It's not easy to become a wildly unsuccessful CIO or CTO. But with just a bit of shortsightedness, an over-inflated ego, and absolutely no business sense, even the most ambitious person can realise this corporate nightmare. TechRepublic asked around to find out how this can be done. What we found are the seven habits of wildly unsuccessful CIOs.
1. Acquire technology simply because it's new
That's how corporate coach and Leadership Decisionworks founder Stever Robbins described this quirk, found in CIOs who aim low and get there. "I'm talking about CIOs who upgrade because it's time to upgrade," Robbins said. When this habit manifests itself in this way, the unsuccessful CIO fails to realise there are sound business reasons to upgrade, such as:
- Cost
- Benefits to the company
- Overcoming data compatibility issues
This habit also turns up in CIOs who try to find a way to work the latest technology into their businesses because they're interested in that technology, not because it makes good business sense, said Mike Nikolich, president and CEO of Tech Image, a PR firm that serves the hi-tech industry. "They find a good gadget and they think it'll be great because it's really cool and novel," Nikolich said.
By contrast, the successful CIO will have a sound business reason to upgrade. Robbins referred to the CIO of a large financial institution who was noted for running a low-cost, desktop environment for the network's users. Robbins said he asked him what operating system was loaded on all the workstations' computers. When the CIO indicated it was an older Windows operating system, Robbins said he asked if it were Windows 98 or even 95. "And he said, 'Every desktop in the building runs Windows 3.1,'" Robbins recalled.
He said the CIO pointed out upgrading would be expensive, that the older operating system suited the company's needs, and that all the data input and exchanged in the organisation could be processed in Windows 3.1. "The minute someone can make a compelling business case to upgrade, then I'll upgrade," Robbins quoted this CIO.
