What a CEO needs from IT: Projects and Programs. If only have programs (golf balls) in the bag, have a lot of wasted space in the bag. Need projects to fix our problems, our history, and to set stage for programs. [Xerox uses the term “program” in a similar manner to Forrester’s use of “capabilities”.]
Burns endorses the Business Technology concept, equates to Xerox “ready for real business”. What we are doing (IT) is about delivering business value. Not information, not technology, but business.
Burns’ conversations with customers aren’t about technology, features, and speeds. The conversations are about how Xerox can enable the customers’ business.
During her talk, Burns is going to focus on three things: 1. Current business climate. 2. What Xerox is hearing from customers and partners. 3. View of what CIO needs to do, to be successful.
1. Insights from current business climate:
- Stay on top of what customers are asking for. Be humble. Listen well, before competitions listens better.
- Something more than customer satisfaction that you should be chasing after. Xerox calls this Listening Hard.
- Race for talent. Need to bring the work to the talent. Remotely from the core of the company. Can’t expect talent (any longer) to relocate to the company.
- Sarbanes Oxley is small compared to forthcoming regulation, as a result of Wall Street crisis.
- Other demands, sustainability, globalization, security, competition. At the core, is a focus on IT, or better said, Business Technology.
2. Insights from customer briefings
- Conversation is always centered on customers business and challenges.
- Customers want productivity improvement, want it to be easier to do business.
- Two types of listening: people and technology. Technology is sentiment query, red-yellow-green after each interaction. If customer indicates green, no follow-up.
- P&G challenged Xerox to do “document management” in a more sustainable way, can they be paperless?
Burns says that the closer you can bring business processes and technology together, the easier they will be to manage, the better it will be for the company.
3. Need from CIO?
- Strong leader. Leadership skills. Develop a roadmap, but a roadmap that can be adjusted.
- Business person. Business person. Business person. As in business discipline – discuss financials, ROI, etc
- Be a member of the leadership team. Not a technical specialist, but a leadership circle team member.
- Hard-nosed, yet collaborative, team member.
- Innovator. If it’s going well, you should be worried. Thing about the next thing. But, not everything should change all the team.
- NOT a technician. Not a requirement. Could be a plus. Needs to translate between technologists and leadership team.
Burns expects of her CIO: Think about where business is going. Herd cats who believe they know more as you. Spend as little as possible. Manage programs and projects. Deliver best, innovate technology.
Q&A George Colony and Ursula Burns
George: How do you know if your CIO is being successful?
Burns: Knows about 60% of the time. Easy to know on projects. Harder on programs, especially R&D “bets”. Mechanism they use is phase gates, where business is the gatekeeper. Managing programs and their gates as progress against investment to date.
Burns: Xerox is document infrastructure company. Document could be voice file, any digital asset. Xerox is championing a movement away from paper documents – printing and company. Goal is to make “containers of information” more available to business process.
Audience Question: What advice for individuals who aspire to CIO role?
Burns: As Burns was interviewing CIOs, almost all candidates spoke of technology aspects and accomplishments. Burns wanted to hear about business contribution, how the CIO sees the Xerox business and where they can add value.
Audience Question: What advice for retaining talent?
Burns: Purpose, value and strategy. Not pay. People get passionate about the company they work for, need to believe in the strategy. Need to believe they have reasonable impact on business. Continue to invest in people. Make those people relevant everyday. Can’t just stay inside your company. Need to get out of the lab or cubes and talk to customers. Stay relevant.
[Editorial comment: Ursula Burns is impressive.]
For more on Ursula Burns and her vision for Xerox, see this NY Times article, published Feb 21, 2010.
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