Stories by Divina Paredes

When it comes to sectors dominating this year’s MIS100 organisations, there were few surprises. Government, health and education comprise more than half of the list, as they have since MIS100 started tracking the country’s top users of ICT in the past 11 years.
If at all, the variances that emerge from this annual report have been about the challenges faced by the heads of the ICT departments of these organisations, and their decisions about investments in technology and systems.

Rob Fyfe is one of the few chief executive officers with a CIO role on his CV.
However, in Fyfe’s case, his ascent from ICT chief to the top table has been swift, at just under three years, and within the same enterprise.

Two years ago, Commander Corina Bruce spoke in a forum in Wellington organised by this magazine, then known as MIS (Managing Information Strategies). The event was about “The CIOs of tomorrow” and featured ICT leaders from across the country sharing their insights on how to have a successful career in the sector, and beyond.
In a crowd of 350 and a panel of CIOs, Bruce stood out, effortlessly. And not just because she was the sole female CIO on the panel that included 10 other CIOs, or that she was in uniform. If my memory serves me right, the master of ceremonies, after reading her credentials including her expertise in guided weapons, said something about this being one person you wouldn’t want to mess up with.

In the past year or so, there have been a number of changes in the CIO roles in New Zealand. Some CIO positions have been disestablished. There are also cases where a CIO resigns or is asked to take a ‘gardening leave’ and the position is not filled in. An IT director or a previous direct report to the CIO takes over the responsibility.
We talk to a former CIO who has seen these scenarios take place. This CIO, now working as a business consultant, has requested anonymity as he shares his views on some disturbing developments on what is happening to the CIO roles in New Zealand.

For C.S. Louis (not his real name), losing his job as chief information officer at a medium-sized enterprise did not come as a surprise. The company had been ‘delayering’ some senior executive posts for the previous six months.
However, that didn’t erase or ease the feeling of rejection, as he puts it, when the management deemed it was time for IS to be “restructured”.

Former Prime Minister David Lange once said New Zealand's destiny was to be a theme park (and Australia's, a quarry). “We can surely think and act beyond that,” states Dr Paul Callaghan, the Alan MacDiarmid professor of physical sciences at the Victoria University of Wellington.
Callaghan, who spoke on the topic Beyond the Farm and the Theme Park during the recent CIO Leaders’ Luncheons in Auckland and Wellington, says if New Zealand is to generate more wealth without creating further impact on the land and the environment, a path we should consider carving out is “high technology”.

Leading change effectively
Andrew Diver, manager, systems development and programme management, Vero Insurance

Leadership is a dance, in which leaders and followers jointly respond to the rhythm and call of a particular social context, within which leaders draw from wells of collective experience and energy, to engage followers around transforming visions of change and lead them in the collective creation of compelling futures.
Air New Zealand CIO Julia Raue cited this quote from The Dance of Leadership by Peter Cammock in her opening keynote at the CIO Conference 2007.

But even then, the man who led Team New Zealand to America’s Cup victory and selflessly used his high profile to champion the environment, said the things that make a leader are “probably undefinable qualities” and include the “little things” that rally the team to success.
I really liked what he said about looking at mistakes as part of learning. “That is the only way you can get better and better,” he said, “And if you are not prepared to make a mistake, well, you are not gonna make anything.”

The list of companies comprising the Strategic 100 — whether they are in the New Zealand 25, Global 50 or Rising Stars 25 — is an indication, even a barometer, of how competitive the ICT landscape is.
It also demonstrates how the key players have to be prepared to constantly reposition themselves, change course or be ready to acquire a rival firm — if they want to stay in the game and hold or increase their share of the market.

A growing number of IT executives find their role now encompasses focusing on the external customers.
This necessitates working closely with the other business units to ensure end customers have consistent, positive experiences with which ever channel they use to interact with the company.

A crucial aspect to women continuing to work in ICT is having a manager sympathetic to their needs, according to a new global survey on women in technology.
The respondents, including New Zealand ICT professionals, say even when an employer has the right policies, implementing them can be problematic. Says one respondent: “Flexible working and job share would help, but it’s up to the manager’s discretion after maternity and a lot of them say ‘No, you need to be here full-time and work extra hours’.”

Forrester says ‘invisible IT’ comes in two forms – shadow IT systems implemented in business units outside of IT’s sight; and the unplanned, untracked and unmanaged requests of IT.
Invisible IT results from a lack of process and discipline by both IT and end users when it comes to requesting and providing IT resources, notes analyst Craig Symons in a recent Forrester report. By extending IT governance beyond strategic requests to tactical requests, through service portfolio management and a service catalogue, IT can ensure all its efforts are tracked and managed, bringing a clear picture of IT demand.

At the height of its colonial power, with Queen Victoria on the throne, the sun never set on the British Empire.
In our modern times, in the era of a globalised marketplace, there are chief information officers who can correctly state the sun never sets on their domains.

“Walking to the office, the pub,” is how Donald Horsburgh describes his fitness regimen as IT manager at Number 10 Downing Street more than 10 years ago. “That was as good as it gets.”
These days, though, there is no escaping from the gym for Horsburgh, who now heads IT at health and fitness company Les Mills.