an outsource provider?
- How has panel led their teams through periods of change?
- How can I ensure adequate knowledge transfer from my offshore
provider against a backdrop of increasing churn rates?
- Can you institutionalise innovation?
- Can we increase innovation in IT function?
- How do you attract and retain staff?
1 - Should we encourage people from outside IS to take
leadership roles in IS?
“A gifted amateur leaves a horrible trail”. Getting people from
outside IS to take leadership roles within IS is usually indicative of the board
not truly understanding of what is required to deliver IS projects effectively.
We should definitely encourage team members in IS to take time out in the business,
and conversely business people within IS. But not necessarily at a CIO level.
In my opinion CEOs don’t care about the background and in fact are increasingly
looking for a non IS background. The ultimate question a CEO asks isn’t
“what projects have you done?”, it’s “What are you really
like as a person?”
2 - From the survey 62% of respondents used external
advisors, but only 10% thought they added “significant value”. Why
do people use them?
We get what we deserve. We are fools unto ourselves.
It’s because of lack of confidence. Many CIOs value the credibility of
getting external affirmation of their plans / strategy. In many ways it’s
a poor reflection on management.
There is a place for external advice. For instance when you specifically don’t
have experience in that area or if you don’t have the time to focus.
IT is not the only place where external advisors are used. Marketing use them
a lot.
I am an external advisor and am appalled by how many skills / talent are ignored
in the IT department. Before you look externally, look internally first.
3 - What is the career path for an IT Professional?
This is one of the most exciting times to be in IT.
The company doesn’t owe you a career. Nowadays your career is your own
personal asset, where you must assume responsibility.
4 - What is the evolution of Disaster Recovery?
I’m worried about the increasing connectivity in the world. For instance
Avian Flu; it might not affect you directly, but how does it affect your suppliers,
or your suppliers’ suppliers?
Perhaps a bigger question is that of Business Continuity. This is becoming
increasingly important and right now there isn’t a natural owner. But
someone needs to own it.
5 - How do we understand new technology trends are
amongst consumers?
Consumers are becoming increasingly powerful. Whilst in the past the focus
of companies was to take products and ‘push’ them out to the consumers,
the focus is increasingly on listening and responding directly to customers.
Another trend that is happening is that with the increasing ease by which technology
can be used, there is an increasing amount of technology development / usage
which would typically have been managed by an IT department, actually occurring
outside. Blogs, Wikis are examples.
Woking FC’s unofficial website gets many times more visitors than the
official website.
One of the biggest things that keep CEOs awake at night is reputation. And
with so many different channels for employees to ‘publish’ to the
market…and so many automated ways by which information is forwarded, published
and republished, understanding how this works and managing how this happens
is key to this.
6 - How do you foster innovation?
Innovation is hard work; you can’t say “on November the 1st we
will be innovative”. The most important thing is to give the time and
resource to do it.
I think innovation is actually easy. It’s just us that makes it hard
work. Accenture have a posture: “We are your next big idea”. But
actually we should be the next big idea.
There are many examples of people going away for brainstorming days and coming
back with 10 great ideas. Each of which is then crossed off when it comes round
to budgeting time.
Recruit crazy people, with crazy ideas. Then within the first 5 hours of joining
ask them for their ideas – before they get consumed in your culture!
7 - How can you demonstrate IT value to the CFO?
It’s about demonstrating business effect rather than the technology.
The effect needs to be demonstrated in the language and values of the business.
For instance “This new technology has sped up the discovery of a new medicine”
or “it has allowed us to educate our patients more effectively”.
“Talk of ‘IT Value’ boils my blood!”. Very few people
demand so much proof of value in other support areas such as HR, Finance, and
Marketing. If you can find me a business sponsor – someone in the business
who is prepared and able to take responsibility for realising the value of the
project – then essentially the “value” will follow.
8 - How can we improve relationships with vendors and
the business?
Only 27% of survey respondents thought that their relationship with vendors
was ‘excellent’.
It’s easy to beat up suppliers, but the braver CIOs really align themselves
with their vendors.
Only 18% of CIOs felt the relationship between their teams and the business
was ‘excellent’. That’s the biggest issue.
9 - When electricity was first used commercially, companies
had the role “Director of Electricity”. Does the future hold the
same for the CIO?
If the role of the CIO stays the same it will die. But that’s not what
is happening. The role is evolving. It is becoming more strategic, more focussed
on managing strategic change.
Who at board level looks so completely at every bit of the business? The CIO
is in a unique position.
10 - How do you stop projects from failing?
If you can’t find a business sponsor on the board or the executive committee,
I really question the value of project.
We introduced a concept called the Tollgate approach where at a key milestone
within the project we decided whether we were to progress or not.
The perception out there is that IT doesn’t deliver; especially with
Computer Weekly’s on-going reporting on government IT project failures.
The reality is that if the failure rate really was as high as reported no businesses,
let alone IT Departments would be able to survive.
11 - How do you improve your relationship with the
CEO?
Be authentic. Be honest.
Credibility, transparency, honesty. Make sure the CEO believes that when you
enter the room they are going to hear things exactly as they are, with no need
for interpretation.
The most powerful person in the organisation is the CEO’s PA.
12 - Are CIO’s involved enough in the company’s
strategic direction for the future?
CIO’s tend to be ambivalent about the direction of the company. They
use too many three letter acronyms promising the next big thing.
Working with vendors will increase the CIO’s awareness of the direction
the company wishes to take. It’s good to take advantage of other people’s
experiences.
13 - What are your views regarding multi or single
sourcing? Do you think that multi sourcing is a knee jerk reaction?
Multi sourcing is popular. However, in my opinion it is not a long term solution
and the problem should be sorted with the supplier first.
I think that there is an issue of vendors and their service quality. All too
often vendors lose sight of service delivery. My suggestion is that if you have
been with the supplier for some time try to resolve the problem rather than
passing it onto another supplier.
A supplier’s focus will always be on big volume projects. Any operational
deals will be an after thought.
The key factor is that you shouldn’t outsource problems as this will
only create further problems for you.
14 - Is there ever a situation where it is right to
outsource the entire IT function?
It depends what and how you outsource. If your core business is not IT then
the correct decision would be to outsource.
15 - When outsourcing what one quality should you
look for in a vendor above anything else?
Price! However, softer skills that have been highlighted in the survey would
be important if the price was the same, but ultimately price would be the deciding
factor.
I think that CIO’s don’t spend enough time working out what drives
a vendor. Vast budgets are going into these areas but are not seen as a number
one priority for CIO’s, which is surprising.
When you sign up to an agreement with a vendor, the contract must be flexible
so that it works when business is good or bad.
Be sure that vendors do what they said they would do before trying to sell
further solutions such as add ons. Vendors must get the fundamentals right before
other parts of the business.
16 - From the survey it is suggested that CIO and
IT organisations are not very good at communicating with wider organisations.
Do you agree?
I have had experience of where IT organisations do not communicate with wider
organisations, but some do. In all situations it depends upon the team, CIO
etc.
17 - How do you get your team to communicate with
the rest of the business?
Explain it so that a non-technical focussed person would understand it. This
means talking in a simple language.
As someone who has been on both sides, I suggest that a CIO needs good communication
skills in order to explain things effectively.
Don’t talk about upgrades to systems etc, talk about the benefits of
having it in place for example how it will save time and cost.
I believe it is not just about the language that you use. It’s also about
how you say it. People will not connect with you if you don’t talk on
their level.
In my experience CIO’s have a project mentality. When they communicate
about their projects it can be perceived as boring.
I agree. People will become bored if you don’t talk on their level.
You need account plans, to communicate the good and the bad. However, when
things go well, tell people about it.
18 - How do you manage a CEO who has set up own Wi-Fi
connection and therefore thinks that they understand IT?
My suggestion would be to invite them to join third line support for one day.
Then they will find out that they are not as skilled as they think they are!
19 - How do you get business buy in to your project?
The business needs to want the project. There is no point in having projects
that people do not support.
If there is no business support then don’t do it.
20 - IT has an amazing opportunity to bring business
together. Have the panel had experience of this?
I got my team to organise things that normally don’t involve the IT department.
This motivated the IT team as they were involved in other projects.
I introduced a ‘project methodology’ that the business liked so
much that they adopted an IT account manager to manage non IT initiatives, which
aided moral in the team.
21 - The survey suggests that people expressed a desire
to move in the next few years, but were unlikely to. What is the impact of this?
CIO’s are naturally ambitious. They are often in a situation where they
are working to continually improve things, rather than change it. I believe
if they want to move then they have to make it happen.
There is a quote about ‘only growing to the level of people you mix with’.
If a person wants to make further contributions to the business then they have
to look to other areas where they can offer their support.
22 - It’s good to see CIO’s at board level
but what are the prospects of a CIO becoming a COO or CEO?
It is refreshing to see CIO’s taking on additional responsibility. By
doing this they are more likely to move into a better role.
I believe it’s about the personality of the individual. To go from CIO
to CEO you must be a good businessman by getting the results that the board
is looking for. You also have to be prepared to leave the CIO role behind.
It’s about what extra tasks the CIO can pick up along the way and broaden
their business experience.
23 - How do CIOs balance cost reduction with the needs
to provide a quality service?
The cost of IT is coming down across the industry. I created an “invest
to save” programme within my organisation. This was presented to the board
in order for them to see where we were saving money and therefore gained more
money to spend on other areas.
The cost of the CIO function has been falling, except for staff costs and Microsoft
licence fees. If you are under pressure to save money I don’t think that
it is difficult to do. For example look at network charges and see if you can
save money there.
24 - If it’s fundamental that CIOs save money,
then why isn’t value one of their top 3rd party requirements?
It depends on what you mean by value. The cost spent with your supplier compared
to what you are trying to do is minimal.
If you are purchasing a straight forward commodity then money is important.
If not then ‘softer’ issues will become more important.
I agree that you need a vendor who ties in with what you are trying to do.
I have had a bad experience where the vendor was only interested in selling.
25 - What should you look for in an outsource provider?
I have had experience where we bought the wrong application. A demo was presented
to myself and the CEO with all the ‘glitz’. As it turned out the
contract wasn’t too good and the product wasn’t what we needed.
The worst outsourcing deals are done on price only. Don’t try to bring
the price down with your supplier and then ask for extras.
A cultural fit is very important. Have to ensure that both parties are able
to provide each other with what they need.
Look for a relationship before entering a contract with the outsourcer. Two
big household names did a deal at top level with no one else below them involved.
One company was process driven, the other agile. The result of this was that
they found it very hard to work together.
I would recommend that you need relationships at all levels. The chairman should
be at the top, with the CIO having clear parameters and a strong tiered approach
down to the IT department. The IT team should be able to just get on with it.
26 - How has the panel led their team through periods
of change?
I told my team that they were very lucky to work in IT. In turn this gave them
a very resilient and proactive attitude.
It’s the people that are always resilient to change that needed bringing
onto the IT function.
27 - How can I ensure adequate knowledge transfer
from offshore provider against a backdrop of increasing churn rates?
Ensure that you buy a service not people from an offshore provider. This way
you mitigate risk.
Realise that there is a churn. What I do is have monthly competency reviews
and test the depth of skills. I believe by doing this I know about the current
‘churn’ and therefore not lose people to market forces.
Where you see service not being maintained then take this as a warning that
churn is affecting business and that knowledge transfer is clearly not in place.
I believe there is a cycle in the IT department. By outsourcing it saves us
money, but then we have to pay the vendor for their service. This means that
we have to bring the job back in house.
I sympathise with this. You have to work with outsourcing to reduce staff turnover.
I worked with the HR department to help incentivise people therefore reducing
churn.
Documentation is a must to ensure that you don’t lose knowledge transfer.
28 - Can you institutionalise innovation?
No. If you could then the human race would be out of a job.
29 - Can we increase innovation in the IT function?
As a CIO I want to be remembered for innovations to the business not about
keeping things going. You have to show the board that you can tick along in
order for you to get support and the innovation end. You must have the fundamental
right before moving onto the next stage which is showing innovation.
30 - How do you attract and retain staff?
I work in a remote location and so it is difficult to attract staff. I pester
Harvey Nash to find me the candidates that I am looking for.
I have distributor deals with contractors, outsourcing and good relationships
with Harvey Nash and its consultants.
I don’t see churn with my organisation. I have a low turnover, SAP, webplace
and locater for specialist skills. I don’t use contractors on work not
outsourced.
It’s how CIOs look after their staff. They need respect and a good working
environment.
Recruit the right people in the first place.
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