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CIO Executive Council

A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

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8 Reasons Why a Developer Would NEVER Want To Be a CIO

Sure, CIOs earn lots of money and don't have to worry about their job getting shipped off to India, but they do have to deal with a lot of crap software developers wouldn't ever want to touch. Here are eight reasons why developers would rather stick hot needles in their eyes than become a CIO.

1. Software developers live to write code.

Writing code is the light of a developer's life. The fire of his loins. His sin, his soul. (Thank you, Nabokov.) Writing code is a compulsion for software developers. They have to do it—often at the expense of personal grooming, developing their social skills and cultivating relationships with the opposite sex. Becoming a CIO would take them away from their one true passion.

2. They like to see the fruits of their labors.

3. No habla Ingles.

Many developers express themselves better in Java or C# than they do in English. That doesn't fly for CIOs, who have to be able to clearly and convincingly explain to their management teams and boards of directors IT's value.

4. Revenge of the nerds.

The dream of becoming a legendary hacker is far more exciting to a software developer than the prospect of becoming a CIO. It's also a much more realistic career goal. Landing a good CIO job these days isn't easy.

5. Developers don't aspire to be anyone's bi***.

Let's face it: Much of the CIO role requires sucking up to the CFO and CEO. Developers prize their integrity and think corporate politics is for wonks. What's more, they'd rather cannibalize Cowboy Neal than report to and take orders from executives who don't understand technology.

6. They're not interested in plumbing.

Even developers see the CIO as tactical. They view the CIO as the guy in charge of infrastructure. Developers don't want to manage the status quo. They want to innovate. (See #1.)