Set up in 1804 as a merchant bank, today Schroders is a FTSE 100 asset management firm headquartered in London, but with over 3,500 employees in 27 countries. The Schroder family remain the majority shareholders in the organisation. Head of Group IT Matthew Oakeley has been with Schroders during what can only be described as its most exciting period of technology history. Joining in 2005, within a year he was leading the replacement of the portfolio accounting system (PAS), the crucial platform for an asset management business. The legacy back office platform system and all the ecosystem that surrounded it was replaced in a large two-year project that was on time and to budget. This went live in 2008 just as the financial crisis began. “By 2010 we came out a stronger organisation. With our back office in good shape, IT became all about supporting the growth of our investment business through scalable data systems and platforms. This focus has driven a transformation of the IT organisation and the way in which we work,” he says of how his organisation has had to reshape from a focus on operational platforms to a much more diverse, solutions- and data-driven operation. When did you start your current role?2005 Have you completed an MBA?No Order the following sources of advice/information by value to you: In-house Peer Group Consultant Analyst Vendors Technology strategy and spending What is the major transformational IT project that has been recently completed, or is underway at your organisation?We are currently running a number of major programmes, but the most significant is the Investment Platform Programme (IPP) What impact will it/does it have on the organisation?We are seeking to make a global step-change in the availability and consistency of analytics, data and tools for our portfolio managers and through this to drive globalisation of parts of our business process What new strategic technology deals has your organisation struck and with whom?Offshore IT Support and Development – UST Global Name your strategic technology suppliers?Computacenter, Microsoft, SimCorp, Charles River, Oracle, BT, UST Global, MSCI, Bloomberg, Salesforce What is the strategic aim of the CIO and IT operations for the next financial year?Investment in: Our business platforms, our client engagement technologies, our personal technology and our global infrastructure. Transformation achievements Would you describe the CIO role as a transformation leader in your organisation?Yes – in certain spheres Describe the transformations you have led / been involved in, how did they transform operations, customer experience or the organisation?I led the development of the platform vision and architecture for our (award-winning) back office renewal programme following the decision to cancel our back office outsource. I led the development of the platform vision for our Investment Platform Programme – 3 year global investment (with plc Board visibility) to augment our business platforms, data, analytics and global business processes). This programme is 70% complete. I designed and initiated the 'Global Target Operating Model for Infrastructure' to transform a federated IT infrastructure service into a global service. This is in its early stages and approaching its first deliverables. Beyond technology, can you describe a business transformation programme that you own or contribute to?I participate in a number of initiatives, but am not currently the owner of any non-technology initiatives. What key technologies are being considered to enable transformation?Secure iPad enablement through MobileIron; Tableau for 'big analytics'; Episerver for web content; Nyntex for workflow; Lync for unified comms (already being implemented) including telephony 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?The speed with which the organisation can keep up with new toys is an issue and causes frustration. We have enabled partial use of mobile devices (via Good for email and MobileIron for documents and the Intranet). This allows a reasonable level of use of BYOD. We would love to roll out Windows 8 tablets… but it just isn't ready. Roll on Windows 9… 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?We have reasonable processes in place and allow staff to bring their own mobile devices for use on the Wi-Fi. They can use company provided apps for email and documents, but can't connect directly to the LAN Where do you seek transformational inspiration from?I'm a builder – I always think things can and should be better. Whenever I stall, I have found my family or colleagues have re-inspired me. The CIO role in the business Who do they report to?COO Does the CIO have a seat on the board?No How often do you meet with the CEO?Quarterly Does your organisation have a digital leader and what is the difference in their responsibilities to yours?No What percentage of IT budget do you control and what percentage of IT budget does your digital peer hold?I control the IT budget The IT department How many staff make up the IT team?(What is the split between in-house/outsourced staff)Internal: 285 in London; another 120 overseasOutsourced: 80+ in India plus however many are used by Computacenter for IT Infrastructure Describe the CIO’s management team, do you have direct reports that develop the relationship and services between the business and IT?Reports: Head of Investment Management IT; Head of Distribution & Corporate IT; Head of Asia/Pacific IT; Head of European IT; Head of Americas IT; Head of IT Infrastructure; Head of Business Consultancy; Head of Application Production; Head of IT Central Services.All have direct responsibility for developing their relationships and services with their business verticals. How many log-in accounts do you issue across you organisation?c.4,000 to real people (ignoring system accounts, test accounts, alternate accounts) What is the primary technology platform?Best of breed strategy, so a large number of different line of business applications (100+). Largest systems are Charles River (trading and portfolio management) and Simcorp Dimension (portfolio accounting)