CIOs Head For The Top

By Jennifer Mateyaschuk

More technology companies turn to CIOs as candidates for CEO posts

As technology companies continue to search for top executives with a strong combination of technology and business skills, many are filling their CEO positions with CIO candidates.

For now, the trend is mainly contained in the IT industry, especially venture-capital-funded startups, says Marc Lewis. But as technology and the Internet become more central to non-technology companies, CIOs will increasingly be looked upon for high-level business positions, including CEO.

"Over the next one to three years, a limited number of non-technology companies will hire CIOs as their CEOs," Lewis says. "It will probably take about 10 years for nontechnology organizations to hire CIOs as CEOs en masse."

Larry Ford, CEO of Information Advantage Inc., a business-intelligence software company, says the combination of his IT skills, which he acquired as CIO of IBM, and business skills have enabled him to craft a strategic direction for Information Advantage's products.

"My role as CIO gave me a much better grasp of the challenges of integrating data from many different sources, which is a constant problem for many CIOs today," says Ford. "Back-end systems are constantly changing, and CIOs need to find ways to bring those systems together and make sense of all the information." Ford's experience as a CIO has also helped him to relate to his customers, such as Federal Express Corp. and Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Prior to becoming CIO at IBM, Ford spent time on the marketing and general business side of the company. This helped him develop a business strategy for Information Advantage, he says, while also enabling him to apply a business value to the company's products. When Ford joined Information Advantage four years ago, the company had 50 employees and about $4 million in revenue. The company now employs 450 people in 27 locations and services more than 8,000 clients.

Right Skills Mix
Sales and marketing savvy are indeed among the qualities a CIO must possess to become a CEO. "In addition to technical expertise, CIOs looking to fulfill CEO positions need strong operational skills, sales and marketing savvy, and financial expertise," says Lewis.

Network Solutions Inc., a provider of Internet technology services and domain names, saw those qualities in James Rutt, who was hired as the company's CEO last month. Prior to joining Network Solutions, Rutt was chief technology officer at Thompson Corp., a publishing company with revenue of more than $6 billion. Rutt was also a founder of First Call, an online investment information service.

While CTO at Thompson, Rutt says he was able to hone his decision-making skills to keep up with the pace of change of technology. These skills are essential in his new role as CEO of Network Solutions. "I need to be proactive in managing our technology strategy and ensuring we have the resources, staff, and correct organizational design."

Ford of Information Advantage says he expects to see more CIOs taking the helm at technology companies, as well as nontechnology companies. "If the drivers of the company are E-commerce-related, then that company will be highly dependent on technology to sell its products and services," he says. "In this case, you'll need a more technically-oriented CEO, and you'll look more closely for a combination of business and technology skills."