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Naked CIO: Who cares about industry experience?
Not me...

By Naked CIO

Published: Monday 06 October 2008

CIOs should be able to move between industries as freely as their colleagues in finance and marketing, says the Naked CIO.

I have had many conversations recently with colleagues about the importance of industry experience as it relates to the CIO role. It seems to be a debate without an answer and one that has CIOs split on whether industry experience matters.

The discussion boils down to the importance of methodology and best practice versus subject matter expertise and system application knowledge - and how the CIO role relates to these areas.

I have spent my career within a particular industry and while I have worked for different sectors within this industry, I have yet to venture outside. Yet if I want to I am confident I can.

In my current role and my two previous executive positions, while I brought in a great deal of industry knowledge, my day to day responsibilities and role in the organization are not industry-specific but rather about process, management, methodology and best practices.

Sometimes, though, I wonder: am I able to recognize opportunities to improve functions easier because I understand the business side of the function?

I do see people such as David Lister (who placed number two in silicon.com's CIO Top 50 ranking) who have transcended industries and who have been successful leading IT for companies that are very different from one another.

Equally though when looking at job specifications (not that I am looking) I often see requirements that an individual must have experience within the industry sector.

I would venture to guess the majority of hires for senior IT positions come from within a particular industry. Is this a pre-requisite? Does having industry experience help you perform the function or does it merely prove you have paid your dues?

I believe the function of CIOs in most organizations is generic to industry in that no CIO is required to know how to troubleshoot an application. Every CIO job of every large company in every industry has roughly the same high-level responsibilities.

Extending the argument all too often within industry sectors, CIOs and senior IT management are churned through the system. No new ideas or approaches seem to take hold because the same people occupy the same positions, just with different letterhead.

This creates a sort of apathy towards the pursuit of better management and driving innovation. It becomes an old boys' club where CIOs are indifferent to changing times and ignorant of progress - and rarely possess the will and drive to lead.

More companies and institutions should not be afraid of hiring IT leaders from outside of their industry. In some cases, such as if an organization is in need of change, they should specifically look towards other industries for talented individuals.

I would rather have a CIO within my organization who has proved he can be successful in any business and any industry than one who is mediocre but has always worked in our sector.

IT could learn some lessons from finance or marketing. There are fewer limitations for finance or marketing executives to change industries than in the IT market - yet I can find no reason why IT should be any different.

Technology, finance and marketing are all about method and approach at this level - skills which are easily portable between companies and sectors.