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Renaming the CIO: DBS, anyone?
silicon.com CIO Forum competition gets debate going - champagne winner announced

By Tony Hallett

Published: Monday 01 November 2004

silicon.com's competition announced at our CIO Forum at the end of September to come up with more apt abbreviation and name than CIO - as in chief information officer - garnered some thought-provoking responses.

They ranged from the contrary ("Don't change it. It's not a great title but at least we know what it signifies.") to the complex ("Director (of the) Information Executive - D.IE, pronounced 'dee dot i ee'") to the solid but not quite right (chief infrastructure officer). And, let's face it, the latter would still be shortened to CIO.

Many of those who took part in the competition - based on those attending our event - insisted there are good reasons not to tamper with the now fairly well-known moniker.

CIO Adrian Bagg suggested a change would turn CIO into "completely indecisive operatives". He explained: "We have just spent 20 years trying to establish the title - to change it now would bring further scorn from our business colleagues and take us even further down the food chain.

"It's not what we're called - it's what we deliver and contribute."

Hugo Smith, a regular commentator on the pages of silicon.com and IT director at Sporting Index, agreed. "I think CIO is a perfectly acceptable title," he said. "I still have 'technology' in my title so I would like to catch up before things move on."

Several people suggested the CIO and chief operating officer roles will inevitably merge.

Jonathan English, COO at Kulu Valley, said: "COO - IT is an integral part of the entire business. That seems to be the message coming from CIOs and industry watchers… Let's redefine an existing board position rather than squeezing another chair around an already crowded board table."

Many good entries touched on the strategic influence IT now exerts but said the actual titles just didn't work. 'Chief strategic architect' found some fans but, unlike the top tier at vendors such as CA and Microsoft, the majority of the silicon.com editorial team didn't fancy seeing another type of 'chief architect'.

So we can proudly announce the winner of this competition - receiving half a case of champagne - is Bruce Lloyd, professor of strategic management at London South Bank University. He came up with Director of Business Strategy - DBS.

Now we're not saying this is perfect. It starts with a fairly sensible 'director', places 'business' front and centre and makes 'strategy' - rather than tactical firefighting or techie issues - a key component. But it doesn't exactly flow and we have to say that for now, at least, this publication will be carrying on advocating and seeking out CIOs.

Our thanks to the team at Executive Learning Alliance (ELA) for their help with this competition. An ELA column from earlier this year can be found here.

Do you have a better idea for an alternative to 'CIO'? No prizes this time, other than fame on the pages of silicon.com for a good suggestion, but let us know your choice by emailing editorial@silicon.com.