5 years ago… IT users need a profile boost

08.12.1999:The IT user community needs to reassert itself to prevent vendors taking control of the industry, according to John Higgins, director general of the Computer Software Services Association (CSSA – now known as Intellect).

Higgins claimed consumers and purchasers of IT now have a lot of power, and denied that big IT bosses are calling all the shots.

Although chiefs such as Microsoft's Bill Gates, IBM's Lou Gerstner, and Sun's Scott McNealy, have been recent guests at ten Downing Street, Higgins pointed out that the UK Prime Minister turns to the IT heads of companies such as Unilever and the Halifax, when seeking advice on the millennium bug and other issues.

However, it is now up to IT directors to put themselves at the centre of business, he said, emulating the success of vendors who have managed to gain a high profile.

"The purchasing side of the industry, particularly the CIOs and IT directors have got to get their act together, and they've got to be better at promoting themselves and positioning themselves in the boardroom where they can get more influence," he said.

08.12.2004: Five years later and CIOs and IT directors are still faced with the same issues about how to be taken seriously in the boardroom and have an active role in wider business strategy matters.

Y2K certainly raised their profile but when the world didn't end on 31 December 2000, many CEOs started to ask why they'd spent so much money on the millennium bug. But not before getting caught up in the dot-com boom years and throwing silly money at the IT department to e-enable everything.

Since the crash and the reality check, CIOs have spent their time building their credibility back up by dealing with massive budget cuts and getting as much return out of the systems they've already invested heavily in.

There are signs again that the CIO and IT director roles are undergoing fundamental re-evaluation both from those filling them and those appointing them, with the business and IT divide in some cases is as wide as it ever was. Read silicon.com columnist and former CIO Rene Carayol's take on the difference between a CIO and an IT director.