Role of CIO Must Change — Job Security Gone Forever, Gartner to Warn at Sydney Symposium/ITxpo
SYDNEY Sept 30, 2003 — The life of the Chief Information Officer is changing dramatically. Static or declining budgets and demands for better performance are combining to create the most difficult and demanding of all management roles.
Against this backdrop, job security for everyone in IT has gone forever. Latest Gartner (NYSE: IT and ITB) research predicts job losses will be staggering in mature markets such as Australia and the United States. Each year, one in 10 jobs at vendors will move to emerging markets, while one in 20 will go on the user side.
"Outsourcing and changing work practices is creating this dramatic shift," says Gartner EXP research director, Andy Rowsell-Jones, one of the high-profile presenters at the 2003 Symposium/ITxpo in Sydney next month.
"The CIO, as we know it, is a dying breed. We are seeing the role reinvented. On the one hand, we see a high-profile executive role as CIOs work on the demand side with the business. On the other, we see the industrialisation of the IT world. It has become standardised and packaged.
"Running many IT services has become far more transaction-based, as if it has moved from brain surgery to producing soccer balls. Software for something as complex as a global supply chain is now coming out of a box - literally."
Gartner has termed the phrase "IS Lite" to capture this change in landscape. Tell-tale signs of an IS Lite organisation are:
Process-based working;
Outsourcing;
Centres of excellence, and
Application development embedded in the business.
Some 83 per cent of 151 CIOs surveyed globally say that at least one of these trends exists in their organisation. The research also found staff resistance and lack of competency to deliver IT differently were the greatest hurdles to implementing change.
Mr Rowsell-Jones said the key responsibilities for a CIO of the future will be:
IT leadership - vision, business fusion and resource management
Architecture development - innovative design to industry standards
Business enhancement - process analysis, project and internal relationship management
Technology advancement - R&D, technology tracking and proto-typing
Vendor management - contract negotiation, and performance and relationship management
"For IT to move from cost to value, competencies need to shift from technical towards business and behavioural," Mr Rowsell-Jones said.
Colleague Jose Ruggero, a Vice-President of Gartner EXP, added: "Organisations must rebuild the CIO role. The change is geared towards greater governance and business engagement.
"Today and tomorrow's CIO must lead like a CEO, analyse like a CFO and execute like a COO (chief operating officer). It's the hardest job in a large organisation."
The myriad of challenges confronting the CIO will be explored by Mr Ruggero and Mr Rowsell-Jones together with Gartner analysts from around the world at 11th Symposium/ITxpo at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney, from November 11-14.
Interview opportunities with Mr Ruggero and Mr Rowsell-Jones, or Gartner's leading authority in Europe, the provocative and entertaining Andy Kyte, are available in the lead-up to Symposium.
Symposium will also feature presentations on:
Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2004;
Future of Windows in the Enterprise;
Enterprise Risk Management for Financial Services;
Return on IT Investment in Government;
Converging Wireless Technologies for the Enterprise;
New Technologies and What It Means for Security;
Emerging Technologies: Radar Screen for 2005-2014;
About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. is the leading provider of
research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more
than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives
in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the
investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis
and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology
decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Gartner Intelligence, research and
events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer
networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customized engagements with a specific
emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in
Stamford, Connecticut, and has 3,700 associates, including more than 1,000 research
analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information,
visit www.gartner.com.
