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CIO transitions and career insightsCompendium of Deloitte InsightsSeptember 2018
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
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Foreword 02
CIO career insights 03Preparing to Interview for a CIO RoleCIO Job Descriptions Vary by NeedCreating a Strong CIO Resume
Transition guide for CIOs 16Lessons From the CIO Transition LabKeys to a Successful Transition4 CIO Transition ScenariosTransitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
About Deloitte’s CIO Program 32
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Table of contents
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Greetings,
Driven by the pace of innovation and disruption, today’s high-performing IT organizations are seeking effective CIOs to lead the process of transforming business operations and driving growth. Based on insights from the Career Services arm of the Deloitte’s CIO Program, which helps connect many of these organizations with prospective IT leaders, these articles aim to help CIOs prepare for the next phase in their careers.
See how transitioning CIOs evaluate career opportunities, develop strong resumes, and prepare for interviews. We hope they are useful to you as your career evolves.
Best regards,
Jackie Kirby Senior manager Deloitte Consulting LLP
Foreword
With one of the shortest tenures in the C-suite—an average of only around four years—CIOs often take on new leadership responsibilities, juggle shifting business mandates, and manage complicated technology transformations. Based on lessons learned in Deloitte’s CIO Transition Labs, these articles are designed to help executives smoothly transition into new roles.
We identify common patterns and insights, including business stakeholder expectations, hiring preferences, and success measures. Originally published in Deloitte Insights in the Wall Street Journal’s CIO Journal, these articles also offer initial steps CIOs can take to better prepare for a successful transition.
Best regards,
Chuck Dean Managing director Deloitte Consulting LLP
CIO career insights
Preparing to Interview for a CIO Role
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
Creating a Strong CIO Resume
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
The interview process helps bring together the best-suited companies and applicants. CIO candidates who are well prepared and know their strengths, weaknesses, and desires are most likely to land a coveted role.
The interview process is a matchmaking exercise. Organizations screen CIO candidates based on relevance to enterprise culture and needs, and applicants seek positions that best meet their ideal job criteria. Because the CIO is an executive-level leader, a well-conceived and -executed hiring process—through which candidates and hiring companies learn about one another and decide whether they will be a good fit—is essential. This article, the second in a three-part series, discusses how CIO candidates can prepare for a successful interview.
Once the job has been defined according to the type of CIO a company needs, the interview process helps match the right person with that position. As the sample questions below indicate, areas of inquiry typically include the candidate’s background and relevant experiences, perspectives on the state of IT, and leadership philosophy, among others. The prospective CIO’s technical knowledge and expertise is always important. In addition, experience creating IT-enabled business capabilities, developing technology strategies, working across functions, and managing talent will be of interest.
For applicants, understanding the company and its industry is vital. Knowing yourself is also key, and candidates who know what they want have an advantage. However, self-awareness requires some soul-searching in order to gain clarity on strengths, weaknesses, constraints, and desires.
“It’s important for candidates to know where they fit in the maturity curve for the types of experiences at which CIOs are expected to excel every day,” says Jackie Kirby, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s CIO Program. “Also, understanding what activities energize them is crucial. If a candidate is passionate about transformation, for example, but the organization wants somebody to keep the lights on in preparation for a sale, that won’t be a good fit.”
Reporting structure is another area where clarity will help a candidate. Interestingly, nearly half (47 percent) of CIOs in Deloitte’s 2015 Global CIO Survey said they would be more effective in a different reporting relationship. While the 2016–2017 Global CIO Survey shows a gradual increase in CIOs reporting directly to CEOs, companies with that structure are in the minority: Thirty-five percent of CIOs report to the CEO, 20 percent to the CFO, 13 percent to the global CIO, and 9 percent to the COO.
Industry experience matters for CIO positions. Candidates who have been in the same industry for most of their careers will be seen as industry experts, according to Kirby. That can be an advantage. It’s a good idea for those who want to switch industries to be prepared to explain
CIO career insights
February 12, 2018
Preparing to Interview for a CIO Role
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
how their experience and capabilities are adjacent, and to have a plan for coming up to speed. “Ignorance about the business, who uses its technology, and how they use it is the quickest path to failure,” Kirby advises.
In some cases, experience can transfer easily—for example, from one highly regulated industry to another. Certain industries actively seek outside knowledge. Retail enterprises, for instance, often pursue CIOs with financial services or high-tech experience to help deal with the industry’s rapid digital transformation, including an increased reliance on AI, the internet of things, big data, and virtual or augmented reality.
Further, certain skill sets are sought after in all industries. “Today, CIOs who have taken an enterprise through a digital transformation are highly prized, as are those with cloud transformation experience,” Kirby says.
Near the end of the interview process, when candidates negotiate the terms of employment, it’s critical for candidates to know their “hard lines.” For instance, decide ahead of time if more soft perks can compensate for a lower base salary. If relocating abroad is a deal breaker, determine whether a move within the country is an acceptable compromise.
In preparing to interview for a CIO role, doing your homework and knowing yourself will serve the candidate well. Both interviewer and interviewee can use the following list of questions to prepare for fruitful interviews. Background Experience:
• Describe your responsibilities and key accomplishments in your most recent role.
• What were some of the major challenges you faced, and how did you address them?
• What do you consider your top metrics for success, and what will you do to ensure those metrics are met?
• What would leadership peers from other functions in your current/prior organizations say about the IT functions you led?
Perspectives on the Current State of IT:
• Based on your understanding of our organization, what are your initial thoughts on where you would focus as CIO?
• Can you discuss how your experiences and capabilities (including specific prior experiences, industry network, and involvement in industry conferences and groups) map to these focus areas?
• How do these priorities play to your strengths? What are your areas for personal development, and how would you address them?
CIO career insights
Preparing to Interview for a CIO Role
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Perspectives on the Future State of IT:
• As the industry continues to undergo major change, what role should IT perform to help businesses be successful?
• Based on your understanding of the industry and your knowledge of our organization, what are your initial thoughts on the approach you would take to identify focus areas as CIO? Can you discuss how your experiences and capabilities (including specific prior experiences, industry network, and involvement in industry conferences and groups) map to these focus areas?
Specific IT Leader Experiences:
• Describe examples of past programs you have overseen to reduce IT costs or improve efficiencies.
• Describe your approach to assessing and continually improving IT performance.
• How do you mitigate and manage projects and initiatives that have significant risk?
• How have you managed the security of IT assets in past environments?
• What is your strategy for using and managing technology vendors and IT service providers?
• As a proactive change agent, how have you gone about building relationships and alignment with other key stakeholders who were impacted by the change?
• Describe examples of your efforts to lead the major transformation of an IT organization (such as restructuring, outsourcing, or offshore resourcing). How did you maintain morale and momentum? What lessons did you learn?
• How did you determine organizational readiness to evaluate and use new technologies in prior work experiences?
Approach to Transitioning Into the Role:
• How would you establish credibility and trust with key stakeholders and staff in this organization?
• How would you balance the competing priorities and agendas of the various business departments, especially in a decentralized environment?
• What areas of expertise and competency will you rely on others to provide in support of your role as CIO?
CIO career insights
Preparing to Interview for a CIO Role
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
Leadership Philosophy:
• What are your views on being an effective leader? How would you describe your personal leadership style?
• What is your experience in developing and growing other leaders? Can you talk about any previous direct reports who have either been promoted or gone onto CIO roles?
• How do you stay current on new technologies, specific new technologies, the state of IT generally, and industry-specific trends?
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The purpose of the CIO interview process is to successfully match a company’s needs with a candidate’s skills and interests. Candidates can prepare by researching the company beforehand and understanding their own strengths and weaknesses. If changing industries, it’s important to be aware of which skills cross over, and which are desirable in the new environment.
Preparing to Interview for a CIO Role
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
November 8, 2017
Not all CIO positions are created equal. A good understanding of four fundamental CIO types can help organizations and potential candidates find the best fit. It’s no secret that the demands on CIOs are many and varied, often calling for specialized skills and competencies depending on the situation at hand. But different organizations also prioritize certain strengths over others in their IT leaders, based on their industry and strategic objectives as well as current market conditions.
A few years back, research conducted by the Deloitte CIO Program identified the “four faces” of the CIO—strategist, catalyst, technologist, and operator—based on the diverse capabilities CIOs need to possess and emphasize in varying degrees and in different business contexts throughout their tenures (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The Four Faces of the CIO Role
These four faces remain highly relevant and, in fact, can sum up the CIO role in the eyes of an organization and its leaders. Although formal job descriptions are often written in relatively generic terms, many organizations often expect one dominant face to largely define their IT leaders, the program has found. Those expectations are influenced by such factors as the industry in which the company operates, the age and maturity of the company, and the level of disruption it is facing.
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
Source: Deloitte Consulting LLP
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
Of course, as an organization’s needs and circumstances evolve over time, so too will the capabilities it requires in a CIO. Few CIO positions remain aligned squarely with just one of the four faces indefinitely. For instance, “an M&A event can spark business and technology transformation, prompting a company to prioritize an IT leader who can serve as a catalyst or strategist,” says Jackie Kirby, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s CIO Program. Alternatively, a recent security breach may prompt a company to focus on core operations, with risk and security concerns paramount.
For more than five years, the CIO Program has worked with CIOs and enterprises to help match executive technology talent with needs in more than 1,200 IT executive jobs. The following sample job descriptions can serve as a planning tool to help organizations with an open position consider which of the four faces will be most critical in the near term and design their searches accordingly—while also keeping an eye to the future and ensuring the new IT leader will be able to pivot as needed. CIOs looking for a new position, meanwhile, can target their searches to jobs best aligned with their own capabilities and interests, keeping in mind that all four faces are important over time.
The OperatorPosition description: The CIO will work with the IT organization and a seasoned executive team to deliver reliable, high-performance IT systems and infrastructure. The CIO will be charged with identifying cost and productivity improvements, developing security frameworks for IT assets, increasing IT process maturity, and improving integration.
Key responsibilities:
• Create IT-enabled business capabilities to attain strategic objectives
• Provide detailed IT service costs for effective cost management in delivering IT services
• Create service-level agreements (SLAs) with business areas and operating-level agreements between IT functions and vendors to ensure SLAs are met
• Create and maintain continual improvement programs and projects
• Execute an enterprisewide IT security program and capabilities to ensure all IT assets are protected
• Establish and maintain effective governance for IT controls
• Manage technology obsolescence and vendor risks.
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
‘An M&A event can spark business and technology transformation, causing a company to prioritize an IT leader who can serve as a catalyst or strategist.’
Jackie Kirby, senior manager, CIO Program, Deloitte Consulting LLP
The StrategistPosition description: The CIO will work with the IT organization and a seasoned executive team to develop or enhance business partnerships to improve technology-enabled capabilities. The CIO will be charged with improving the value of the IT investment portfolio and driving a long-term view on technology investments.
Key responsibilities: • Establish an ongoing IT strategy development process
• Review and align IT strategy with business leaders
• Periodically share vision and updates on how IT can, and is, creating value for the organization
• Establish and operate a project portfolio management and budget management process that deploys, tracks, and adjusts program and project resources
• Create and operate a joint business/IT governance process to prioritize and approve IT investments
• Establish an ongoing communication process to share updates on IT financial performance and value delivered to the organization
• Use a good understanding of data and analytics to develop a strategy to fully utilize existing information to create the maximum impact for business and customers.
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
The TechnologistPosition description: The CIO will work with the IT organization and a seasoned executive team to optimize the company’s use of technology. This leader will be charged with evaluating technologies and designing technical architectures to manage complexity and increase business agility.
Key responsibilities:
• Create or enhance technical architectures
• Standardize diverse technology platforms
• Explore technologies to support business innovation
• Identify and analyze new technologies, including the cloud, mobile, and robotic process automation
• Establish the organization’s technical vision
• Lead the engineering organization
• Develop IT strategies to increase the company’s top-line revenue.
Caveat: An organization leaning toward technologist capabilities may want to consider seeking a CTO rather than a CIO. Alternatively, technologist capabilities can be embedded and included in the CIO role as necessary to fulfill the needs of the organization.
The CatalystPosition description: The CIO will work with the IT organization and a seasoned executive team to define a clear, IT-enabled business transformation vision and manage complex change programs while continuing to deliver reliable IT services.
Key responsibilities:
• Create a vision and objectives for IT-enabled capabilities that support business innovation for the organization
• Establish a joint business/IT process to deliver product and service innovations supporting the innovation vision
• Create objectives for the transformation of IT processes, capabilities, and operating model in support of the business transformation vision
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior business leaders to gain their active support for the transformation agenda.
• Establish and execute an ongoing communication program highlighting status, progress, and staff contributions for periodic transformation milestone achievements
• Establish ongoing change management capabilities to support major innovation and transformation programs.
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
*****
For organizations looking to fill an IT leadership position, begin with a good understanding of current priorities and expectations of the CIO. Stakeholders, including business function leaders and incumbent IT executives, can help guide that understanding and determine the desired competencies. Companies can then craft their job descriptions and interview questions accordingly, mixing and matching as needed from the various CIO types to suit their organizational priorities. At the same time, organizations may also want to factor in what they may need from an IT leader in the future and consider conducting a job search that includes a broader view of the four faces, building in the ability for the CIO to shift emphases once current objectives have been met.
For prospective CIOs scoping out potential positions, Kirby says the take-away message is: “Do your homework. Know what’s driving the executive transition and the industry dynamics at play. Be prepared to discuss specific technology levers the enterprise could pull to achieve its strategic and operational objectives.”
CIO Job Descriptions Vary by Need
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
Creating a Strong CIO Resume
The resume is the backbone of the job search process. It helps applicants sharpen their story, focus on what’s important to them, and ultimately grab the attention of those who can invite them to interview.
The CIO role is evolving, and the position today holds more importance than it did five or 10 years ago. With this comes a more demanding hiring process: Many companies are asking deeper questions—reaching beyond headcount and budget statistics to learn the story of an applicant’s experience and successes.A stand-out resume is essential to get in the door. This article, the last in a three-part series, discusses how candidates can prepare a resume that gets them noticed and results in an invitation to the interview process.
Worth the Effort“I look at the resume as a CIO’s branding document,” says Jackie Kirby, a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s CIO Program. “Reading lots of resumes is tedious work, and getting somebody to read the entire thing and get excited about your candidacy is a big win.”
It requires time and effort to create an effective resume—but the process can provide benefits beyond the obvious one of getting to an interview.
“The process itself helps CIOs sharpen their story; think of it as an elevator pitch,” Kirby says. It also helps executives focus. Especially for those with long careers, the act of reviewing and summarizing their work provides insights into where they excel, what energizes them, and, conversely, what they don’t enjoy.
The ultimate goal is to develop a succinct resume that highlights the candidate’s accomplishments and passions and grabs the reader’s attention.
Focus on a Company’s NeedsCompanies look for CIOs to help with specific needs, depending on their industry and maturity. For any given company, it’s important for candidates to do the necessary research to discover what those needs are and to highlight appropriate qualifications. The Deloitte CIO Program’s “four faces” of the CIO—strategist, catalyst, technologist, and operator—are one way for CIOs to present their skills and experience on a resume.
Strategist. Strategists have a long-term view of technology investments and IT strategies. All industries value this type of CIO.
May 1, 2018
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Creating a Strong CIO Resume
CIO career insights
Enterprises seeking a strategist place considerable importance on IT and want an individual to enable business growth through technology and leadership. They want to see a demonstrated ability to partner with the business and evaluate technology investments.
“I’m currently working with a company that is struggling to reinvent its brand and attract and retain customers,” Kirby says. “The right candidate for the CIO role will be able to develop and communicate the company’s technology strategy to the full spectrum of stakeholders.”
Catalyst. Catalyst CIOs are visionaries. “They can walk that fine line between maintaining a stable environment and setting it on fire,” Kirby says.
Organizations that invest in a catalyst typically have a lot on the line. “I’ve worked with retail clients that desperately needed transformation to remain competitive in an increasingly e-commerce-driven environment,” she adds. “These companies need a CIO to manage their existing technology environment while developing forward-looking investment plans.”
Technologist. These CIOs assess technologies and design architectures to increase business agility and manage complexity.
Organizations seeking a technologist or a CTO are likely to look for a candidate with experience leading the engineering function. This position requires deep experience developing technology products that focus on external customers or buyers. “Consumer products companies often want this skill set to develop technology strategies to drive top-line revenue,” Kirby notes.
Operator. Operators can stabilize and resolve issues around reliability. Companies that have experienced a security breach or where a lot of M&A activity has gone unchecked, for instance, may seek this type of CIO.
“A large high-tech company I worked with recently needed a CIO who could help with the rapid rate of acquisitions and thousands of platforms that had been allowed to exist with no governance,” Kirby says. “The previous CIO hadn’t focused on delivering IT services and managing costs, so they turned to an operator.”
Tailor the ResumeMany companies use automated searching, so it often works well for candidates to start with one core resume and then tailor it to suit each company or industry, including appropriate terminology such as any key technology platform. For example, if the company relies primarily on one vendor’s ERP software, candidates can highlight experience with that platform and downplay those of competing providers.
They can also demonstrate experience in hot areas—blockchain, cloud migration, and security, for instance—as well as relevant successes with them. Rather than simply including a bullet that calls out a technology trend, they can show how they’ve created value using these innovations.
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
CIO career insights
Creating a Strong CIO Resume
“A candidate who has used technology to solve a specific business problem or who has cracked the code around recruiting and retention is going to stand out,” Kirby says. For example, one successful candidate used artificial intelligence to automate routine tasks across the supply chain. Another implemented a program that allows for 20 percent of workers’ time to be spent on their passions or special projects.
Don’t Ignore the BasicsEven at the C-suite level, basic resume preparation rules apply. These include:
Keep it short. There must be a compelling reason for a CIO resume to go beyond two pages. “Research shows that recruiters spend just seconds scanning a resume,” Kirby says.
Treat the title as a branding statement. CIOs can use it to describe the level at which they operate (e.g., global, divisional, or regional) and, if it makes sense, the industry. For example, “Global CIO, Fortune 500 Life Sciences” is a strong title.
Use a chronological format. Some applicants add a narrative-style bio, but relying on that alone can be a mistake. “If I have both, I might read the bio, but I’ll rely primarily on the chronological resume,” Kirby says. CIOs with extensive patents or certifications can create an addendum. And while online professional profiles are less formal, they can still provide a consistent overall story.
Consider board and other service. Because many CIO roles answer to the board, past experience—even volunteer and nonprofit board service—can strengthen a resume. Extracurriculars demonstrate passion and dedication. Caveat: Political or religious passions could potentially alienate some readers.
Avoid jargon. A fellow CIO will not be the first to read a resume, so candidates shouldn’t assume familiarity with technical jargon and acronyms. This is especially true for those seeking a position outside their current industry. That said, keywords for that automated search technology are important, so it’s important to strike a balance.
Don’t go back to your coding days. If a job description asks for 15 or more years of experience, it’s important to go back at least that far on the resume, but it’s also a good idea to avoid including details that aren’t relevant to leadership. While CIO candidates often want to display their technical background and make it clear that they can comprehend coders, engineers, and architects, it’s typically enough to outline the divisions through which they rose.
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For CIOs in a job transition, spending time and effort on developing a resume can yield positive results. “It’s a soul-searching document, in that it requires work to really discover one’s own value proposition, passions, and priorities,” Kirby says.
Transition guide for CIOs
Lessons From the CIO Transition Lab
Keys to a Successful Transition
4 CIO Transition Scenarios
Transitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
A new report from Deloitte’s US CIO Program sheds light on the business expectations, hiring preferences, and success measures faced by many CIOs as they shift into new leadership roles.
With one of the shortest tenures in the C-suite—an average of only 4.3 years—many CIOs are continually moving in and out of new roles. These transitions can be fraught with challenges, including the pervasiveness of technology in business and the shift in the role of the CIO from technology operations manager to strategic business leader. Conflicting views about the CIO’s role and responsibilities as well as the democratization of technology, which has given rise to so-called shadow IT, also place demands on the CIO.
A new research report from Deloitte’s US CIO Program shares lessons learned in its CIO Transition Lab, an initiative designed to help incoming CIOs quickly respond to business challenges, identify priorities, and develop strategic plans. Based on a synthesis of data from approximately 200 labs, interviews with more than 600 members of the C-suite and other key stakeholders, and in-depth phone interviews with 26 recently transitioned CIOs, the report identifies common patterns and offers initial steps that can help CIOs prepare for new leadership roles.
In this article, the first in a four-part series, we examine the expectations, preferences, and rationale for hiring CIOs.
Changing Needs, IT Dissatisfaction Drive TransitionsMost CIO moves are driven by evolving business needs and dissatisfaction with IT. In 23 percent of those examined, the previous CIO had been demoted or asked to resign. About three-quarters (72 percent) of business stakeholders say a significant change in business direction or strategy preceded the CIO transition, and about the same percentage (74 percent) report the change was necessitated by a general dissatisfaction with technology leadership and support from IT (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Reasons for CIO Transitions
Transition guide for CIOs
October 30, 2017by Khalid Kark, research director, US CIO Program, Deloitte LLP; and Chuck Dean, managing director, and Minu Puranik, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Lessons from the CIO Transition Lab
Source: Deloitte Taking Charge: The essential Guide to CIO Transitions
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
The data sheds light on many transitioning CIOs’ double bind: They are expected to both keep operations running smoothly and contribute to business growth and performance—tasks that require them to balance the conflicting behaviors of preserving stability and taking calculated risks. An adaptive mindset can help CIOs maintain equilibrium. For example, two months into a new position, one new CIO’s company became involved in a significant merger. In response, he set aside an in-process strategic road map to focus on foundational technology integration.
Internal Candidates Preferred
Unless drastic change is needed, many companies prefer internal candidates. Overall, companies are twice as likely to promote from within (64 percent) as hire an external candidate (36 percent) for the CIO position. However, when the former CIO has been demoted or asked to resign, or when the CIO role did not previously exist, companies prefer an external candidate (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Rationale for Previous CIO Departure: Internal Promote vs. External Hire
Externally hired CIOs say a thorough interview process is a key contributor to a successful move, especially when drastic IT organization and leadership changes are needed, because it can help both the future CIO and business stakeholders adequately understand and prepare for the new role. One company hired its new CIO six months before making a formal announcement, allowing him to shadow the departing CIO and gradually take on more responsibilities. In another case, however, the new CIO was surprised by 80-hour work weeks; a compressed interview process involving only the CEO and CFO concealed the complexities of the role.
Transition guide for CIOs
Lessons from the CIO Transition Lab
Source: Deloitte Taking Charge: TheEssential Guide to CIO Transitions
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Wanted: CIOs With Leadership SkillsLeadership skills are often a higher priority than technical competence. CIO Transition Lab data show that leadership abilities can be more important to new CIO success than technical skills and expertise. Forty-five percent of business stakeholders interviewed say they selected their new CIO because of leadership and credibility. Execution and delivery, knowledge of IT systems, technical vision, and even strategic thinking and business alignment are all lower priorities (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Reasons CIOs Were Chosen for the Role
Key Success Factors: Time, Talent, and RelationshipsTime, talent, and relationships are often the keys to success. When business stakeholders were asked to define success for the CIO, their responses spanned three primary dimensions: time, talent, and relationships (Figure 4). Fifty percent of key stakeholders say revamping IT talent and culture is a top priority, followed closely by delivering critical IT initiatives on time (49 percent) and establishing strong relationships with key business leaders (47 percent).
Figure 4: How Business Stakeholders Define Success
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Every CIO transition is unique, and there is no single formula for success. However, common patterns identified through the CIO Transition Lab indicate that CIOs may have greater success if they burnish their leadership skills and personal credibility; cultivate an adaptive mindset that enables them to simultaneously maintain smooth operations and grow the business; and focus on executing projects on time, cultivating talent and culture, and fostering critical business relationships.
Transition guide for CIOs
Lessons from the CIO Transition Lab
Source: Deloitte Taking Charge: TheEssential Guide to CIO Transitions
Source: Deloitte Taking Charge: TheEssential Guide to CIO Transitions
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Efficient management of time, talent, and relationships can help new CIOs meet business expectations and lay the foundation for a productive tenure.
New CIOs face a number of challenges and juggle multiple priorities as they transition into their roles, according to a research report from Deloitte’s US CIO Program. The report synthesizes key insights from the CIO Transition Lab, an initiative that helps incoming CIOs craft a road map for success. The research reveals that the top priorities for many incoming CIOs are delivering critical IT initiatives on time (49 percent), retooling IT talent and culture (50 percent), and fostering relationships with important business leaders (47 percent).¹
In this article, the second in a four-part series, we discuss how these three critical dimensions—time, talent, and relationships—can help new CIOs meet business leaders’ expectations.
Time: Balancing Operations and StrategyIn CIO Transition Labs, participants identify the actual percentage of time spent in each of four subroles:
• Strategists partner with the business to align business and IT strategies and maximize the value of technology investments.
• Catalysts instigate innovation through transformational change to business architecture, strategy, operations, and technology.
• Technologists assess technologies and design technical architectures to increase business agility and manage complexity.
• Operators manage and deliver efficient IT services and solutions to support the business while managing risk and protecting core assets.
As CIOs execute their agendas, they typically move among these subroles in an ongoing effort to strike the right balance across each of the four types of activities. CIOs are also asked to identify how much time they would ideally prefer to spend in each of the subroles. The differences between the actual and the target percentages are striking (Figure 1).
Transition guide for CIOs
November 15, 2017by Khalid Kark, research director, US CIO Program, Deloitte LLP; and Chuck Dean, managing director, and Minu Puranik, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Keys to a Successful Transition
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About Deloitte’s
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Transition guide for CIOs
Figure 1: Allocation of Time for Transitioning CIOs Across Four Subroles
Lab participants say they currently spend most of their time dealing with tactical activities; eventually, they expect to engage in more strategic and transformational undertakings. For example, many CIOs hired to transform IT discover that their new environments are operationally unstable or unpredictable, which forces them to set aside their original plans in favor of immediately establishing efficient and reliable operations. This likely requires CIOs to reset business expectations and communicate the rationale for a temporary shift in focus.
To help gain organizational support, transitioning CIOs can immediately address time-critical issues and high-visibility decisions that enable them to establish credibility and trust throughout the company. Quick hiring and process change decisions can help them limit the time spent in the time-draining operations role.
Transition guide for CIOs
Keys to a Successful Transition
Source: Deloitte Taking Charge: TheEssential Guide to CIO Transitions
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Foreword
CIO career insights
About Deloitte’s
CIO Program
Transition guide for CIOs
Talent: Business Stakeholders’ Top PriorityTalent is by far the highest CIO priority identified by business stakeholders (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Top CIO Priorities Identified by Business Stakeholders
Managing talent can be time-consuming and difficult for new executives. Among Transition Lab participants, CIOs promoted from within often approach talent change more conservatively and tend to favor less dramatic IT leadership moves.
Many new CIOs reorganize their leadership teams to infuse them with new ideas and thinking and reset the existing team’s performance expectations. Strategies for leadership change can range from complete restructuring to minor adjustments, often depending on whether the CIO was an internal or external hire. Some CIOs are faced with replacing intractable staff who are resistant to change or new leadership.
CIOs note the importance of culture to recruiting and retaining talent, especially in a competitive hiring environment. Creating a high-performing IT culture can be a difficult task that often requires CIOs to change long-established habits and behaviors.
Many CIOs share the goal of creating IT cultures that emphasize talent, leverage core capabilities and skills, and celebrate success. They seek to cultivate loyalty, belonging, and accountability within their teams. Many CIO Transition Lab participants develop strategies for IT culture change, such as assessing internal and external customer perception, establishing new cultural expectations, changing behavior of current talent, and hiring new talent with desired characteristics. The CTO/EVP of a national distributor told us, “It’s easy to build a high-performing culture when you bring in the best talent to support you. Real leadership is when you can build a high-performing culture from the talent you already have.”
Transition guide for CIOs
Keys to a Successful Transition
Source: Taking Charge: TheEssential Guide to CIO Transitions
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Transition guide for CIOs
Transition guide for CIOs
Keys to a Successful Transition
Relationships: More Important Than TechnologyBuilding relationships with key business stakeholders and ecosystem partners can help new CIOs establish credibility. One CIO told us, “The most surprising aspect of my transition was that the role was so much more about the organization and relationships than it was about technology. Organizational and relationship issues can trip you up far more easily than technical issues.”
Transitioning CIOs often overlook the importance of strong relationships with ecosystem partners. Cloud providers, system integrators, consulting firms, and technology vendors help contribute to the delivery of efficient, scalable, and secure technology capabilities.
Today’s ecosystem extends beyond traditional vendors and suppliers that bring technical capabilities to the table. Ecosystem partners such as innovation labs, technology hubs, business incubators and accelerators, venture capitalist and private equity firms, startups, universities, and other organizations can help CIOs foster rapid innovation. During the new CIO’s first year, developing relationships with innovation-focused partners can help him or her prepare to drive disruption and deliver top-line growth.
During interviews with key stakeholders, the two most common complaints about IT are “IT is a silo” and “IT focuses on technology, not the business.” The transitioning CIO can take a step toward eliminating these complaints by giving key stakeholders more insight into IT’s inner workings. If IT governance processes are missing or ineffective, incoming CIOs can engage key leaders to better align with business needs and funding priorities.
*****
New CIOs can lay the groundwork for a successful transition by developing a plan for effectively managing time, talent, and relationships. This includes decisively setting initial priorities, recalibrating business expectations, and achieving quick project wins; initiating critical talent and culture changes; and establishing or renewing important stakeholder relationships with business peers and ecosystem partners.
1. Researchers analyzed data from approximately 200 labs, interviews with more than 600 members of the C-suite and other key stakeholders, and in-depth phone interviews with 26 recently transitioned CIOs.
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Transition guide for CIOs
CIOs moving into new roles typically fall into one of four categories, according to a study from Deloitte’s US CIO Program.
Many CIOs find themselves in situations that require them to take on new leadership responsibilities, juggle shifting business mandates, and manage complicated technology transformations. They are either hired from within the IT team, within the company but outside of the IT function, outside of the company, or as a result of an M&A or divestiture, according to new research based on data from Deloitte’s CIO Transition Lab, a program that helps incoming CIOs develop goals, priorities, and strategies.¹
In this article, the third in a four-part series, we describe the business context, opportunities, and challenges faced by transitioning CIOs when hired to lead IT in each of these scenarios.
Internal HiresThe most common situation encountered in the CIO Transition Lab is the CIO who has been promoted from within the IT organization. He or she usually has a successful track record, is part of the existing leadership team, has built credibility within the company, and has cultivated strong relationships with key stakeholders and peers.
Internally hired CIOs can minimize disruption and provide continuity. “Being an insider at Ulster Bank has worked to my advantage,” says Robin Marshall, CIO of Ulster Bank, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group. “RBS is a large, complex, multifaceted organization that’s very highly matrixed. For an outsider to understand this would have been like building the airplane while flying it.”
Internal hires may tread lightly to preserve existing relationships and often do not want to be viewed as disruptive. Many are slow to make talent decisions because of the strength of their existing relationships.
Transition guide for CIOs
‘RBS is a large, complex, multifaceted organization that’s very highly matrixed. For an outsider to understand this would have been like building the airplane while flying it.’ Robin Marshall CIO, Ulster Bank (a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group)
December 19, 2017by Khalid Kark, research director, US CIO Program, Deloitte LLP; and Chuck Dean, managing director, and Minu Puranik, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP
4 CIO Transition Scenarios
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Transition guide for CIOs
Some company insiders are first-time CIOs; they may find it difficult to delegate work and manage direct reports or other staff who were formerly colleagues. They may also face resistance from peers who were vying for the same role.
An internal hire may need to quickly hire somebody into his or her former role or risk straddling both roles for months, which can affect performance and focus.
Hybrid InsidersIn the CIO Transition Lab, we’ve noticed recently that many more CIOs are being hired internally from within the company’s enterprise leadership instead of the IT function. This often occurs when businesses need greater business alignment or stakeholder trust. These “hybrid insiders” may lack a strong technology background and often focus on untangling alignment and relationship issues while relying on technologists and operational lieutenants to keep the lights on.
“I already had a good sense of the performance of the IT organization and the historical context of its performance,” says Kevin Lowell, who was promoted to the position of VP of IT at US Cellular after rising through the ranks in engineering and network operations. “However, I spent a lot of time trying to understand execution and the impact of service delivery.”
Existing IT staff may be skeptical of the hybrid insider’s authority, leading him or her to work hard to gain credibility and respect; on the other hand, existing relationships with key stakeholders can bring instant credibility.
Hybrid insiders likely are not limited by the existing IT culture and can make significant cultural and talent shifts quickly. However, those who lack technology knowledge may need to come up to speed quickly. Many hybrid insiders report being surprised by the complexity of the IT environment, which may be bogged down by years of short-term fixes and multiple generations of technologies.
Perhaps because they may underestimate IT challenges, hybrid insiders may overcommit to business partners or focus on short-term wins at the expense of long-term total cost of ownership or broader strategy.
Transition guide for CIOs
4 CIO Transition Scenarios
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Transition guide for CIOs
External HiresWhen significant change is needed within an IT function, CIOs are often brought in from outside the company. Externally hired CIOs typically impress with successful track records or expertise in a particular domain. For example, a company that needs expertise in building digital platforms may seek CIOs from the financial services or retail industries.
Outside hires are often expected to quickly end or redirect bad initiatives. In addition, they typically must simultaneously gain understanding of a new industry, culture, and company, and they may require more time to establish key stakeholder relationships than internal hires or hybrid insiders.
External hires often have a mandate to institute drastic changes; many inherit IT teams with significant challenges. They may find it easier to make needed talent changes and are able to do so at a faster pace than many internally promoted CIOs. “In these situations, sometimes there are good people who have deep institutional knowledge and are well respected and loved, but who can’t or won’t pivot the way the company needs them to,” says Charles T. Brooks, who was hired externally in 2016 when the Kemper Corporation family of insurance companies needed to fill the newly created role of SVP of operations and systems.
As he and his team worked through these changes, Brooks held several open meetings and feedback sessions. “I personally led a lot of candid leadership discussions and skip-level meetings with nonmanagers,” he said. “The best talent—the talent we all want to keep—really understood the message that these changes would make us a better team and a better company moving forward. And they really wanted to be a part of that.”
Transition guide for CIOs
‘Sometimes there are good people who have deep institutional knowledge and are well respected and loved, but who can’t or won’t pivot the way the company needs them to.’ Charles T. Brooks SVP of operations and systems, Kemper Corporation
4 CIO Transition Scenarios
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M&A and DivestituresM&A and divestitures generally present CIOs with tight deadlines, strict financial and talent targets, and the complex task of either integrating or separating multiple business-critical applications and platforms.
When massive change needs to occur in a short timeframe, constant communication with stakeholders and IT staff is extremely important. Often, CIOs may be working with unfamiliar IT staff, and they are frequently faced with maintaining team morale as employees struggle with long workdays, frustrating migrations, and fear of job loss.
Transitioning CIOs in M&A or divestitures typically do not have to develop a strategic plan; deadlines and road maps are usually driven by the business with little input from IT. Georgia Papathomas, VP of data sciences of Johnson & Johnson and former CIO of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, finds that during an M&A, fully understanding business priorities is the greatest—and most important—task. “First I have to figure out how the business is trying to create value, whether from synergies, intellectual property, or some combination of the two,” she says. “IT has to understand what the business is trying to achieve and translate it into an IT plan.”
“Sometimes during an M&A, an entrenched bureaucracy in IT can drive leaders to add resources or create processes without proper planning,” she adds. “That’s where CIOs can lead—by ensuring that people don’t jump in and make changes, or add costs or resources, without first gaining a deep understanding of the objectives and environments.”
*****1. Taking charge: The essential guide to CIO transitions is based on a synthesis of data from approximately 200 labs, interviews with more than 600 members of the C-suite and other key stakeholders, and in-depth phone interviews with 26 recently transitioned CIOs.
Transition guide for CIOs
4 CIO Transition Scenarios
28
Foreword
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About Deloitte’s
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Transition guide for CIOs
During an incoming CIO’s first 100 days, a formal assessment and analysis of the IT organization can help identify important early decisions and develop strategic plans.
When transitioning into new leadership roles, many CIOs feel pressured to quickly make their mark. Effectively prioritizing important decisions can help them meet business expectations and lay the foundation for a productive tenure, according to a recent analysis of data from Deloitte’s CIO Transition Lab, which helps new CIOs develop goals and strategies.¹
The data shows that top stakeholder expectations during a CIO transition include delivering critical IT initiatives on time, retooling IT talent and culture, and fostering relationships with key business leaders. Failure to clearly develop and communicate intent, direction, and an agenda to meet these expectations within an expected time frame can disappoint stakeholders, while moving too fast can lead to resistance and opposition. The 100-day standard, a common benchmark for executive transitions, can help CIOs focus on key business and technology initiatives and decisions.
This article, the last in a four-part series, provides transitioning CIOs with a 100-day plan for assessing the IT function, making organizational recommendations, implementing a tactical plan focused on immediate issues, and developing a strategic plan that addresses long-term business goals.
These are general guidelines; actual mileage may vary depending on business needs and expectations and the state of the inherited IT function. For example, a CIO brought in to steady the IT function after the disastrous implementation of a mission-critical application will have different priorities from the CIO hired to drive digital business initiatives. Similarly, CIOs who find themselves transitioning due to an M&A or divestiture typically will focus primarily on IT integration or separation.
Transition guide for CIOs
February 5, 2018by Chuck Dean, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP
‘Failure to clearly develop and communicate intent, direction, and an agenda to meet expectations within an expected timeframe can disappoint stakeholders, while moving too fast can lead to resistance and opposition.’
Transitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
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Transition guide for CIOs
Organizational Assessment and AnalysisDuring the incoming CIO’s first 100 days, a thorough and formal assessment of the IT function can help identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The output can inform an analysis with recommendations for making it easier to do business with IT and providing the highest levels of service delivery.
For example, the evaluation may reveal that business stakeholders believe IT doesn’t sufficiently emphasize internal customer needs. The organizational analysis could make recommendations for aligning the IT organization with internal customers and establishing processes to ensure greater customer focus.
Incoming CIOs can appraise seven areas of the IT function:
Organization. An extensive evaluation of the IT organization—conducted through formal surveys or informal conversations with stakeholders internal and external to IT—can help CIOs determine how to improve service delivery, drive cultural change, and realign the organization to maximize productivity. If the organization needs to be restructured, CIOs can work to define new roles and determine key positions, clarify accountabilities, and establish a transition plan and timetable.
If the assessment reveals the existence of shadow IT groups in other functional areas, CIOs can determine when and how to manage them. Unclear project ownership, accountability issues, an “us versus them” attitude, and inconsistent processes and results all indicate that shadow IT is a challenge that warrants an investment of time.
Operating costs. Many transitioning CIOs find themselves under intense pressure to reduce operating costs. After identifying opportunities to quickly generate cost savings, they can assess budgets, operational expenses and their key drivers (i.e., application maintenance, help desk, telecommunications, and infrastructure), and current vendor and partner relationships. Savings can be used to enable technology-driven top-line growth and revenues.
New CIOs can also review vendor and external partner spending and upcoming contracts. Asking top vendors to analyze their contracts and bring forward their best value propositions may reveal opportunities to save money and time.
Delivery processes. An appraisal of processes for software development, problem resolution, governance, project prioritization, portfolio management, testing, quality assurance, and consultant use, among others, may provide insights that allow CIOs to streamline complex processes, eliminate low-value activities, and improve IT governance as well as technology development and management. Ascertaining the links between IT and key business functions such as finance and operations can shed light on opportunities to improve IT’s support of these business areas.
Transition guide for CIOs
Transitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
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Transition guide for CIOs
Transition guide for CIOs
In the first 100 days, it rarely pays to be a process improvement zealot—instead, focus on enhancing the most critical processes for key programs, which can help build credibility and change business perceptions of IT. Major delivery improvement opportunities may require far more than 100 days to resolve.
Talent. After evaluating the capabilities of the IT team and identifying high and low performers, CIOs can develop a talent plan that integrates in-progress talent moves, prioritizes the most important job roles, manages out the weakest links, and optimizes the use of vendors and external partners. Examine all possible causes of subpar performance; for example, employees who are languishing under a weak manager may shine under a stronger leader. Because the hiring process can be time-consuming, it can be helpful to move quickly on key positions or vacancies.
Architecture. A thorough appraisal of existing technology architecture includes system capabilities, costs, and applications by process and function. New CIOs can discuss their philosophy on architecture and engineering solutions with their teams and ask them to identify where past efforts are misaligned. This exercise can help CIOs identify complexities and redundancies and explore alternative technologies that might simplify architectures and reduce expenses. Finally, establishing an ongoing process for evaluating new technologies can help ensure that technology architecture provides needed capabilities at the lowest cost.
Security and compliance. Because cybersecurity stakes are so high, it’s important for a transitioning CIO to quickly understand the organization’s security posture, cyber risks, and state of compliance. This includes security controls, threat detection, and response capabilities as well as business resiliency. Have employees received proper cybersecurity training? How well do other members of the C-suite, board members, and other key stakeholders understand the state of security and compliance? A review of past board presentations, security dashboards, and detection and monitoring capabilities can help set priorities.
Initiatives and projects. Assess the rationale, business support, scope, cost, and timing of ongoing and planned initiatives and projects. Incoming CIOs may want to reassess the business cases for major initiatives, current contracts, the contracting process, and any ongoing or planned commitments and relationships. It can be an eye-opening process—it’s possible that a significant number of projects can be immediately terminated, allowing those teams to focus on more important tasks.
Transitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
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Transition guide for CIOs
Tactical and Strategic IT PlansTransitioning CIOs may be tempted to quickly develop strategic plans, but most will need at least two months to gain a deep understanding of business goals and the inherited IT organization. The organizational assessment and analysis usually jump-starts the process, and CIOs can also develop a short-term tactical plan that addresses time-sensitive issues and decisions—quick wins that can help gain organizational support. Major architectural decisions and large expenditures can be deferred until a long-term plan is developed.
Armed with more information and a few high-profile, meaningful victories, the new CIO can begin to consider developing a strategic two-year IT plan that takes into account the state of IT architecture, current and future business requirements, and an analysis of the gap between the two.
CIOs can then determine how to measure progress across basic operational activities and technology investments. They can establish credibility by developing metrics, baseline costs, and IT scorecards that align to key business needs and demonstrate IT’s role in achieving business objectives during a given fiscal period.
*****
Incoming CIOs often face many challenges and difficult decisions as they navigate their first 100 days in the C-suite. Taking the time to thoroughly assess and analyze the IT function and quickly address a few critical issues before tackling long-term strategic planning can help CIOs successfully prioritize key business initiatives and management tasks.
1. “Taking charge: The essential guide to CIO transitions” is based on a synthesis of data from approximately 200 labs, interviews with more than 600 members of the C-suite and other key stakeholders, and in-depth phone interviews with 26 recently transitioned CIOs.
Transitioning to CIO: From Zero to 60 in 100 Days
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Transition guide for CIOs
CIO’s lead unique and complex lives—operating at the intersection of business and IT to deliver value to their organizations. To help CIOs manage these challenges and issues, Deloitte has created the CIO Program. The program provides distinctive offerings to support the CIO career lifestyle through leadership development programs, immersive lab experiences, insight on provocative topics, and career transition support to complement the technology services and solutions we provide to our clients.
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Vision. Yours matters more than ever.
Do you see the role of CIO as all about technology? Look again.™ To lead your company through rapid change, you’re expected to deliver growth, performance, and security.
You’re positioned to set digital strategy and create a culture of tech fluency and talent. Deloitte can help you achieve your vision with insights, connections, career support, and custom services to fit the ever-changing needs of today’s CIO.
Look again at deloitte.com/us/cio.
Copyright © 2018 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
Vision. Yours matters more than ever.Do you see the role of CIO as all about technology? Look again.™ To lead your company through rapid change, you’re expected to deliver growth, performance, and security.
You’re positioned to set digital strategy and create a culture of tech fluency and talent. Deloitte can help you achieve your vision with insights, connections, career support, and custom services to fit the ever-changing needs of today’s CIO.
Look again at deloitte.com/us/cio.
Copyright © 2018 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
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