5 years ago... Marks & Spencer takes IT off the board

01.03.99: The IT community has rounded on Marks & Spencer for banishing the top IT job in the company from the board of directors.

Following this week's sacking of IT director John Sacher, the IT department will be headed by divisional director Kieth Bogg - but he won't take his predecessor's place on the board.

IT industry figures have reacted with disbelief. They claim the move bucks a growing trend among big businesses across all industries, where IT professionals are increasingly reaching the highest levels of strategic decision making.

An M&S spokeswoman insisted that although IT has lost its place on the board, it has not lost its importance to the organisation.

However, commentators were dismayed to see IT devalued. Chris Edwards, professor of IS management at Cranfield School of Management, said: "It is very negative for M&S not to have senior representation for IT. To remove IT from the board when it was already there is just ridiculous, especially in the retail sector where M&S' rivals are recognising the criticality of using their data for new services."

01.03.04: This demotion of the top IT job followed the axing of previous occupant of the post John Sacher, who was kicked out in a 'night of the long knives' which saw 31 senior execs ousted by incoming CEO Peter Salisbury as he attempted to turn around the ailing retailer's fortunes.

In fact an otherwise successful and pioneering approach to technology has only really been marred by one serious security blunder - but it's far from alone on that front.