Leader: The fine balance between business and IT

To say CIOs must now possess business savvy is nearly a cliché. But just how much should the role and the department which the person in that role heads stray from techie roots?

In an interview with silicon.com, DrKW CIO JP Rangaswami expressed the importance of not focusing only on the business in order to encourage young people to pursue technical degrees and careers.

IT leaders ... must feel they're respected throughout the company and can rub shoulders with the other top brass, without being looked down upon as a mere geek.

But our subsequent CIO Jury disagreed that talking down technology makes IT seem an unattractive career choice for youngsters. Quite the opposite. Jury members said emphasising the business aspects improves the image of the IT profession and attracts the sort of staff that are most needed.

It's a fine balance, for sure.

IT leaders and those aspiring to senior positions must feel they're respected throughout the company and can rub shoulders with the other top brass, without being looked down upon as a mere geek. Being knowledgeable about business improves these relations.

But it's also crucial that IT bosses stay abreast of the latest technologies. Knowing about the inner-workings of various standards and systems can be essential to making the correct judgement call about which technologies best fit business needs. Plus it can win them respect with the rank-and-file.

Concentrating too much on the business can also mean there's less room for the IT department to innovate and experiment with new tech to come up with creative ways to meet the organisation's needs.

Yes, business acumen is necessary to be a successful CIO. But with the pendulum swinging that way already, let's not have it come at the expense of solid technical skills.

As silicon.com reader Mark Stanley wrote in a comment posted on the site: "Without the techies there would be no IT department to manage. As I recall Bill Gates wasn't a Harvard MBA graduate but the boy did OK."