CIO —
What’s in a Name?
Q: Is there a new title being used at the senior executive level to denote the expanding role of the CIO into strategic planning for the entire corporation as well as driving mergers and acquisitions integration? If not, is it time to create one?
A: The changing role of the "head of technology"?represented by the titular transition from IS director to CIO?is all about the inclusion of IT in the corporate mission and business strategy. In this mode, the CIO has a seat at the senior management table to ensure that IT is an integral component of business strategy, and to enable, facilitate and proactively generate competitive advantage for top-line growth and operational optimization for bottom-line performance. While still a very small minority, some top IT executives have progressed further to participation in the fundamental and underlying strategic planning of the company’s business. While I’m not aware of any new title that reflects this paradigm, excellence in this capacity may very well lead an ambitious CIO through the glass ceiling to an old title such as general manager, president, COO and even CEO.
Regarding mergers and acquisitions activity, beyond the evaluation and integration of the technologies of conjoining entities, there must also be acknowledgement of the essential business processes and procedures. Thus, IT plays a crucial role in these activities, just as the CFO reconciles accounting practices and consolidates ledgers, and the chief marketing officer unifies marketing plans and activities. A C-level officer must own overall responsibility for the merger process. If not the COO, why not a world-class CIO?
-Mark Polansky, a managing director and member of the advanced technology practice in Korn/Ferry International’s New York City office
CIO or CTO?
Q: I was recently given the opportunity to change my title from CIO to CTO. Doesn’t the workplace equate them?
A: In some instances the two titles are used in an equivalent manner. But in the majority of cases, it is the CIO who heads up IT in a corporate environment, with the CTO serving in a very important but technology-focused supporting role. This is different from the CTO who typically heads up R&D in an engineering-type environment. The CTO title in a nonvendor environment implies that you do not have full IT accountability.
-M.P.
Clarify the Roles
Q: For the past five years, I have been the CIO of a midsize regional distribution company. The only fly in the ointment is the vice president of operations who, with a tenure of 20-plus years, sees new technology as his purview. How can I clarify the roles of operations, sales and marketing, and IT?
A: I’LL ASSUme that your question refers to technical initiatives undertaken by the vice president of business operations, not computer operations. As such, that executive should be your partner and comrade?not your rival?in exploring and deploying new technologies to improve the efficiency of his department’s activities. Unless management is totally clueless, it does seem likely that the relationships with senior management developed during his 20-year tenure have sanctioned this vice president’s technological independence. Additionally, it seems possible that you have been unsuccessful in creating a working relationship with the vice president, regardless of whether it’s your fault, his or both.
