SThree is an international specialist recruitment firm based in London. The organisation was founded in 1986 under the name Computer Futures, a brand name that lives on in the 55 offices across Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, UK and the Americas that SThree operates in. CIO Lance Fisher was named European CIO of the Year at the European ICT awards in June 2013, and spoke at a CIO UK mobility event last year about the CIO as the owner of information at their organisation, and what bring-your-own-device and Mobile Device Management strategies can offer an organisation. When did you start your current role?December 2010 Have you completed an MBA?Yes, University of Warwick Order the following sources of advice/information by value to you:1. In-house2. Vendors3. Peer group4. Consultant5. Analyst Technology strategy and spending What is the major transformational IT project that has been recently completed, or is underway at your organisation?There are a many as I have been transforming IT. I have picked four in my CIO strategy to move to the 4 forces or SMIC. LinkedIn for SOCIAL. Good technology to mobilise workforce – MOBILE. SAP BO redesign for efficiencies and data access – INFORMATION. Oracle for stratgegic move to CLOUD. We have more examples but have done one of each force here. What impact will it/does it have on the organisation?Each project has a ROI.  ranging fromk easy to show efficieincies and ROI to fundamental fact based decision making based on data What new strategic technology deals has your organisation struck and with whom?All of the above an more, part of the CIO role is to form long lasting strategic relationships with Vendors. Our vendors become our partners. Our partners are Oracle, SAP, GOOD, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Citrix – it's a long list Name your strategic technology suppliers?Oracle, Microsoft, Salesforce, Good, SAP, Google , LinkedIn How much is the IT operational spend compared to the revenue or company turnover as a percentage?IT spend is 10% of operating cost. Or 2.7% of total revenue or 8.5% of gross profit. What is the strategic aim of the CIO and IT operations for the next financial year?To Move more to SMIC – social, mobile, information and cloud, ensuring a ROI is seen on each investment and it achieves our corporate aim of being the most profitable staffing company. Transformation achievements Would you describe the CIO role as a transformation leader in your organisation?Yes Describe the transformations you have led / been involved in, how did they transform operations, customer experience or the organisation?This would be a long essay The main ones were spiralling cost, a divide between the business and IT, and a lack of strategy and vision. There was an escalating cost base and a lack of distinction between what we were doing to “maintain the business” and “grow the business”. I see people as our most important asset – people are key. I inherited a team with an annual 40% churn based in Wimbledon that were disconnected from the business. This churn was leading to instability and a lack of ability to focus on any strategy. There was no systematic definition and management of risks. No risk register or review and prioritisation of key enablers to global growth. There was no vision or collaboration with the business. There was a build vs buy mentality and no partnering or integration with multiple vendors. The transformation strategy was simple, I split IT into two. “Run the business”, and “Grow the business” with Innovation. You have to learn and understand the business and its competitive advantage, understand how your competitors run their businesses and then look for competitive advantage with innovation. As a CIO you are the glue, you need to connect IT to the business, vendors and your clients. Enable a Delivery Mindset – Ensuring the IT teams are focused on service and delivering projects. This was a mindset change. I enable strategic relationships with our core technology vendors, who become our partners. These are the heavyweights ie Oracle, Microsoft, SAP and niche vendors. For SThree these are organisations we also recruit for, this is a uniques situation that I have maximised. This ensures we have a deep relationship with our partners. Beyond technology, can you describe a business transformation programme that you own or contribute to?I own data , have crossed into marketing with Digital media and Social. The CIO of today has to be a hybrid centered around an organisations second biggest assett (Data) What percentage of your applications / infrastructure is run from the Cloud?At present 10%, but this is pureley a cost model, i.e. with a large user base (2400) on premise existing infrastructure works and is cost effective across all users. For new solutions we have been adopting CLOUD and see that we will migrate legacy over time. How is the use by employees of their own technology, use of mobiles and social networking impacting operations, customer experiences or the organisation at present?We were one of the first companies in the UK to take on GOOD and replace our Blakberry spend. This is being adopted now but we did this 2 years ago. This enabled BYOD. I have spoken at events on enabling BYOD and am considered an evangelist. I regulary speak at GOOD events. Adopting GOOD saw an increase in our profit which I can show by example. Do you have a plan in place for how to deal with shadow IT and BYOD. How do you influence and engage executives, place the right controls around employee choice and engage with the organisation on this issue?TRUST, if your fellow executives trust you as the most important person to enable IT and tranformation then there is no shadow IT. I introduced BYOD so am the sponsor of all BYOD initiatives. Where do you seek transformational inspiration from?CIO peers, vendors and other peer roles. i.e. CMOs, CDOs, the CIO role is blurring into other areas. It necessitates a very outward view, I spend a lot of time networking and on the road, and of course CIO Weekly! The CIO role in the business Who do you report to?CEO Do you have a seat on the board?Yes How often do you meet with the CEO?Formerly Monthly but then its ad hoc and frequent Does your organisation have a digital leader and what is the difference in their responsibilities to yours?I think my company are looking to me to fulfil that role What percentage of IT budget do you control and what percentage of IT budget does your digital peer hold?I control 100% The IT department How many staff make up the IT team?(What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff)in house ( 110) , outsource around (10) Describe the CIO’s management team, do you have direct reports that develop the relationship and services between the business and IT?Head of PM, Head of Service, Head of Data and Compliance, Head of FO Development/Product. Head of BO Development/Product, you will find other key roles under these, i.e. head of risk, head of security, incident manager, etc. And how many log-in accounts do you issue across you organisation?2200-2400 What is the primary technology platform? ( for example ERP, Website, trading system)We have multiple, but broadly centred on Oracle Databases , SAP BO , Various FO products