The IT Annual Report

Richard Yanke, CIO at Three Rivers Bank in Pittsburgh, created just such a document for his technology shop. “I kind of did it on the sly,” says Yanke. “I meet with the CEO weekly, but rather than plow through all those notes, I thought he could use a succinct snapshot of our organization.”

Like any corporate annual report, Yanke?s includes what happened during the past year, some financial data and plans for the upcoming year. It?s all itemized.

For 2000, he listed 22 accomplishments by the IT department, line-itemed the raw cost savings from each project and bulleted 10 goals for 2001.

The whole document is a three-page stapled printout — no cover, no pleasant art. It could be an e-mail attachment, but Yanke thinks the printed document is key.

This is something he wants his executives to grab and set their coffee on, to use as a reference tool.

It?s brief, he says, but comprehensive. “The CEO doesn?t want to read a lot of verbiage,” Yanke says. “But all the information is in there. It doesn?t leave many questions.” Yanke says Three Rivers? CEO has already used the 2000 IT Annual Report to rejigger some staffing projections for the current year.

Plus, “I?m just more aligned,” Yanke says. “When my managers ask me for career advice, the best I can give them is to learn this stuff. Learn what an annual report is good for. Learn the business side. Get out of the IT shop for a while.”