Why IT must earn its place on the board

Charles Wang, CEO of Computer Associates (CA), chose his keynote speech at last week's CA World conference to claim there's an urgent need to bridge the gap between the IT department and the board.

The skills that IT managers have need to be exploited to the full. They need to be involved in business strategies and given the power to make executive decisions without the CEO holding their hand, he said. They have the power to do so, he added, but have yet to realise it.

Explaining that businesses are built to create wealth and value, Wang pointed out that technology is simply looked at as a way to make things more efficient. But he thinks corporates should be "using it to drive revenue and to build business with technology".

So what do IT professionals themselves think? "I agree 100 per cent," said Frank Coyle, IT director at John Menzies Distribution. An 11-year veteran at board level, he explained that IT not only supports business, but in some cases drives it. "Changes happen faster than ever, and the systems have to change at the same time," Coyle added.

The message that IT should have a place on the board is becoming increasingly familiar, but we seem to be waiting an eternity to see a plan of action implemented in many organisations. Silicon.com has spent the past year running the 'IT on Board' campaign, which is aimed at making the business world more aware of what can be achieved through effective use of IT, and to provide IT professionals with positive advice about gaining a seat on the board. But the ignorance of financial directors and CEOs remains a problem. Preaching to the converted doesn't achieve change.

IT staff certainly feel undervalued. Figures from the Cranfield School of Management show that 92 per cent of top IT people in Europe believe they have a limited influence on business decisions. Eighty per cent see very little staff transfer between IT and the business.

Given that board-level business personnel aren't listening, if technology staff want to be included at that level, they must earn it. "IT directors do not have the divine right to be there - they have to prove themselves first," said David Taylor, president of Certus, the association for UK IT directors.

One problem is the intangible nature of technology. The financial people come to the table with a piece of paper stating what they can do. The IT director simply doesn't have that. What they have to do is bring in new skills and see the business from a wider angle. "Forget the IT director role, they need to become a 'master of change'," said Taylor.

He believes that the single most important thing is to become the first port of call for any strategic issues. If the CEO goes straight to the IT director, then the seat on the board becomes a formality - this is what they should be aspiring to.

Michel Khan, IT director of Specsavers, claims that one of the main problems is that IT is misunderstood. "PCs demystify IT, but they also make it look simpler than it really is," said Khan.

This is demonstrated by Cranfield's figures, which show that 13 per cent of European CEOs and CFOs feel confident enough to choose a network management system without any input from the IT department.

With a representative of the IT department on the board, the lack of knowledge among business managers will cease to be a problem. "What these [business] people need to realise is that IT is an integral driving force behind business," said Frank Coyle. He explained that if the IT director is there, his or her colleagues will gradually pick up an awareness of IT without realising it.

IT directors need not only to look at their role within business, but to relaunch themselves as an extra weapon in the converging world of business and technology.

With more and more businesses moving towards ecommerce, it would seem foolish not to have the one person who could provide the know-how to succeed working at the very highest level.