IT Leadership: More Than Just Bits

LAS VEGAS -- Interop -- The IT industry is facing a looming leadership crisis caused by lack of business skills, according to attendees at the CIO Bootcamp event that kicked off this years Interop conference in Las Vegas.

Addressing over 100 CIOs and IT managers from across the US, Thornton May, the executive director of the IT Leadership Academy warned that the next generation of IT chiefs lack the requisite mix of skills needed to make the step up to Chief Information Officer. (Ed. note: Or maybe it's that they just don't know you're always supposed to split 8s.)

May added that, for aspiring CIOs, success will depend on how many different business disciplines they can master. Traditionally, however, CIOs have taken a much more insular approach to their careers. “In the past they were in the bunker, they were in the data center,” he said.

But, increasingly, CIOs are being called on to come up with answers to broader business challenges in areas such as HR and finance, which means that the CIO needs a much broader set of skills than just technology.

Perhaps some of the answers to this problem could be found in the US military. “I think that the U.S. government does a good job when it comes to training up future CIOs, said an IT manager from the government sector, who... surprise... asked not to be named. Specifically, he highlighted the work done by the Army’s signals corps and the Navy and Air Force graduate schools which run specific courses for budding CIOs.But, nonetheless, corporate America has still got a challenge on its hands. In an effort to improve the situation, May urged aspiring CIOs to hone their communication and political skills, and develop a strong network of contacts to help guide them through their careers.

Anita Ward, the former CIO at Chase in Texas explained how the firm developed a mentoring program to bring together top-level business execs and the IT department's rising stars. This exposed IT staff to a range of broader business issues and also improved execs’ IT skills, she said.

Dr. Carl Powell, the CIO of Cuyahoga Community College highlighted how lack of specific business knowledge was exacerbating the cultural gap between many CIOs and their bosses. “If the CIO can’t spit out the top three business issues, then how could they expect the CEO to roll out the top three technology issues?”

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum