In the C-Suite – Beyond incompetence
Isn’t it a little odd that IT spend typically equates to circa 3% of revenues and impacts practically every aspect of the organisation, yet nobody at board level is managing it, let alone leading it?
Even the CIO doesn’t really have responsibility for IT. That burden was taken away the day that the organisation bullied the IT function into indiscriminate cost cutting. And in any case the CIO doesn’t generally sit in the boardroom, so at best she is managing IT, and a million miles from supporting/driving business direction.
Typically the CFO or COO has line responsibility for IT. The CFO tends to focus on driving down cost, sometimes at the expense of the business infrastructure and customer experience. The COO, knowing that he will be seen as the driver so to speak in the subsequent crash scene, takes a more circumspect view. However the COO is typically short term focused and more interested in keeping the engine running.
Neither the CFO nor the CEO is typically in a position to challenge strategic technology decisions that also have strategic business implications, eg. choice of service provider. As we saw yesterday, in respect of Google’s services, not everyday is a ‘cloud’y one.
Even where the CIO is on the board and has all the competencies needed to stay there, who at the top table is capable of challenging her decisions? Who has the wherewithal to press the CIO to maximise the value the IT investment yields, rather than focussing on its cost?
Bottom line, having a 21st century CIO in the c-suite is not enough. Everyone at the top table needs to be sufficiently competent in IT matters to ensure good corporate (and IT) governance is maintained.
Until this is addressed shareholders will continue to receive a sub-optimal return on their investment.
