CIOs Need to Get a Clue

I went to a personal computer conference in about 1982, which was pretty early in the development of the industry.  I was surrounded by CIO-types who got their fashion tips from "Steve Douglas" on the TV show "My Three Sons."  One of them asked a senior CIO panelist: "What should I say to my users who are asking to buy PCs for their departments?"  The response was: "Tell them they can buy a PC only when they show they have reduced one headcount!"  He got a standing ovation.  The audience had their defence line.  But as many of us know, the next decade resulting in chaos as CIOs kept saying "no" but users bought PCs anyway out of their own budgets, and created a patchwork of PCs (IBM, Dell, Compaq, HP, etc.) and Macs, incompatible software (VisiCalc versus Lotus 1-2-3 versus Excel, Wordstar versus Word, etc.), and no ability to network the machines.

We are seeing the same CIO resistance playing out in at least three areas, with likelihood of similar debacles:

• CIOs trying to block open source software.  Jonathan Schwartz at Sun has criticized CIOs for trying to stem the flow of open source software.  Many have learned that as they increase demands on their IT organization and cut budgets, many teams are skirting the corporate rules and using open source solutions anyway.


• CIOs trying to block the use of web services.  While CIOs need to protect the security and privacy of the corporate data and networks, many of the most innovative software tools reside outside on the web.  These tools have the advantages of low-cost-of-entry and ability to collaborate across organizational boundaries without being blocked by firewalls.  Salesforce.com is a good early example of this type of software, as is pbwiki.


• Now it appears that CIOs are trying to block the use of iPhones. While there were good reasons to block the use of the first generation, the second generation is expected to support VPN, Microsoft Exchange, and corporate security tools.  Indeed, even such enterprise software providers as SAP have announced support for the iPhone, although they have stepped on a few toes.

My challenge to CIOs is how to work with these trends instead of repeatedly trying to reverse them.  We could all win by adopting new tools while ensuring we protect the corporate assets.

Comments

[Al D.]

Steve, I'm not sure that CIO's are unilaterally blocking all this, especially the iPhone.

What I think is happening is that for mature/established companies, the level of complexity to deal with today and tomorrow (and in some cases, yesterday) from an IT perspective is HARD. Budgetary controls, need to support legacy IT requirements (hmm, haven't seen much Web 2.0 Sarbanes-Oxley compliant financial reporting breakthroughs lately), the need to survive scrutiny on investments (eg "so, how is this new technology going to drive EPS?"). Did I mention the economy?

OK - enough whining. Having said all that, the reality is that in both enterprise and consumer worlds, technology has really started to mimic life - that said, it's survival of the fittest. (I'm Catholic, but you can't argue with Darwin...).

People - individuals, groups, entire "corporate organizations" - will follow what they've done and we'll see "constructive anarchy" occur yet again around Open Source, web services and little devices like the iPhone find their way...just like we did with the PC way back when. The reality is that the stuff that WORKS - that adds value, has a (real) business case, that people find has value...it always survives, and eventually flourishes.

The reality is that some people promote it, some resist it - but in the end, it's too prevalent to control. I am VERY confident that ultimately, the USER will dictate the right platform, technology, you name it. Now, let's be clear - USERS can be influenced, duped and mis-led. Additionally, companies and groups can accidentally kill things - think back to VHS vs Betamax. Which was better? Which should have won? And - more importantly - what (really) drove VHS? We saw the same thing recently with Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD.

In the iPhone case....well, people will decide this ultimately...individuals, not departments. Having said that, companies (like Apple) will/will not do things that help, or hinder it. It's a very complex world!

I guess we should consider ourselves blessed to be living in such interesting times...

Semper Fidelis

[Steve Lamont]

Al, as usual, makes some good counterpoints. It is indeed tough for CIOs today, with pressures from all sides.

At the same time, the CIOs who seem to be faring best are the ones who are most open about these competing pressures and who invite their fellow managers and users to share their perspectives openly.