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From CIO to consultant: So how did I end up here anyway?
Why I chose to go it alone

By Mike Barrett

Published: Thursday 15 February 2007

Welcome to silicon.com's newest column, 'From CIO to consultant', in which Mike Barrett chronicles his transition from corporate executive to freelance gun for hire. Follow him on his journey...

So how, I wonder, did I get here - sitting in my home office, surrounded by paperwork and boxes, writing a column for silicon.com?

Towards the end of last year I decided it was time to take a chance and start my own business. I'd been with CNET Networks UK (the publisher of silicon.com, among other publications) for four years and had been part of a management team that had taken the company through a period of huge change and growth.

After 25 years in the IT industry, the last seven as CTO/CIO/COO for various organisations, managing seven-figure budgets and multi-disciplinary teams, it's a huge culture change when you decide to go it alone. Having said that, my commute took about 30 seconds this morning, I'm master of my own destiny and I can stay in my dressing gown all day if I so wish.

The seeds of change began for me at last year's silicon.com CIO Forum, during a panel about why CIOs rarely make the transition to CEOs. One of the panellists pointed out CIOs are more likely to go into consulting than take on the CEO mantle.

I hope one day to attain the CEO title - but I aim to get there by first becoming a consultant. This column will document my experiences as I make this transition from CIO to consultant. I'm going to write about why I decided to make the change, what I had to do to make it happen, how I've managed to set up my own business and then market and manage it - and what it's like to escape the ties of corporate life.

I hope you will follow my progress over the coming weeks and months and I would encourage you to engage in the conversation. I bet many of you have in the past - or are currently - consulting. What is it like for you? What do you miss about full-time work? How could I do things differently?

But first - why would anybody in their right mind want to leave a company that was growing fast and had great products and fantastic people?

There comes a point where it becomes too easy. In the last four years I've been through nearly a dozen site redesigns and relaunches - including launching new products with innovative social-networking and user-generated content features. It was a brilliant experience but I think it's true for everyone that there comes a time when you have to look ahead and see where the challenges are going to come from. And for me, the time had come to make a change.

The other reason is time. When you are in a fast-moving business, there's just no time to stop and look at what else is going on around you. Online publishing is going through a massive upheaval with new technologies and sites being launched every day. Who could have predicted the rise of MySpace and YouTube even 18 months ago? There is a huge amount the online publishers can learn from these upstarts.

Finally, it's not very often you find yourself in a situation where you know more about your sector than most people. So I decided it was a great time to try something new - but what?

I had a piece of invaluable advice when I was trying to work out what to do next from a good and trusted friend. He said I shouldn't wait for a situation where I have to decide between one job and another - I should decide to end this phase now and the rest will fall into place.

Scary advice. Give up a well-paid job at a great company where you really like the people and then try to work out how to pay the mortgage. It sounds completely counter intuitive but he's right. I could have weighed up a different job against my role at CNET and found a hundred reasons to go and a hundred reasons to stay. Likewise with the consultancy route. Instead I had to look at what really motivates me and why I wanted to change before diving headlong into something new.

I also read this article, which says something similar - that how you are perceived when you grow with a company is different than when you come to a new situation as a fresh face.

The combination of all these things finally convinced me to make the break. So I sat down and worked out what I wanted to do.

Long term, I want to stay in publishing but work for myself rather than somebody else. In that respect, I'm aiming to make the transition from CIO to CEO.

I now have a great opportunity to take time out so I don't have to rush into it. I'm going to do some research, gain the marketing and sales skills that I've never really needed in my previous roles. I'm going to spend time working with the new technology companies need, to understand what they can bring to the party. I'm going to carry out some consultancy work for both publishers and tech businesses along the way to help them put the two parts of the puzzle together.

I'm also going to make sure I can allocate some time to working with a charity. I'm a long-time supporter of Byte Night and NCH and I'm intending to put aside one day per month to work on projects for them. Whether that's using my skills and experience as a CIO or making the tea for the sleepers, it's an opportunity to put something back into the community.

Stay tuned for my next column in which I discuss some of the day-to-day changes from stepping out of the corporate world and setting up on my own.

Mike Barrett was until recently COO for CNET Networks UK, the publisher of silicon.com and other online publications. He now consults on strategy and development for the online publishing industry and assists tech start-ups in building products that will take that industry into the web 2.0 world. You can read his blog at www.compoundmedia.co.uk.