By Andy McCue, 10 August 2005 07:05
NEWS The increasing focus on business rather than technology is vital for future IT professionals, according to leading CIOs.
CIOs were accused this week by JP Rangaswami, CIO at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, of putting potential IT graduates off a career in technology by talking too much about "I am the business, not IT".
But three-quarters (nine) of silicon.com's CIO Jury user panel disagreed with the claim that talking down technology makes it an unattractive career option for youngsters at a time when there is a shortage of IT talent coming through the education system.
Sean Powley, head of IS strategy at the London Borough of Barnet Council, said it is the IT profession that needs to change.
"The IT profession and careers in technology must be about the business, not some techie ghetto. If this means speaking the language of the business, then so be it," he said.
Talking up technology is more likely to damage the image of the IT profession, according to Mark Lichtenhein, director of IT and new media, PGA European Tour. "We need youngsters and graduates to be focused on the application and viable business uses of technology - not the development of technology for technology's sake."
Kevin Fitzpatrick, CTO at Manpower, said: "IT is a business support function not an end in itself. We need business-minded IT staff - if the graduates don't have an understanding of commerce and a passion for making their companies more successful they are in the wrong job."
Luke Mellors, IT director at the Dorchester, said the move towards a business focus is more healthy for the IT profession.
"Traditionally we have only ever been able to attract technical-driven, career-minded individuals. It is increasingly more important to attract business people as well as technical people into the IT profession. I would suggest that we are expanding our ability to attract individuals to this profession rather than limiting it," he said.
But Tony Johnson, IT director at Virgin Megastores, acknowledged there must still be recognition of the continued importance of skilled technical IT professionals.
Others said that while the need to be "business aware" is important, technology remains a key aspect of the profession.
Peter Ryder, head of ICT, Preston City Council, said: "In recruitment the technology aspect of IT must be made more prominent especially in the more technical aspects of an IT career."
Today's CIO Jury was...
Michael Bufalino, ITC director, Sheppard Robson
Ken Davis, head of IT, Five
Kevin Fitzpatrick, CTO, Manpower
Tony Johnson, IT director, Virgin Megastores
Mark Lichtenhein, director of IT and new media, PGA European Tour
Christopher Linfoot, IT director, LDV Vans
Nick Masterson-Jones, IT programmes director, Voca (formerly Bacs)
Luke Mellors, IT director, The Dorchester
Rory O'Boyle, IT director, The Football Association
Sean Powley, head of IS strategy, London Borough of Barnet
Peter Ryder, head of ICT, Preston City Council
Richard Steel, head of ICT, London Borough of Newham
If you are a CIO, IT director or equivalent at a large or small company in the private or public sector and want to be part of silicon.com's CIO Jury pool, or you know an IT chief who should be, then drop us a line at editorial@silicon.com
Comments
There are 13 comments. Join the discussion
1. Mark Stanley
In the same vein...
Investigative journalists should focus on articles that sell papers rather than social injustice;
Pharmaceuticals should only really worry about making a better headache tablet, never mind all that cancer stuff;
Musicians should concentrate on disposable pop and bedroom wall posters;
NASA should go into space tourism and leave it at that.
...somebody has to be doing research and development and creating new uses for IT. You can't just react to what your business asks for because they often don't know what is possible. The human race has thrived because of exploration and experimentation and not settling for what it's got. We need technology obsessed geeky people as much as we need business superstars.
Without the teccies there would be no IT department to manage. As I recall Bill Gates wasn't a Harvard MBA graduate but the boy did ok.
2. M Connelly
Comments like "the IT industry needs to change" are unrealistic. A person goes into IT because they like IT. Businesses might want their IT staff to be more business savvy, but such people usually don't stick around in IT very long. They usually move to more lucrative pastures in sales or management. It is the management's responsibility learn to interface with their IT staff and get the most from them. At the end of the day, the IT staff just have to design, install, configure and get it working. The management need to specify what they want and translate it into technology. It is up to management to learn to talk techie, not the other way round.
3. W.S.Becket
The language adopted by the IT industry cannot be doing much good in the wider application. Scores of advertisements for Hardware/Software drop on my desk weekly and almost all of them are meticulously phrased in terms guaranteed to produce incomprehension.
And if I don't understand what it is they are trying to sell me, I am not likely to rise to the bait and buy ............................
4. Nick Cole
IT is a fundamental part of business, just as shelf stacking, store, sales, pay, production line, etc are.
IT has to think and be business but at the same time business has to think IT. Computer systems are the tools of many trades and just as important as the white vans, fork lift trucks, shovels, and all the other paraphernalia of doing anything nowadays.
'Vacuous management speak' (John Humphrey 2004) is an attempt by the business profession to give the same impression that all other real professions have done for centuries to generate the same aura of authority. Unfortunately these business terms tend to be used to give a propaganda spin to what would normally be common-sense statements and in fact used to mask the real meaning. While the professions have a real use and need for their terminology the management generalists do not.
But, while it is relatively simple to understand say a hammer or operate a cash till, the complexities of IT need a significant level of expertise to understand how the tool can be leveraged (there I've used some management speak!) to maximise productivity or advantage, at the same time as ensuring the business itself adapts to allow this to happen.
It is as vital for business to understand why a firewall has to be set up in a particular way as it is to understand that the the middle pedal on a car disconnects the engine from the transmission, or a hammer is held by the handle.
5. Brian Catt
There is no simple polarised answer between technology and its business users. Its a dumbed down approach to a complex issue.
First off all specialised speak from either side is damaging. Second its not required for technology specialists to understand busines benefit, just deliver the specification that yields this benefit within a team.
All large comlex projects delivering technology for end users and business benefit reqiuires a team of people from those who specify the need and its benifit through engineers who can implement in silicon, code, form fit and function/ and human interface, and the customer experience team to test and refine the delivery at the point of use.
Its not difficult but is complex, just requires adequate resources and overall management who can keep the train on the tracks - so that what is delivered is what the customer wants, expects and can deploy to ordinary people. Also such a team WILL be able to implement new technology to extrapolate it for competitive edge, understanding where that is derived from and in constant doialogue with those who might benefit from it..
The danger always is people making or agreeing to demands w/o a good grasp of what can be delivered, or worse without the current processes and power structures that will be affected being signed up and part of the project.
Or the project is started for short term personal benefits that are unrealistic and out of line with long term business development (more than 50% of the cases?) - such as the bonus related short term cost savings CRM was often sold to C level on, wheras the actual benefits should be competive edge thro' better customer insight, etc., etc..
The motivators to deliver a project must be aligned across the organisation and the project specification, management and related measurement and reward systems joined up end to end - then, magically, everyone will speak the same language.
I have often tried to get into such a position. What is always wanted is craft skills in technology or business delivery, not the ability to understand everything at an adequate level and manage projects for best results.
In technology this approach is called product marketing and generally produces things people buy, it can't fail too often and is done well and to a well understood process. Its the one off nature of IT projects and their mismanagement for conflicting objectives that cause the big problems, not the language or the people involved being too tecnical or buainess oriented.
Even having discussion like this suggests no one is understanding the problem in real depth - maybe its just because its August........
Brian
01932 772731
6. Sandro Del Re
I absolutely agree that I.T. professionlas need to understand their particular business to deliver useful applications. The danger of going too far to the business side is that I.T. becomes populated with senior people that are recruited solely on their business knowledge.
When this happens, and it does, it makes a mockery of the whole I.T. department. With all due respect to my colleagues on the business side, if you are running an I.T. department you should know what a server is used for.
In my long career in the I.T. business I have made a point of understanding the business the company was engaged in. But I can tell you that it is easier for an I.T. personto learn the business than it is for a business user to learn I.T.
7. Carl Maycock
It always shrikes me as amazing that business people still have no idea how to deal with IT.
The simple reason why people are moving into other areas of employment is that salaries are dropping, hours are increasing, real career development opportunities are decreasing. In short IT staff are not seen to 'add' to the bottom line so therefore they must work harder to justify their positions.
I see so many jobs that specify MCSE, CCNA or UNIX skills along with car + benefits (what ever those are!) with a salary of 16-20K. You will be expected to be on call, travel to site, produce results and work as many hours as is needed.
Why would anybody want to go into a career that has limited earning potential (this is now the current trend), requires full dedication at home and work and is not valued by the company as it should be.
I have so many friends that all want to move out of IT. And it's a trend I don't think will change until business people start to lose business because they can't get the staff.
8. anonymous
Greed. That's whats screwed the IT industry up in this country and other rich nations.
Point 1 (the BIG problem): Senior management and senior accountants like outsourcing and pay cuts, pay freezes (IT Salaries in general haven't gone up in the last 8 years or so!), basically anything that saves the company money because they then get a pay increase, bonuses etc. So basically the little guy (non senior gets exploited)
Point 2: So called IT Recruitment Agencies (ex double glazing/car salesman, shop sales staff, ex estate agents and wet behind the ears graduates etc). These people are sourced to provide highly skilled technical people but they don't understand Sweet F A about the roles they are recruiting for. Senior Mangement and the Senior Bean Counters probably also got bonuses and pay rises when they saved the company more money by almost getting rid of HR.
In a nutshell the IT industry in this country for most IT bods will only get worse and I would not recommend that anybody joins this profession.
9. Steve Berry
Sandro, you're dead right. IT people can MAKE a business. Most business people can maintain the Status-Quo but not too many have that "creative" technical spirit ( they're fundamentally more concerned with shifting X units of X product and the processes inherently involved in that-for most that's just the territory ).
Case in point - Bram Cohen and BitTorrent. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all IT people are up to Bram's standards ( I'm certainly not ), but the thought that has gone into that product (and the potential) just blows me away. If you've read his posts -he basically says Business people still don't geddit. They're used to thinking of tiered architectures/development the MS way ( probably more from the risk management perspective I suspect, which is understandable ).
Therein lies the point, most good techs are willing to have their perceptions "bent", they don't necessarily see things just from the business perspective. There needs to be that "creative/learning/research/understanding" element. The last thing they want is to become part of a "production line". Business people will argue that Business must drive IT and for the most part I agree with them - BUT when that process constrains creative talent/intelligence/IQ to its detriment is when we all start to suffer.
Why do you think MS are ploughing research money into Avalanche ? They know what's coming !
10. JP Rangaswami
I'm glad to see that some of my comments are getting a reaction. I don't pretend to know all the answers.
What I do know is: Students in the West are less inclined to sign up for IT as a career. They see longer hours, lower pay, disintermediation by hordes of IT-illiterate management layers, "threats" of outsourcing and offshoring, all shrouded by a lack of understanding of what IT is and does.
What I do know is: The challenges facing the profession are vast and complex. How to achieve virtualisation and utility modelling of elements of the stack. How to move from silo applications to service orientation. How to ensure that the sheer power of collaborative tools is brought to bear across the organisation. How to do all this in an effective and platform-independent way, avoiding the pitfalls of hidden layers of lock-in.
What I do know is: These challenges are made even harder with changes in regulatory and security environments. Identity and permissioning and authentication are not trivial issues to tackle. The balance between knowledge management and information security is tricky to say the least. And poorly designed "digital rights management" will make a mockery of both "rights" as well as "management".
What I do know is: Productivity increases in the US have much to do with investments in technology. But we have gone so far down the "I am business, I am not IT" route that we try and sell the business benefits without doing the basic things right from an engineering perspective. And fail.
What I do know is: It is getting increasingly harder to attract and retain good people into the profession. And this will not change unless we act proud of our profession.
I wish Nicholas Carr had been right, and that we had already become a dialtone utility. Unfortunately we are a decade, maybe more, away from that. But our customers expect it NOW.
And they will not get it if we see a continuing drift away from our profession.
I don't have all the answers. But I know I have to keep asking questions. of myself, of my colleagues and staff, and of my profession. And learning from the asnwers.
Who knows, maybe telecoms becoming software will help us get there.
11. John Ward
I agree that Programme Managers, Project Managers and so on need to have a business/commercial mindset. The key is:
 Meeting the business people on the same level
 translating business needs into technical speak for those building the system/application
 translating technical issue’s to business speak for the business community
and yes there are few people about with this basic skill. A business director is not interested in the fact we’re using JAVA, whatever.
However, we do have a dichotomy. We, as an industry, have used techy speak for so long that many of my customers want to know this information and indeed want to focus on this rather than there business issue.
This is an interesting world that we’ve built – know thy customer….
12. Alex Antoniewicz
Left pedal disconnects engine from the transmission. The middle one is a brake :)
13. Steve Berry
The big boys will always be right-foot heavy. Oops - just crashed the Lambo - easy enough to buy another !