Magazine. Vol. 10, Summer 2011.

Transcription

1 Magazine. Vol. 10, Summer Jesus Torres Innovation will improve our customer service 24 Neelie Kroes Strategic role of the CIO is clearly growing 4 Daniel Lebeau Always thank your team 8 Marcello Cordioli Spend more time with the business partners 9 Pascale Avargues IT is a key asset for integrating people 10 CIO CITY 2011: How to be a successful leader 4 Discover the three winners of the European CIO 2011 Awards 8 IT and Social Media in all its aspects: full report 12 Technological Innovation as a key to survival 20 Business Analytics: The new role of the CIO 28 and much more!

2 The Perfect Storm ABOUT CIONET MAGAZINE CIOnet Magazine is a CIOnet initiative sent directly to CIOnet members. Produced by: Roularta Custom Media Publishing Director: Hendrik Deckers (hendrik@cionet.com) Editorial coordinator: Kurt Focquaert (kurt.focquaert@roularta.be) Printed by: Roularta Printing Advertising: Erwin Van den Brande (erwin@cionet.com) CIOnet continues its fast growth. We are proud to announce the launch of CIOnet Norway and welcome all members from the Land of the Midnight Sun and the Fjords. We now count more than 2750 members (in seven countries) and 70 business partners throughout Europe. I would like to congratulate again the winners of the European CIO of the Year Awards, presented by Neelie Kroes during CIO CITY 2011, our highly rated international CIO event. Check out the three learnings of Daniel Lebeau, Marcello Cordioli and Pascale Avargues. Join the Conversation is a new online initiative where CIOs and IT executives discuss the latest topics in the area of Social Media, Cloud Computing and The Value of IT. Join the online debate! An unusual combination of exceptional events can cause a perfect storm, and that is what we re witnessing this year in the IT world, where Social Media, Mobile Computing and the Cloud Paradigm challenge CIOs and IT leaders to ride and profit from those technology waves. In this tenth issue of CIOnet Magazine, we are presenting you a series of business cases and views on Social, Mobile and Cloud. I hope you enjoy the read and look forward to your feedback. Cheers, HENDRIK DECKERS MD CIOnet hendrik@cionet.com PREMIUM BUSINESS PARTNERS BUSINESS PARTNERS 2

3 Editorial Can we fi nd innovation? The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. This quote by Marcel Proust is highly relevant to western society. Big changes are looming in the wake of the fi nancial crisis. New economic powers are rising, in both Asia and South America. Old ways of doing things no longer work. We need new eyes and new perspectives. In my country Norway the question is even more relevant. Since we found oil in the North Sea in 1969, we have become a thriving country. Today, oil represents as much as 26% of GDP and more than 50% of all exported goods. Oil is a limited resource, however. All known oil and gas wells are expected to be empty by around the year Norway is reputed to have used its resources wisely, but even so, there are traces of Dutch Disease in the country: the disease that attacks thriving economies and makes people excuse the directness rather lazy. A post-oil age future Our Advisory Board is concerned about the long-term future of the Norwegian economy, and one important focus area is how IT can be used to spur innovation and business development. The INSEAD report published in March 2011 shows that more than 30% of CIOs share this concern. We will use CIOnet s discussion forums to raise awareness about these issues among our members. We feel that even if the CIO role has acquired more power and is being heard by top management more often, there is still a way to go to make sure IT is an integrated part of their innovation strategies. As part of this initiative, we will create a resource group of CIOs accessible by the media for expert advice and comments. We feel that there is an uninhabited space for the voice of the CIO in public opinion. We should no longer let NGOs, vendors and special interest groups act as spokespeople for the industry alone. We are confident that CIOnet s platform for knowledge sharing will be an asset for our Norwegian members. This is also an opportunity for Norwegian CIOs to reach out and take part in the international conversations that are constantly playing out in this arena. JENS PETTER MATHISEN General Manager CIOnet Norway 3

4 Event report CIO CITY 2011 How to be a successful leader < PICTURE Robert D. Austin, Copenhagen Business School: The CIO who communicates a coherent strategy across the business lines will have a greater chance of success. > PICTURE David Taylor, the Naked Leader: Everything that you need, to achieve anything that you want, you already have within you, right now. At CIO CITY 2011, more than 100 CIOs and IT Directors came together for the first CIOnet international conference for IT leaders. Held at the famous Hotel Metropole in the heart of Brussels, the conference focused attention on the critical question of leadership. Moreover, leadership was the compelling theme for the invited guest speakers. As the role of the CIO takes on more importance, the importance of the correct leadership style strikes a chord that resonates across all aspects of the métier. Robert D. Austin, Copenhagen Business School, delivered an outstanding workshop on Leadership in Your (IT) Organisation. Austin introduced a management approach that is appropriate if CIOs want to command the respect of their CEOs and company boards while delivering results from IT teams. Drawing from real-life experience, a case study as it is known in business schools, Austin presented the fictional character of rising star Jim Barton who takes over as CIO of a dysfunctional company. In his presentation, Austin enabled the 100 conference participants to distill the knowledge for themselves as to why Barton succeeded in his role when his predecessor had failed so miserably. In this case study, Jim Barton s style turns out to be the deciding factor. Barton must connect with senior management while maintaining the trust of his IT team, even though the situation in the company is dangerously uncertain. Instead of locking himself down in his bunker, Barton knows the value of collaboration so that the business side managers are invested in the decisions he must make. New leadership approach We live in an age of risk, Austin said, referring to rapid changes in business process design that call for a new leadership approach. In this uncertain era where IT is undergoing permanent transformation, the CIO who communicates a coherent strategy across the business lines will have a greater chance of success. Said Austin: If we underestimate or overestimate any of the risks involved in an uncertain situation, the penalties go in both directions. Where a fi ne-balancing act is required against a background of stressful decision-making, Austin advices CIOs to establish trust with the senior leadership team while ensuring that doors are kept open to IT specialists who can be called upon for their technical knowledge. CIOs cannot be expected to know all the intricacies of today s technological advances, but their humbleness will enable the right decisions to percolate through the business chain. Speaking of building character, David Taylor as the Naked Leader delivered an inspirational workshop to the assembled CIOs on the power of leadership: Everything that you need, to achieve anything that you want, you already have within you, right now. Taylor urged his listeners to set a standard higher than anyone could reasonably 4

5 CIO CITY // 1. CIOnet founder Hendrik Deckers welcomes more than 100 European IT leaders on the fi rst CIO City event in Brussels. / 2, 6, 7, 8. Hotel Metropole was the venue for the CIO CITY 2011 event. / 3. Remco Brouwer - P&G, Mona Biegstraaten - CIOnet Spain and Fabrizio Grisoni - SACMI IMOLA Group. / 4. Enzo Bertolini, Ferrero and Alfredo Gatti, CIOnet Italy. / 5. The three award-winning CIOs with Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Digital Agenda.//

6 Event report < PICTURE Soumitra Dutta, the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Business and Technology and the academic director of stated: The better you know yourself, the better the leader you can be. PICTURE > Nils Fonstad, Associate Director of There are three different kinds of CIOs. expect of them. The competency-based framework is dead, Taylor said. Replace competencies with strengths. In Taylor s leadership approach, if you want to achieve success as a leader you should: be the very best you already are; take ownership of everything you say or do; give change a context and change will happen; act as if that change has already been made; keep going or else you ll give up. Social media leadership While Taylor spoke about leadership in the individual, Soumitra Dutta, the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Business and Technology and the academic director of elab@insead, gave a brief yet interesting talk on social media leadership. Dutta began his talk by stating a thesis: The better you know yourself, the better the leader you can be. But to be a better leader, Dutta argued, requires a new approach. We are seeing a crisis in leadership because the level of trust is at historic low levels. In the past, leaders were all strong, all knowing individuals with all the answers. It was the leader and only the leader who gave the vision. Said Dutta: The top-down model of traditional media communications, where the C-level executive dictates the message for the communications manager to synthesise and disseminate, is no longer a given. This model has now irreversibly changed because of the advent of social media tools, which more and more employees, clients and partners are using. Tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube have opened the corporate boundaries beyond the control of one leader. We need to know how to loosen control but without losing control, Dutta said. We need to bring together the new with the traditional channels. The company who develops a social media strategy will have a better vision for the future. Returning to his original thesis, Dutta encouraged leaders to know themselves if they want to engage in an authentic and open dialogue with their employees, customers and stakeholders. Three kinds of CIOs Afterwards, the Associate Director of elab@in- SEAD Nils Fonstad introduced INSEAD as the knowledge partner for CIOnet whose members responded to a survey whose results were published in a joint study called IT Enabled Leadership. Said Fonstad: Contrary to traditional perceptions of what CIOs do, our survey of 130 CIOs shows that CIOs spend a signifi cant percentage of their time outside of managing IT services and working with external customers and partners. Fonstad then went on to describe the three different kinds of CIOs which emerged from the study: Technology-driven CIOs are primarily focused on managing the IT organisation to ensure delivery of IT infrastructure, applications and related services. Business process-driven CIOs spend a greater than average percentage of time managing enterprise business processes, such as shared services, global supply chain, operations and customer experience. Client-driven CIOs spend a greater than average percentage of time meeting with external customers and partners as part of the sales, service delivery or innovation process. In introducing the 15 finalists for the European CIO of the Year 2011 Awards, Fonstad said: The profi les of these CIOs offer insights into how organisations are creating strategic value from IT and highlight the importance of fostering IT-enabled leaders for creating and sustaining value. 6

7 Event report The role of IT in 2020 Daniel Erasmus, who is the founding partner of the DTN (Digital Thinking Network), gave a workshop on Scenario Thinking A powerful methodology for enabling organisations to anticipate change and incorporate external uncertainty into the internal decision-making process. If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him, Erasmus said to an incredulous audience before explaining what he meant. Scenario thinkers have a deep distrust of futurists. We make the different tomorrows come alive in the actions, innovations and imaginations of you the leaders today. We have a deep distrust of futurists. IT will become more efficient because organisational strategy is inseparable from IT. PICTURE Daniel Erasmus, founding partner of the DTN (Digital Thinking Network): We have a deep distrust of futurists. PICTURE Improvisational comedian John Cremer showed the CIOs that they can learn how important it is to have confi dence in their own abilities. Having said that, Erasmus presented his view of the role of IT in Erasmus argued that IT would become more effi cient because organisational strategy is inseparable from IT and only through linking managerial and technological perspective can we build strategies that have business value and technological relevance. To engage the audience, Erasmus asked the CIOs to discuss among themselves how the change of control and power is shifting to the user, whereby the leader is becoming more of a facilitator. In this shift towards a bottom-up approach, CIOs can start to discuss the future with greater sophistication as they will be able to plan for an entire spectrum of possible futures. The future is plural and not offi cial, Erasmus said. In a highly motivating session, John Cremer brought out the best in all the aspiring leaders at CIO CITY 2011 by asking four volunteers to perform on stage and improvise situations not of their making. By asking attendees to think on their feet, CIOs can learn how important it is to have confi - dence in their own abilities. These highly interactive presentations are designed to bypass the critical mind and access the unique talents of the individual, Cremer adds. THE EUROPEAN CIO 2011 AWARDS At the beginning of the afternoon session on Friday, Vice President of the European Commission and European Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes introduced the European CIO 2011 Awards. But before doing so, she addressed the entire CIO community: Your strategic role is clearly growing. Your purchasing power matters, Commissioner Kroes said, adding that more than a quarter of current IT spending would eventually be moved into the cloud. Then introducing the three award winners*, Commissioner Kroes noted that six of the 15 fi nalists were women. I am pleased, she said. All the nominees are fascinating. You are not only the future, you are today. It s about outstanding achievement across Europe. After presenting the awards, Commissioner Kroes invited the three fi nalists along with three other fi nalists to meet her for coffee at her offi ce in the near future. I need your help to explain to the outside world, she said, referring to the growing importance of IT for Europe s future. * The three award-winning CIOs are presented on p

8 CIO of the Year Technology-driven Category Developing the right skills for the right processes As Vice President Information & Management Systems of GSK Biologicals, the vaccine division of GlaxoSmithKline, Daniel Lebeau is happy if members of his bioit team are recruited to different parts of his division. Headquartered in Belgium, GSK Biologicals employs more than 1,500 scientists and has approximately 30 marketed vaccines supplying around 25% of the world s vaccines in 182 countries. Gartner, the total amount that GSK Biologicals spent on IT was 29% lower than the peer group average and 14% lower than the 25th percentile of the best performing peer companies. The total cost of the SAP environment was 35% lower than the peer average and even 27% lower than the 25th percentile of peers. PICTURE Daniel Lebeau, Vice President Information & Management Systems of GSK Biologicals: The Apple tablet and the mobile devices are the weapons of the future. T his enables me to develop an infl uential network of bioit advocates throughout the rest of GSK Biologicals, Lebeau said. With my network of alumni, I can even go faster because speed comes from trust. The best practices Winner in the technology-driven category, Lebeau described the IT environment at GSK Biologicals as a business process consultancy company. Before a process meeting, I expect my bioit members to read up on the relevant business processes and then come and position the best practices of the industry. For that, I need someone who is disciplined, has a conceptual mind, engagement skills, and of course, customer focus was a good year for Lebeau and his bioit team who improved their service performance ranking especially when compared to other pharmaceuticals. According to an assessment by A multi-stage model For Lebeau, the critical success factor for managing IT services effi ciently is implementing a clear skills development strategy. To this end, Lebeau has developed a multi-stage model: Strategise from business plan to IT vision. Engage from IT vision to project charter. Re-engineer and Deliver from Project charter to Go-Live. Service from Go-Live to Benefi ts. Said Lebeau: It s all about developing the right skills for the right processes. THREE LEARNINGS OF DANIEL LEBEAU 1. Always thank your team. In this case, Lebeau acknowledges all 100 members of the bioit team at GSK Biologicals. 2. After 20 years, the revolution in IT is fi nally converging in the 2010 decade. Lebeau cites the Apple tablet and the mobile devices as the weapons of the future. 3. Build your team like you would a consulting business to get results and connect to the business. 8

9 CIO of the Year Business Process-driven Category Staying close to the business Marcello Cordioli, Group CIO of Permasteelisa, said the biggest operational challenge facing his IT team is managing the geographical complexity of the company, a worldwide contractor in the engineering, project management, manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes and interior systems. Winner in the business process-driven category, Cordioli leads a team of 100 IT professionals that provides services to 50 offices on four continents. With so much complexity across so many global locations, IT cannot afford to add an extra layer of complexity. I am very rarely in my office, Cordioli said. I need to see my colleagues from the rest of the business lines at least once a week whether it is for a coffee or just a chat. If they have an issue that requires more time, then we set that up. This is how I learn about the things that are not said during the steering committee meetings. New system The two largest service providers that Cordioli works with are SAP and Autodesk. In 2010, for example, his IT team co-developed with Autodesk a system to accelerate Permasteelisa s ability to react to customers from initial inquiry to fi nal installation. It uses both Autodesk architectural and manufacturing 3D design software and services throughout the global Permasteelisa curtain wall creation process. The project involved bringing together different experts throughout the fi rm who had not worked together before. In 2008, Cordioli agreed to become the biggest pilot site for Google Apps. After consulting with his non-it colleagues and team members, he decided Permasteelisa needed a new system which could be implemented all over the world. The existing system consisted of hundreds of different programmes. What he wanted was a simple and inexpensive system that was secure and reliable enough that if it went down, it would be back up within an hour. By mid-2010, it was a big success as all Permasteelisa employees were using Google Apps, including other collaborative tools and the system. THREE LEARNINGS OF MARCELLO CORDIOLI 1. Keep it Simple and Stay Close to the Business. By staying focused, we are moving from a group of independent companies to a single global company. 2. Start with the Power of One and make processes fi t the same standards. Having standard processes enabled the fi rm to draw on our global resources and rapidly respond to opportunities. 3. Spend More Time with the Business Partners. We can coordinate and support the design and production processes that could involve many different country offi ces. PICTURE Marcello Cordioli, Group CIO of Permasteelisa: Our biggest challenge is managing the geographical complexity of the company. 9

10 CIO of the Year Client-driven Category New IT platform for city services Bordeaux Digital City The city of Bordeaux is the 6th largest French city with 800,000 inhabitants. With the legacy of its glorious past and the worldwide prestige of its wines, the city launched an ambitious IT development plan four years ago. PICTURE Pascale Avargues, CIO of Bordeaux: IT is a key asset for developing social links as well as integrating people. THREE LEARNINGS OF PASCALE AVARGUES 1. Building a new collaborative platform for your citizens requires transversal management across the entire range of urban platforms. Quality circles need to be established. 2. Marketing plays a bigger role as the online demand for services grows exponentially. Innovation also has to be managed. 3. Security is far more important as the data becomes more open and accessible to citizens. 80% of requests for the vital records (of 70,000 applications annually) were done online in Describing the Bordeaux Digital City project that she managed as Bordeaux s CIO, Pascale Avargues said: It was not just about internal effi ciency. This project aimed at playing a major social role in both public and non-public organisations. For a city as large as Bordeaux, IT is a key asset for developing social links as well as integrating people. IT also contributes to sustainable development and enables new urban behaviours. IT also raises the city s attractiveness to tourists and companies. Bordeaux Digital City is an ambitious project due to its design and deployment of a full set of added-value digital services provided to residents and tourists and to enhance business and city services. It encompasses fi ve key elements: online government services, e-education, e-participation (i.e. ensuring that information and services can be accessed via multiple devices), internet for all and sustainable computing and green IT. This new IT platform is one of the biggest achievements of Avargues, and contributed to her CIO of the year Award in the client-driven category. Bordeaux.fr: the E-administration Portal This portal is intended to provide residents with information and services. We therefore worked with 40 representative working groups combining civil servants, residents and elected representatives. This step established 80 categories of users (academics, family members, seniors, companies, etc.) and defi ned 200 main tasks, said Pascale. However, Bordeaux.fr is just one component of the overall e-administration solution. The city now provides a unifi ed, multichannel services platform that can be accessed by phone, , internet or on site. 10

11 CIO of the Year Client-driven Category Results have been striking. By the end of 2010, over 3.2 million visitors had used the portal either to obtain information or to access online services. This represents a 20% increase over the previous year. The following online services have had great success with Bordeaux residents: Monthly payment of school meals and early childhood care for 71% of families; 80% of requests for medical records (out of 70,000 applications per year); 95% of tenders are downloaded from the online procurement platform and many submit their proposals online as well. Bordeaux mobile city More than one billion smartphones have an internet connection, networks are more and more pervasive and street furniture turns out to be one of many communicating devices. This is a major opportunity for a city to ease the life of its inhabitants and visitors and to open up its services to mobility. To draw on this growing pervasiveness, Pascale and her team implemented three main solutions: Carte de Bordeaux, M-Services and Communicating City panels. Carte de Bordeaux is a payment card valid for most city services, such as school meals, childhood care services, pools and ice rink, libraries, parking, public transport, etc. 30,000 inhabitants already use it and the number is growing rapidly. As regards mobile services, Pascale s team developed applications for smartphones, featuring the Carte de Bordeaux for contact-free devices. In the meantime, all city council members were issued with ipads. Bordeaux visitors and inhabitants now view new city panels with 2D and RFID tags with multimedia information. E-education The city also takes care of its future residents and considers IT as crucial knowledge to be acquired by youngsters. Pascale Avargues team is collaborating closely with both the teachers and the Ministry of Education towards full integration of IT in school programmes. In addition, 400 interactive white boards are being installed in the city s various schools. E-participation IT should help reinforce a social link to avoid exclusions based on non-awareness or financial status. The IT team launched an Espaces Numériques Bordelais label to increase visibility of Bordeaux s initiatives and services. In this non-exclusion context, the city also provides free training sessions, recycled computers and free internet access. Finally, Bordeaux has deployed high bandwidth connectivity throughout the city for use by everyone. TWO AWARDS IN ONE WEEK In 1997, Pascale Avargues became head of the Directorate of Organisation and Information (DOI). Fundamental to fulfi lling her responsibilities has been ensuring that Bordeaux s residents and local government employees have access to secure, effective and effi cient IT services. By 2010, Avargues was working with a team of 80 employees, including 20 subcontractors, operating and maintaining about 180 applications and managing over 160 projects. During her tenure as CIO, the DOI moved from being a cost centre to a services centre, developing service level agreements and continuously improving government processes and services. At the CIO CITY event in Brussels, Pascale Avargues was awarded European CIO of the Year Client-driven category by Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission. A week later, Pascale was awarded the Public Manager of the Year distinction by François Baroin, France s Minister for Budget and Administration modernisation. 11

12 CIO view The human side A successful social media strategy will use technology to meet the demands of users, says Trinity College Dublin s John Lawlor. PICTURE John Lawlor, head of management information systems at Trinity College Dublin: Social media is about business, not technology. As head of management information systems at Trinity College Dublin, John Lawlor has a broad remit from operation supervision to quality assurance. It is, however, his take on social media that is perhaps the most interesting area of his work. Don t let the technology drive your decisions; understand the demand and make decisions based on actual requirements, says Lawlor, who has helped establish the College s social media strategy. Lawlor is by no means the only CIO to be dealing with the increasing challenge of collaboration. He is, however, one of social media s most advocate proponents, as evidenced by his enlightening presentation at the 2010 CIO Connect Annual Conference. Unlike other CIOs who might fear the impact of all-knowing users, Lawlor says the College benefi ts from having an informed base of 25,000 students and staff: They expect us to communicate with them in ways with which they re familiar, he says and that includes a broad range of collaborative and social media. That move towards collaboration must be seen within the broader context of consumerisation and the increased use of consumer technology in a business context. The change has been rapid just fi ve years ago, most workers would go to the offi ce and expect to have access to impressive technology. Now, the opposite is true. Workers expect to hook into the enterprise through their own internet-enabled devices that draw on a wide collection of collaborative tools. Such a rapid transformation creates considerable challenges for the IT leader. Best practice guidelines Lawlor says there are also almost too many platforms and CIOs need to be as clear as they can about their social media objectives. At Trinity, his aim is to provide an appropriate platform, supporting a small number of key technologies. Microsoft SharePoint is the base for collaboration, wikis are used to discuss ideas and podcasts are used for training and lectures. Blogs, meanwhile, are used to share ideas and opinion, and Twitter is used to push out help desk alerts. Of course, social media use is not just confi ned to those areas. Lawlor recognises the College is home to many different Twitter and Facebook accounts, some individual and some organisational. Branding across accounts is not consistent and Lawlor recognises the approach might look slightly haphazard. This lack of influence, however, has its upside: We don t brand personal material because we don t endorse what is written on different personal accounts, he says. A similar approach is taken with regards to Facebook and YouTube; the College is investing in the supporting IT infrastructure but often takes a hands-off approach to branding and content. Lawlor advises other CIOs to establish policies and best practice guidelines. 12

13 CIO view It is a sentiment that will need to be considered fully during the next year or so as consumerisation continues to extend its grip over the enterprise. Help for the CIO comes in the form of autumn s 2011 CIO Connect Annual Conference, an event that will focus on the growing effect of consumerisation. Entitled Power to the People?, the 2011 conference will show how the conjunction of new technologies, new business models and new social situations mean the business is set within yet another transformational stage of IT. The event will address such concerns through a fascinating agenda. Key speakers include London Olympics CIO Gerry Pennell, Innocent Drinks co-founder Richard Reed and Matt Ridley, author and ex-chairman of Northern Rock. The event will demonstrate that CIOs must consider how the choices employees make at home will affect the way technology is used in the workplace. You have to consider what social media means in terms of intellectual property and ownership, agrees Lawlor, referring to the need for IT leaders to create social media guidelines. The fast-evolving nature of social media means your strategy doesn t have to be perfect to be effective. Social media evolution Over the last year or so, Lawlor and his colleagues have established a digital communications strategy: Previously, we d been a bit too focused on technology, rather than communication. Social media is about business, not technology. That recognition will continue to inform the College s evolving approach to social media: The strategy will change to focus more on end users but we ve made a good start, says Lawlor. Such evolution will rely on focus groups, learning and dissemination. Your social media strategy should be part of your broader media and communications strategy; it should drive innovation in your business. Culture can be a barrier and it s important to try and empower users to make their own decisions, he says. Hoarding can be a problem when it comes to collaboration, with some individuals unwilling to share information. And the IT mindset too often prevails, with an internal concentration on firewalls and security. Don t pre-design social media and don t get in the way of your users. Put value for the individual above value for the organisation. Other technologies continue to be of interest, including virtual learning environments, content management and itunesu, Apple s method for sharing content from academic organisations. Like other academic institutions, the College is interested in open approaches to technology. The College, for example, has already introduced Google Docs for students. Lawlor says the big benefi t is that Google is a well-understood platform and there is little demand for support services from students: It s saved us time and effort. And when it comes to the key factor for social media success, Lawlor s advice to other CIOs is simple: Put value for the individual above value for the organisation. That way, your people will be more likely to use social media and your organisation will benefi t. This year s CIO Connect Annual Conference will take place on 4 and 5 October at the Grange St Paul s Hotel in central London. If you are interested in attending this year s event, please contact us at the following address and refer to this article: events@cio-connect.com. 13

14 Event report Social Media: the new scenario for IT Social Media, Web Analytics and Mobility Enterprise are adding pressure on organisations to invest in infrastructures and services in cloud computing. Chief Information Officers should prepare themselves for the day when consumers, employees and suppliers will communicate and interact through mobile devices running on web applications. Not only will this extend the reach of an enterprise, but it will also offer a premium on the analytics process and the possibility of improving companies competitiveness. They will be able to exploit all new information and interaction that a web-centric environment provides, as never before. CIOs will be responsible for this process. They will have to decide whether costs can be cut and productivity increased by introducing rich horizontal applications. Examples include customer relationship management systems across industries and vertical applications within industries, or electronic medical records on mobile phones in Healthcare or the claims process on smartphones in Insurance. Cloud computing defi nitely pays a central role in this scenario. Last April, Nextvalue, CIOnet s Italian research company partner, presented the results of its 2011 Cloud Computing Report, a survey conducted in cooperation with CIOnet on the adoption of cloud services in Europe s top organisations. The 2011 Cloud Computing Report is available in Italian on CIOnet.com. Organisations as laboratories The presentation took place in Milan with an audience of over 400. During his welcome, Hendrik Deckers, managing director and founder of CIOnet, provided an update on CIOnet and the future international targets. He introduced Marcello Cordioli, as European CIO of the Year. Cordioli, the Italian CIO of Permasteelisa Group, provided some interesting insights into the benefi ts of cloud computing achieved in his company. Across the board, the stakes on new web centrality are high. Far-reaching changes in the business environment require radical shifts in strategy. CEOs and their immediate senior teams need to grapple with these issues. Otherwise, it will be too difficult to generate the interdisciplinary, enterprise-wide insights needed to exploit these trends fully. Once opportunities start emerging, senior executives also need to turn their organisations into laboratories capable of rapidly testing and learning on a small scale, then quickly building on the successes. Against this background, CIOs and IT teams may return to their role of before the crisis, i.e. delivering innovation. That was the meaning of decisions taken by CIOnet s Italian Advisory Board concerning the CIObootcamps Programme, which is to be dedicated to multisided IT services and web centrality, including Social Media Policies and Security. The Advisory Board meeting took place on 7 April, in the afternoon. It was the opportunity to introduce five new board members (Fulvio Grignani, Dario Castello, Donatella Paschina, Ferdinando Peretto, Marco Tagliavini) to power the strong team headed by Enzo Bertolini, CIO of Ferrero Group. Social Marketing The A.B. meeting was followed by the CIObootcamp on the Social Media theme, three full hours including dinner entirely dedicated to business cases and networking at 10WATT, a location of design and fashion in Milan. Is it a matter for the CIO to manage the combined effects of emerging web technologies, increased computing power, and fast, pervasive digital communications and collaboration which are spawn- 14

15 Event report ing new ways to manage customers, talent and assets, as well as new thinking about structure organisation? The answer is Yes, according to Alfredo Vinella, former CIO of the Espresso Media Group, who gave an effective speech on Social Media from the perspective of CIOs. It s true, but Social Marketing is taking IT into unexplored territories, responded Enzo Bertolini, while presenting the amazing case of Nutella on Facebook. Last March Nutella collected more than 8.4 million fans on Facebook versus 3.9 million one year ago. Other products, like Rocher, which reached 8.8 million of I like it, as well as Kinder, over 8 million. These new tools are drawing a new map of traditional consumer segments. At Ferrero, the marketing department owns the programme and advertising, but the IT department is responsible for feasibility and execution. For Ferrero and other companies attending the CIObootcamp, the next step will be to find the technology for capturing and analysing widely available information. As someone remarked during the workshop, some companies are taking data use to new levels, using IT to support rigorous and constant business tests to guide decisions, test new products, business models, and the new customer experience. In some cases, the new approaches help companies to make decisions in real time. This trend has the potential to drive a radical transformation in research, innovation and marketing. Test and learn approach An example of this is BTicino. Maurizio Brianza showed how co-creation works in the Italian branch of Legrand Group: In the past few years, the ability to organise the community of web participants to develop, market and support products and services has moved from the margins of our business practice to the mainstream. The MyOpen community of BTicino includes employees, installers and partners but it is open even to competitors that may share suggestions and developments and have past information and solutions. The platform, totally developed by IT in-house, is to be upgraded to add all Group best practice. Using tests as an essential component of management decision-making requires new capabilities, as well as organisational and cultural changes. During the CIObootcamp, many CIOs acknowledged that their companies are still far from accessing all the available data. Some companies have not even mastered the technologies needed to capture and analyse the valuable information they can access. More commonly, they do not have the right talent and processes to design experiments. Ultimately, a conclusion was agreed: to convince managers to accept the value of experimentation, leaders must be the fi rst to have a test and learn approach and then serve as role models for their teams. CIOnet is crucial for sharing business cases and real experiences. < PICTURE Alfredo Vinella, former CIO of the Espresso Media Group: The CIO is facing new challenges today: managing the emerging web technologies, increased computing power and digital media. PICTURE Enzo Bertolini, CIO of Ferrero Group: Social Marketing is taking IT into unexplored territories. PICTURE > Maurizio Brianza, CIO at BTicino: In the past few years, the ability to organise the community of web participants to develop, market and support products and services has moved from the margins of our business practice to the mainstream. 15

16 Event report Real cooperation gives a lot of benefi ts Social media are part of a shifting culture. Large companies are finding things increasingly harder. More and more companies will be organised as projects. The latest Dutch CIOnet meeting was about the use of social media in a changing world. PICTURE Frans van der Reep, lecturer of ebusiness INHolland and strategist with KPN Getronics: Problems arise where there are managers, rather than that managers solve problems. Asking Frans van der Reep to be speaker was naturally asking for trouble. Van der Reep, lecturer of ebusiness INHolland and strategist with KPN Getronics, likes to take the broader view and context. Thus, it is not so much about effective use of social media, the theme of the CIOnet meeting, but rather about opportunities and threats in a changing world. Social media are just a small part of that. This prompted an animated debate, which, chaired by Frits Bussemaker, continued for some time after the keynote address. To Van der Reep, Twitter is becoming a symbol of a hectic world. The public s memory is practically zero. The time that you have to be able to predict anything meaningful is becoming increasingly briefer, he believes. Stop making business plans. It s far more about direction, strategy. A company is becoming a temporary project, like a film production, a temporary uniting of skills. Social media and the internet in general are turning businesses inside out and backwards. Companies hardly have any secrets now. Van der Reep says: Misrepresent yourself and you will be punished in a fl ash. The chain is reversing, B2C is becoming C2B. That encroaches on the actual business models. Musicians now give away their music, in order to fi ll the venues. According to Van der Reep, it means that an entrepreneur has to question increasingly closely how his business fi gures look to customers: just nine out of ten for you? In short, that which is considered well within the company appears to be at least as good outside of it. This has to be the core competence of enterprises. You need to let go of the other activities. Innovation can very well consist of no longer doing something, as of doing new things. A few sentences later, he predicted the end for big companies. There is no evidence whatsoever that being bigger leads to greater earning power. 16

17 Event report Xaviera Ringeling The average company size is plummeting. It is no longer about bosses, rather about people who know how things work, about professionalism. That has an extraordinarily purgative effect. He expects the company to change as a concept. A company is becoming a temporary project, like a fi lm production, a temporary uniting of skills. Each individual colleague works within it as a small business. Van der Reep is not too fond of managers. In his view, they are largely redundant in modern collaborations. It is more so that problems arise where there are managers, than that managers solve problems. Who is my pal? Traditional management focuses pre-eminently on control excellence, then on operational excellence. According to Van der Reep, this is an effective approach for a dwindling proportion of businesses, because the world is becoming increasingly dynamic. A top-down approach fi ts in with this less and less. Real innovation always comes from the bottom up. Over the next few years, communication excellence will increasingly determine companies success. The key question here is: Who is my pal? It is no longer a matter of having to but of meeting. To Van der Reep the bottom line is that the internet forces honesty. Otherwise, you will be punished via public pillories on consumer sites or via Twitter, the modern village pub. Honesty as a survival strategy, it will take some getting used to for some executives. A PLACE WHERE BUSINESS AND PLEASURE MEET Although dead scared of being branded the Twitter bird, at CIOnet Netherlands latest meeting Xaviera Ringeling, specialist in social media, spoke again about her Twitter research. Although hardly representative, that research does provide some interesting impressions about Twitter s usage. Most Twitter users start out of curiosity: how does it work, could there be something in it for my business? If the answer is yes, the tough questions follow. How can you deploy Twitter successfully, how do you become a much followed twitterer? Ringeling thinks there are no general answers to this. What often scores well are amusing messages, current news and messages with links. These are the most retweeted. Otherwise, there are no hard and fast rules: tweeting too much is not good, too little as well, too many links is not good, too few too. There are professional tweeters, who mostly tweet to enhance their brand and to expand and maintain their network. That is not without its hazards. A wrong tweet can cost you your job. Many stick to the rule of not talking about friends or colleagues in tweets. Given the informal nature of the medium, a mix of personal and business communications can rapidly arise. That does not always turn out well. Some respondents, who really cannot do without twittering, therefore have both a business and a personal account. According to most CIOs attending, businesses must impose the same code of conduct for social media as for . They see a role for CIOs to encourage their implementation. One attendee said: I encourage social media to allow employees to exchange knowledge and experiences voluntarily. A few more findings from the research: 90% have a public account. 80% twitter from a mobile phone, the most popular app is Tweetdeck. 57% use Twitter lists to follow people and topics more easily. 76.6% of respondents have actually met other tweeps in person. There is much tweeting from bed (45%) and the toilet (39%). Most important rule: do not tweet about private matters (24%). Main business reason to tweet: enhancing the brand (60%). 17

18 Event report More content but less control At all levels, social networks have become as much a matter for individuals as for companies. They modify the behaviour of their members. They generate more spontaneous communication with more content but less control. < PICTURE Jean-François Vermont, founder of PFLS. PICTURE Frédéric Charles, Strategy and Governance Director at Lyonnaise des Eaux. PICTURE > Armelle Douay, Collaborative Platforms Manager at GDF SUEZ. The true foundation of all collaborative exchanges within the company, through their informal working groups, social networks have now become the cornerstone for increased agility, creativity and improved collaboration. They also question traditional working and communications structures. For Jean-François Vermont, founder of consultancy company PFLS, there are mistakes that a company cannot afford: Lack of control over employees, image, communication and the fear that goes with it, are nothing compared to the negative impact of those fast-aging companies that disregard social networks. The Lyonnaise des Eaux has implemented a social network based on a collaborative structure. Once IT had boosted all cross functions within Lyonnaise, any increase in productivity could only be achieved by interaction with employees, customers and partners, said Strategy and Governance Director Frédéric Charles. But deployment can only be successful if certain golden rules are observed: open and easy communication, no neutral statement, no hysterical behaviour, etc. Dedicated tools GDF Suez also deployed a global collaborative project, based on a double interactive process : on the one hand, collaborative, structured content, structured space to share documents, and on the other hand, a social network, i.e. a nonstructured free fi le space, supporting numerous keywords to share opinions and knowledge, stated Collaborative Platforms Manager Armelle Douay. Following on from successful project deployment, new trends are now setting the way: , even though universal is to be replaced by dedicated tools, offering more effi ciency and better integration: ERP-integrated instant messaging, collective knowledge capitalisation, document management, social network-based platforms of collective intelligence, empty s linked to recorded information. ERPs are to find their collaborative dimension beyond the process. With these tools, companies will use both professional and non-professional social networks to talk and interact with their customers. 18

19 Special feature 10 key lessons for Community Building For the last 20 years I have brought together groups of people with a common goal to deliver value. In all cases, there was no hierarchical relationship among the parties involved but, rather a more symbiotic relationship where all parties benefit from the cooperation. Today you would call this a community. Below are my 10 lessons learned for successfully setting up and managing a community. 1. Just do it! Do not get caught up in the beginning on setting up formal organisations or a supporting IT infrastructure. Better is to allow the formal structure to emerge as the needs of the community evolve. So, in the beginning, just start, pick some dates to get together and keep things small and simple, and only develop what you need. PICTURE Frits Bussemaker, who recently joined CIOnet Netherlands, is the author of this article. Frits is a regular international speaker. 2. Create a unique identity and mission statement. Having a name and logo will help make the community visible, not only for its members but, for the outside world. Over time this identity will get value and can grow to represent authority. 3. Focus on what you have in common rather than on the differences. You are part of the same team. So, outside the community you might be working for different departments or organisations, but within the community that becomes irrelevant. 4. Being a member of the same community does not imply everybody has the same role. Preferably, members should be complementary to allow good teamwork to take place. 5. Keep looking outside. Don t isolate the community. Instead, cooperate with other communities. This allows you to reach a larger audience and jointly deliver even more value. 6. Plan ahead for growth but take your time for the roll-out. By pacing yourself you can demonstrate continuous small wins and assess what the real needs are. 7. Clearly state your governance principles. How are you going to manage the community? Take notice of the important unwritten rules that will present themselves over time. 8. Time is the currency of a community, not money. Setting up a community or becoming a member only has value if you actually spend time in the community even when the community is free. 9. Show tenacity. In the beginning the people you would like to join most of all will not become members of your community right away. The big fi sh will fi rst wait and see if you will survive. So, be patient, keep your focus, and eventually even the big fi sh will also come on board. 10. Continually assess the value or reason that your community exists. Change happens! So, adapt accordingly, but if your community becomes obsolete, do yourself and everybody around you a big favour and stop. 19

20 Column Technological Innovation as a key to survival Academic Director Silvia Leal explains why the leading role of technological innovation could, or maybe should affect the CIO s role in an organisation. It is not a new debating topic arising from our current diffi cult economic situation. Nor is it a sales pitch created by those on the supplier side of the technology sector. Of course, it is also not some new speech from CIOs designed to win more budget for their projects. As socio-economic historical evidence shows, technological innovation is a determining factor in a firm s development, a key to survival, and of course, a signifi cant driver in the growth process and subsequently maintaining competitive advantage. Although I would like to, I cannot claim exclusive, original ownership of this widely accepted proposition. Some may think that I was inspired by Tom Peters (1985), whom Fortune magazine called the Ur-guru (guru of gurus) after he published such books as Passion for Excellence, where he said that the golden rules for business success can be reduced to two: marketing and innovation. But no, since as many have been able to advance, this has its roots in the refl ections given us a few decades ago by Schumpeter (1939), an Austrian economist pioneer in highlighting the importance of technological phenomena on economic growth. In turn, he found inspiration and coincided largely with previous contributions of Adam Smith (1776) and David Ricardo (1817). Information and Communication This way, we situate the rationale and source of inspiration for the present document in the fact that, beyond the wording and formulation of the problem and solutions, the essence has remained unaltered since the debate originated. That is to say that even though many responses over time have been provided to address the recurring discussion about the elements that determine an organisation s success, technological innovation has always been at the heart of the answers. Of course, we fi nd, nonetheless, important nuances about the nature of the sources of innovation. However, in our current scenario, there is clear consensus regarding the main innovation engine: Information and Communication Technologies. New technologies are becoming a key issue for companies. That is why the new technologies have undoubtedly become the leading and more powerful agents of creativity and innovation in organisations, thus becoming a key issue for companies. In other words, technological innovation is a determining factor in a fi rm s development, a key to survival, and of course, a signifi cant driver in the growth process and subsequently maintaining competitive edge. New dynamism Research and numerous success (and failure) cases have shown that, when properly managed and with adequate resources, these new technologies can successfully play a creative role in the organisation, enhancing the search for and generation of ideas. This in turn would lead to more effi cient leveraging in the creative potentials available to each of the employees and thus to a company s overall creative ability. As a result, it paves the way to generating new products, services and business models, affecting competitive strategy and organisation tools, their organisational and operational processes, and among others, enabling organisations to access more active and even proactive changes occurring in the market. 20