IT Directors – hold your heads high

1999-09-21

According to a survey published in yesterday’s FT, IT Directors and CIOs have more reason today than ever to feel valued. The traditional stereotype is of a person thrust into the job of directing corporate IT, faced with huge pressure to deliver solutions whilst lacking sufficient knowledge of either the business or the technologies required to support it. This would be coupled with having only limited authority to achieve any objectives, let alone strategic ones. According to the survey, published jointly by the London Business School and Egon Zehnder International, the IT Director role has become “one of the most demanding in the corporation,” with at least half of the working week spent on non-IT activities such as defining business strategy. Hurrah.

We are delighted by this development and we will change our stereotypes accordingly. We do have one minor concern, though: the result is such a direct contradiction to those of the past that it seems too good to be true. There’s one other tiny, tiny point – we still know many IT Directors that are harangued by the business, viewed as without teeth and, privately, rather worried that the pace of technology is far faster than they can keep up with. So – what is the full story? We await the full results of the survey, which will be published by the time you read this. In the meantime, we would be delighted for any feedback you might have, anonymous or otherwise, on the condition of the IT Director. Is it all so rosy? If you are an IT Director, you work with one or for one do, please, let us know.

(First published 21 September 1999)