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PROFESSIONALISM IN IT

Charles HughesPresident Elect

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Agenda

• The Issues

• Progress so far

• Programme and Plans


The Background

Failure Statistics:

75% of all IT projects exceed budget and schedule (Gartner)

33% fail altogether (Gartner)

80 to 90% of IT investments do not meet performance objectives, 80% are delivered late and over budget and 40% are abandoned as failures (OASIG)

Annual cost of IT failure in Western Europe $140 Billions (Gartner)


The Background

Public Comments

Government IT projects have failed due to ‘incompetent suppliers providing crap solutions’‘Let’s be honest about this, there have also been suppliers who have lied to us’ Andrew Pinder

‘Every day we are faced with suppliers who make exorbitant claims about the performance of their products and we are bitterly disappointed.’ Sir Peter Gershon


The Story so far

• ProfIT Project 2003

• “IT Supplier Code of Best Practice”

• IT Professionalism Programme


The Programme

Approved by BCS Trustee Board March 2005

Programme Sponsor: Charles Hughes President-Elect

Programme Director: Colin Thompson Deputy Chief Executive

The PurposeA managed programme intended to give substance to the stated ambition of the BCS to lead the profession of the 21st century and to build IT professionalism to the level at which it is seen to exist in other areas of professional activity.


The Programme

The Objective

By increasing professionalism, to improve the ability of business and other organisations to exploit the potential of information technology effectively and consistently.


PROFESSIONALISM


Professionalism

‘To me, the essence of professionalism is a commitment to develop one’s skills to the fullest and to apply [them] responsibly to the problems at hand. Professionalism requires adherence to the highest ethical standards of conduct and a willingness to subordinate narrow self-interest in pursuit of the more fundamental goal of public service.’

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor – US Supreme Court

Doing things right and doing the right things


Professionalism

Professionalism is an aspirational standard, rather than a set of minimum requirements, the essential elements of which are:

Competence

Personal integrity, responsibility and accountability

Public obligation


Professionalism

Competence

Relevant, up to date skills and capabilities appropriate to the particular task

Including appropriate non-technical competences -communication, business, leadership and management competences.

A broader foundation of relevant experience, knowledge and understanding

Supported with relevant qualifications

Maintained through CPD


Professionalism

Integrity

A clear commitment to abide by a code of conduct which is recognised and administered by the professional community.

Responsibility and accountability

A set of obligations and responsibilities which sit alongside, and may take precedence over, the contractual obligation to an employer or client.

A matching accountability to the profession, as well as to the employer.

A commitment to heed standards and implement good governance


Professionalism

Membership of a recognised professional body

Professionalism is about a commitment to standards and disciplines recognised across a peer community of professionals.

It is also about a commitment on the part of the professional community to support individuals where professional standards are challenged.

Being part of that community is an essential part of being a professional


Professionalism

Public Obligation

Regard for and contribution to the public good

Social responsibility

Commitment and contribution to the profession

Communicating and explaining

Engendering trust


THE IT PROFESSION


The IT Profession

The Past

Essentially an Engineering/Technical profession, responsible for the effective delivery of systems to meet requirements specified by ‘the business’

The Future

A business focussed profession, with a base of both technical and business competences, playing a full part at all stages of IT enabled business change programmes and projects


The IT Profession

If we are to achieve a more professional approach to the exploitation of IT, we will need an IT profession which:

Is defined in terms of its ability to play a full part in all stages of IT exploitation

Is seen as – and sees itself as – an integral part of the business Has appropriate non-technical skills, including management,

business and leadership skills, as core competences.Lays greater emphasis on the accreditation of current capability and

competenceDemands greater personal responsibility on the part the practitioner.Is attractive to a wider group of entrants than at present – including

those groups alienated by the current image of the profession


MAKING IT HAPPEN


Making It Happen

Building the New IT Profession

Must be undertaken in consultation with the stakeholder community - particularly the employer and business communities

Must deliver real benefit to each of the stakeholder groups

Will require a significant change in our view of professional formation – including entry requirements, academic requirements, career development paths and ongoing training and development

Will change the nature of the services and support required from the major professional bodies

Will involve a significant cultural change for the IT industry

Will not be easy


Making It Happen

Three Main Projects within the Programme

1. The Leadership of IT- Enabled Business Change

2. Building the New IT Profession

3. Communication and Engagement


Making It Happen

Project 1 - The Leadership of IT–Enabled Business Change

Joint BCS/CMI/CLN project

Aimed at improving the capability of organisations and their senior executives to structure, lead and implement large and complex IT-enabled business change

Led by a Steering Board chaired by Andy Green, Chief Exec of BT Global Services


Making It Happen

Project 2 - Building the new IT Profession

To work with the stakeholder community to develop and implement the vision of an IT profession that meets the objective.

Customer led

Steering Board chaired by John Leighfield.

Executive Board chaired by Charles Hughes.


MAKING IT HAPPEN

STEERING BOARD

EXECUTIVE GROUP

Purpose:Broad directionVisibility & credibilityIndustry championshipIndustry commitment & buy-in

Purpose:Widest poss. Representation & involvement of professional communityEnsure all relevant issues are included and covered by appropriate research/consultationSecure pool of experts to drive programme contentEnsure consistent message from the whole professionSecure top class QA mechanism Provide review mechanism for all conclusions and recommendations to Steering Board

Input from research and consultation

BCS

Programme

and

campaign

management

and

support

Input from advisory groups


STEERING BOARD

“I'd love to join the Steering Board; I would consider it an honour, and it is something very close to my heart.Over the last few years I have tried , without success, to convince various industry bodies that something of this sort was needed. I guess it marks a rite of passage for the maturing of our industry. “

JP Rangaswami - CIO Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein


Making It Happen

Project 3 - Communication and Engagement

To communicate the programme as widely as possible

To engage the professional and business communities

To secure the commitment of key stakeholders

Major conference at completion of Phase 1- 8th May 2006

Led by BCS Programme Board chaired by the BCS Chief Executive


Making It Happen

How will we know we get there?A comprehensive competence architecture A cClearly defined knowledge base for the IT professionStandard recognised professional qualifications Recognition of and respect for IT professionals Support for customer/user skillsClear, common professional standards An open competence assessment regime The importance of IT recognised within the business and the wider community Personal responsibility and accountability The IT profession speaking with a single voice


MAKING IT THE PROFESSION OF THE

21ST CENTURYI

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Documents