“Observations from
a Four Time CIO”
“From the Backroom to the Boardroom”
Seminars on Academic Computing
August 7, 2001
James Penrod, VPIS & CIO
The University of Memphis
Outline
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Not every CIO is the same!
Changes in the position
Elements that provide influence with
executive officers
Developing a strategic planning AND
management process
Boardroom strategies & tactics
Examples of lessons learned
Critical success factors for a CIO
Final observations
The Higher Education CIO in the 21st Century
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, #1, 2000—Zastrocky & Schlier
To be accepted as a member of the
executive team, the CIO must be a fullspectrum contributor to the
development and management of
business strategies and directions
rather than a niche player in the limited
band of IT. He or she must participate in,
and sometimes lead, discussion on
general issues facing the college or
university.
Not every CIO is the same
Why create the position?
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The senior administration recognizes a serious
need for the position
The administration understands that IT is a
strategic resource for the institution
The institution is ready to define IT roles and
resource allocations for centralized and
distributed IT units
The senior administration is ready to define
an appropriate governance structure for IT
Not every CIO is the same
Vice President/Vice Chancellor
 Is
an executive officer of the institution
 Is a cabinet level position
 Usually reports to the president or
chancellor
 The policy officer for IT
 May have units beyond computing,
network, & telecom
 Responsible for leading IT planning
 Involved in institutional planning &
decision making
Not every CIO is the same
Vice/Associate Provost
 Is
a cabinet level position
 Reports to the Provost
 The policy officer for IT
 May have units beyond computing,
network, & telecom
 Responsible for leading IT planning
 Involved in institutional planning
 Usually consulted for certain
institutional decision making
Not every CIO is the same
Other CIO titles
 Depends
upon size and type of
institution
 Senior level IT position
 Some, perhaps major IT policy
responsibility
 Not likely a cabinet level position
 Involved in developing IT policy
 Leads IT planning process
 Typically have standard CIO unit
supervision
Not every CIO is the same
Impact of institutional size and/or complexity
Very large or leading research
institutions tend toward Vice/Associate
Provost CIOs
 Large research institutions tend toward
Vice President/Chancellor CIOs
 No clear trends evident otherwise
 Some CIO lists now contain many
Director level CIO titles
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– These do not fit the basic definition of a
CIO
Has the CIO Position Changed
Over the Last Decade ?
Changed
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Many more of us!
– Now seen as a “typical”
higher education
position
Fewer are executive officers
of the institution
A smaller proportion have
doctorates
Bigger staff
Budgets are larger
No longer seen as a
computer “czar”
Remained the Same
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Primarily filled by males
Primarily Caucasians
Most have IT plans
Majority from research
universities
They come from a variety of
academic disciplines
Many have a combination of
technical, academic, &
administrative backgrounds
The 1990 CIO Profile in Higher Education
The Chief Information Officer in Higher Education,
CAUSE Professional Paper Series, #4
A 46-year-old Caucasian male, reporting to
the president, with a title of vice president,
who has been in the position for 3.6 years,
and annually earns a mean salary of
$87,895. He works at a public, research
institution with a $240 million budget
enrolling 15,000 students. He heads a unit
with a $9.6 million yearly budget, employing
135 staff.
The 2000 CIO Profile in Higher Education
Dewitt Latimer’s 2000 EDUCAUSE Survey
A 53-year-old Caucasian male, reporting
to the Provost, with a title of Vice
Provost, who has been in the position for
4.5 years, and annually earns a mean
salary of $115,161. He works in a public
research institution enrolling ~20,000
students with a $343 million budget. He
heads a unit with 159 staff and an
annual budget of ~$10.1 million.
A CIO is….
…a senior executive of the organization responsible for information
policy, management, control, and standards. Five primary functions
are associated with the position, including participation in corporate
or institutional strategic planning, responsibility for information
systems planning, leading the development of institutional
information policy, management of the institution’s information
resources, and development of new systems capabilities. These
functions contrast with more traditional IS roles which have more of
a short-term, project-oriented focus, and an emphasis on day-to-day
management responsibility. The most sought after traits in a CIO are
leadership and management skills, a visionary capacity, the ability
to marshal technology as a strategic resource, and the ability to
bring computing and telecommunications under control
Synnott & Gruber, Information Resources Management, 1981
Elements of Influence
Access to the
President/Chancellor
Meet face to face on regular basis
 Have a level of personal relationship
 Understand the needs of a CEO
 Stress a no surprises mode of operation
 Develop IT strategies to accomplish
institutional goals
 Deliver results
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Elements of Influence
Interaction with the cabinet
Maintain a constant policy perspective
 Provide ongoing education about IT
trends & issues of significance
 Involve them in all major IT decisions
 Form project partnerships where
possible
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– Find areas of mutual interest and need
– Create cross-functional teams
Elements of Influence
Do not play budget games!
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Clearly establish budget necessities
prior to accepting the position
– Must have a predictable operational budget
– Must have a capital budget linked to
operations
Tie objectives directly to allocated
budget
 Do not ask for more than is really
needed & make trade-offs evident
 Put your integrity on the line
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Elements of Influence
Develop a strong governance
structure
Work with the President/Chancellor &
other prime decision makers
 Define a policy body that fits the
institution
 Define appropriate advisory groups
 Carefully select group chairs and
representatives
 Derive relationships & functions of
groups up front, modify as you go until
it fits the place
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Elements of Influence
Clearly delineate your
management philosophy
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Define it and publicize it widely
– Emphasize in internal publications, formal
publications & presentations
– Walk the talk!
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Apply Learning Organization principles
– Emphasize mental models, shared vision,
personal mastery, team learning, & systems
thinking everywhere
– Incorporate into your planning &
management model
Planning & Management Process
Linkage and alignment is key
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IT planning must completely roll up into
institutional planning
Planning should link directly to budget,
operational management, personnel
evaluation, & outcome assessment
The process should tie planning activities to
implementation methodology (units, teams &
individuals)
Do it even if institution does not formally
plan!
Planning & Management Process
Do not plan by committee!
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Those responsible for implementation should
write the plan
Get as much input from as broad a
constituency as possible & really use it
Have a broad-based review process
Have the plan approved by an executive policy
group
Distribute an annual report that spells out
which objectives were & were not completed
Planning & Management Process
What should a committee do?
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Depends upon the institutional culture
– Can be a useful sounding board for initial
input
– Can be used effectively in the
environmental scanning process
– Can be an excellent review group prior to
finalization by a policy body
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Responsibility for decisions by a
committee are very difficult to assign to
individuals
Planning & Management Process
Always remember that a plan is a
guideline
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A strategic plan should set forth a few well
defined strategies
Goals should have no more than a 3-5 year
horizon
Objectives should be measurable, time
bounded, linked directly to budget & assigned
to a person to implement
– There must be a formal process to change
objectives during the budget cycle
– Review progress on a regular basis & report it
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Make certain that IT dollars follow the plan!
Planning & Management Process
Alignment is a key element of planning
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Values, mission, strategies, goals & objectives
need to be aligned
Organizational culture, structure, internal
economy, systems architecture, methods &
tools, and metrics & rewards need to be in
alignment
Professional development should be aligned
with needed competencies & behaviors and
individual action plans
Assessment & evaluation methodologies need
to be aligned
Planning & Management Process
Teams & technology: a vital
combination
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The link between information technology, knowledge, and
organizational performance is clear. Information technology
provides access to diverse sources for specialized information
and enhances our ability to analyze, manage, and apply this
information to our work. While the link between teams,
knowledge, and organizational performance may be less
obvious, it is just as important. A team brings together
different individuals who know and can do different things. It is
a means of pooling and using the diverse “knowledges” and
skills of its members to accomplish mutual goals. When there is
a synergy between teams and information technology, the
contribution of the two to knowledge and organizational
performance is greater than the sum of the parts.
Teams & Technology- Mankin, Cohen, & Bikson, 1996
Planning & Management Process
“Designing” &“building” effective teams
Designing
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Identify team type &
goals
Determine team structure
– Member composition
– Leadership roles
– External connections
Develop team
capabilities
– Access to resources
– Provide training
Building
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Enhance effectiveness
Conflict resolution
techniques
Interpersonal
communications
Trust building
Gaining commitment &
cohesiveness
Engendering mutual
respect
Planning & Management Process
Managing a team based organization
The Leadership or Management Team
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Provides strategic
direction & alignment
Ensures effective
configuration of teams
Changes configuration
when needed
Ensures needed
support systems
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Institutes & assures
ongoing performance
measurement process
Models team norms &
behaviors
Removes barriers &
logjams for teams to
function smoothly
Planning & Management Process
Managing a team based organization
The Leadership or Management Team
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Engages in learning
processes to increase
effectiveness
Leads a gradual transfer
of management duties
Coaches team leaders
Continuously assesses
organizational ability
Intervenes to develop
capabilities if needed
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Encourages teams to
review/develop their
own capabilities
Formalizes team-based
practices & systems so
reliance on individual
managers is lessened
Promotes learning
organization principles
Reviews & rewards
performance increases
Planning & Management Process
Some thoughts about teams
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Creating teams is a
fad
Teams require time &
cost to maintain
Interdependence &
shared goals are key
Teamwork &
individual work are
not incompatible
Adapt rather than
adopt team designs
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Issues of
collaboration &
team effectiveness
are complex
Planning, effort,
patience, and
knowledge are
required for team
effectiveness
The real goal is
effective
organizations
Planning & Management Process
Teams & Technology - Mankin, Cohen, & Bikson,
1996
The kind of technological, team-based, organizational
change recommended [by this approach] can help
build trust. Technology that supports collaboration
will by its very nature create shared understandings:
these shared understandings will in turn increase
trust among collaborators. The same is true for welldesigned teams. And the kind of supportive
environment described [earlier] will reinforce trust
within the teams and help it spread well beyond their
borders to eventually encompass the entire
organization.
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Ann Field, CIO Insight, June 2001, p.48
The message: CIOs need to be able to manage
up, down and sideways in order to get the
money and influence they need and to avoid
getting sidelined… For many CIOs, that
means learning whole new relationship skills
to become-and remain-effective. The CIO has
moved from a technical to a political position.
It’s a whole new ballgame.
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Advocate institutional positions
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IT is an institutional issue
– Major IT decisions are too important to be made
by technicians
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Sometimes what is best for the IT unit may
not be best for the institution
– Help your unit realize that fact
– Provide a leadership example
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The same is true for other units as well
– Seek to inspire executive leadership when it should
be forthcoming
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Learn & practice the art of
dialogue
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Be sure what you hear is what was meant
– Seek to be aware of & understand your biases
Be sure what you say is heard as you meant it
– Others also have cultural “glasses” that must be
overcome
Learn to listen--to hear what was said, not to find an
“opening” for argument
Listen to learn why you might need to change
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Help create an integrated IT
structure across the institution
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Develop complimentary role definitions for
central & distributed IT units
– Be an advocate for appropriate funding at all levels
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Develop metrics for all central & distributed
IT services & share the results widely
– Include a measurement criteria in all IT objectives
– Make personnel evaluation meaningful & build it
into the planning & management cycle
– Use metrics to make the case for budget requests
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Base budget requests on campus
priorities
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Relate campus priority requests to “building
block” infrastructure needs
Keep an IT benchmark database of peers
– Ratio of central IT budget to institutional budget
– FTEs: IT unit & LSPs; any other measures you
can get
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Find ways to illustrate IT productivity ratios
Do not be afraid to “give away” credit for
success
Focus on the future—not the past (but learn
from it)
Boardroom Strategies & Tactics
Be a change agent
 Change leaders are
Pay attention to the
“cultural travelers”
process of change
 Resistance is a resource
 Leaders need support
 Building community is
during change
key
 Learning is essential
 Truth telling must be
 Be able to handle
rewarded
conflict
 Trust is essential
 Change leadership is
 Involve everyone
counter-intuitive
possible
 The cabinet must
 Change & complexity
are here to stay
function well during
change
Sanaghan & Napier, Business Officer, October 2000, pp.32-36.
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Examples of Lessons Learned
Defining the role of the IT policy council
 Implementing a strategy for
administrative software
 Developing a process for allocation of
funds from an increased technology
access fee
 Creating Local Support Provider
positions
 Developing a partnership with the
Library
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Critical Success Factors for a CIO
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Ability to generate a
shared IT vision
Ability to secure IT
resources
Understanding of higher
education & its issues
Being a good listener
Ability to plan and
implement on time
Ability to sustain a viable
governance structure
Respect for colleagues
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Ability to facilitate
institutional change
Being trustworthy
Ability to build & retain a
talented staff
Maintaining a breadth of
technical understanding
Balancing leadership &
management
Having institutional
commitment
Knowing yourself
Some Final Observations
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If you are an academic, maintain the faculty
appointment & departmental involvement
Continuously learn all you can about
leadership & management
Never stop reading books & articles that are
meaningful to you
Be active in “the profession”
Do not allow yourself to get too involved in the
day-to-day or the “techie” stuff
Get away for a true vacation at least annually
Know when it is time to leave
N. Dean Meyer, RoadMap, 2nd edition, 1998,
p.129
Executives who try to personally coordinate and control
everything are destined to fail (and are likely candidates
for ulcers as well). The proper role for an executive is that
of leader, not foreman—one who focuses on issues of
governance rather than projects and crises… Focusing on
systemic change gives an executive leverage he or she needs
to handle the tremendous pace and complexity of today’s
business challenges. By conspicuously designing the
organizational environment that guides everybody in every
aspect of their work, a leader can subtly influence every
decision, every day—without disempowering and micromanaging people.