4.1 Understanding the business
4.2 Establishing the credibility of the IS department
4.3 Increasing the technological maturity of the business
4.4 Creating a vision of the future and selling it
4.5 Implementing an Information System Architecture
4.6 Developing and nurturing relationships
IS literature examining whether it is important for Information Systems Managers to possess technical qualifications and managerial skills in order to be successful. All authors generally agreed that it was necessary for the IS managers to have both these qualities.
This essay seeks to determine whether it is important for the IS manager to have technical qualities or whether managerial qualities are sufficient on their own. First the role that the IS manager (or CIO) plays in a business is discussed. This is followed by an examination of interviews and writings on the evolving roles of the IS manager. The writers’ opinions on the qualifications of CIOs are also reviewed. A conclusion is then drawn using these writers’ opinions as a basis.
Quite a number of articles from a number of authors were studied and they all emphasised almost the same thing – the IS manager must have both technical and managerial qualifications in order to succeed in the business world. None of the authors gave preference to the technical or the managerial aspect and hence this essay safely concludes that the IS manager must have both technical and managerial skills in equal quantities in order to be effective.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 10) suggest that there is a need to manage information systems effectively. One reason is that information systems can be considered a strategic asset and it can be used to improve business functions. This will result in improved business performance and the business will find itself being more competitive. According to Sprague and McNurlin the circumstances in which information systems are being used are continuously becoming complex. They reckon that because of this complexity strategy development is quite difficult. They also realise that in this day and age, technology is advancing at an increasing rate and this needs to be managed in an effective manner.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 36) indicates that the CIO has to know what the firm is doing and in which direction it is headed. This is because the rules of competition have changed and there is a strong likelihood that they will change further because of with the full-blown electronic commerce. Understanding the business will involve gathering information about the plans and the visions of the business. They (Sprague and McNurlin) also emphasise the fact that the CIO must not be an IT guru who does not know anything about the activities of the business. Ralph Szygenda, corporate vice president and CIO at General Motors Corp. in Detroit suggests that CIOs have to know what is going on in business in order to make sure that IT and the business are on the same page.
In addition Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 40) recommends that the CIO must establish the credibility of the IS (Information Systems) department. This means that management must have confidence in the IS department. They should have a clear idea about what is happening in the IS department and they must understand the value of the IS department. Sprague et al quotes Joseph Izzo as saying that IS departments have two missions – to maintain today’s systems and work on tomorrow’s systems. They point out that these two missions have different goals and thus these goals have to be managed separately and differently. Maintaining today’s systems will entail providing service while developing tomorrow’s systems will involve improving business operations, according to Izzo.
Blodgett emphasises that CIOs have always needed the support of their IT staff, and to get it they have to establish credibility. Establishing the credibility will make it easier to deal with issues such as whether to get rid of existing staff or to stick with the existing IT staff for their institutional and technical knowledge.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 41) also highlight the fact that the technological maturity of the business needs to be raised. This means that the CIO must find a way to incorporate Information Technology into the daily functions of the business. This technology needs to be easily available to all the employees so that they can use them for the business activities. A technologically mature organisation is one whose management is at ease with managing the use of IT and whose employees are also at ease with using the technology.
Blodgett agrees with the above and he also brings to light the fact that CIOs must cultivate knowledge of technology. This will also help maintain the credibility of the IS department as mentioned above.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 41) highlight a very important fact – the CIO must create a vision of the future and sell it. Basically this means that the CIO must make sure that the firm is moving in the correct direction and that it is on its way to achieving the goals and visions that management has set.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 43) also suggest that the CIO is responsible for creating an environment where there is ground level support for the aims and objectives that the managers have set. Periasamy and Seow (1998) are in accordance with this suggestion. They believe that the CIO must be a systems thinker – he must position IT within the larger context of the business, and plan and support business development, business transformation, and business process re-engineering in a fairly holistic manner.
Finally the CIO must develop and nurture relationships according to Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 48). To do this the CIO needs to encourage the participation of management at all levels. He needs to encourage input and feedback from these managers. They (Sprague and McNurlin) reckon that it is vital for linkage to exist with the business and thus all the levels of management have to be assured that they play an important role in the business activities. Similarly Periasamy and Seow (1998) indicate that the CIO should be a relationship builder. In other words he must build relationships with senior management, within the department, across the organisation and with the relevant outside parties, and he should develop shared business and IT understanding.
Sprague and McNurlin (1998 : 60) realise that in this day and age, there has been a reduction in technical content and there has been a shift toward business and managerial functions. This has meant that the CIO has been required to know the organisation and management processes. It is also helpful for him to know the industry (in other words he must know the current trends and understand the competition that his business faces). More importantly he must understand the wants and the needs of the customer. Sprague and McNurlin strongly advise that the CIO must still be technically strong however.
Lustman (1985:12) gives a technical profile of an IS manager. The IS manager must be
In addition Lustman (1985) provides some administrative profiles. The IS manager should:
Finally Lustman (1985) lists some important human relations profiles – the IS manager must:
Lustman (1985) suggests that contrary to what is widely believed, many experienced computer professionals possess these qualifications. The IS manager field typically attracts challenge-orientated individuals. He believes that the time of the super-programmer who is uninterested in management is no more.
Thomas Murphy (who was interviewed by Blodgett) points out the fact that there is a growing trend among companies toward hiring CIOs with no technical abilities or with limited technical abilities. This however was not the case a decade ago or even 5 years ago. 35 percent of Stamford, Conn.-based Meta Group Inc.'s current client base for its Meta Executive Council service consists of non-technical CIOs, up from 10 percent in 1994, according to Karen Rubenstrunk, service director for the council in Reston, Vancouver (also interviewed by Blodgett). Blodgett reckons that such CIOs have spent most of their careers in such fields as marketing, finance and human resources, and the companies that hire them want CIOs who “know their way around a mainframe but, most importantly, can explain business strategy to the least-technical senior executive in the business sector”.
Blodgett mentions that Russ Maney, an analyst in the Leadership Strategies Service at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts notes that more companies are realising that they can use technology as a competitive weapon instead of a way to reduce costs. He also points out that non-technical CIOs can fall into the trap of obsessing over the bottom line so much that they can lose sight of the importance of innovative and progressive technology.
Blodgett points out that it is possible for a CIO to operate effectively. He outlines some helpful hints for non-technical CIOs:
Periasamy and Seow (1998) have highlighted a few recommendations for CIOs so that they are successful. They have identified the following as critical success factors for such CIOs:
Periasamy and Seow (1998) interviewed several CIOs including a CIO with a non-technical background and all of them were emphatic that some sort of technical knowledge was required as well as some knowledge of the managerial aspects.
It is fairly obvious from the authors above that the CIO must possess some sort of technical qualification in order to succeed. All the authors agree on that point. In Blodgett’s hints to non-technical CIOs he made clear implications that they were going to have to shift towards a more technical approach inevitably. The authors also emphasise the managerial and administrative aspects of the CIO’s job equally. Thus this essay safely concludes that it is essential for the IS manager to have technical qualifications as well as being a people person.
Lustman, F (1985) Managing Computer Projects. Reston Publishing Company, Inc.
Sprague, R H and
McNurlin B C (1998) Information Systems Management in Practice (4th edition).
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
WWW Pages:
Periasamy, K P and Seow A (1998) CIO:
Business Executive or Technical Expert? [Online].
Available:
http://www.octa4.net.au/searcccd/ot7_kp.htm
Blodgett,
M (1998) Career
Management – Hi, Technology! [Online]
Available:
http://www.cio.com/archive/021598_cope.html