Hyphenates Are Hot Again

There is precedent for the CIO-plus role. In the 1990s, you couldn't throw a rock in IT leadership circles without hitting someone with e-commerce-this or digital-that tacked on to his title. But the trend subsided when the dotcom bubble burst. Other title enhancements have tended to be industry-specific or related to how a particular company uses IT. In software companies, there's the ever-present CIO-CTO hyphenate. Manufacturing companies have been known to add supply chain duties to the CIO position.

But the expanded CIO role of today, say experts, is different. IT executives are taking on corporate strategy, heading up revenue-producing business units, and taking on roles as varied as logistics and international expansion. According to the 2007/2008 CIO Survey by Harvey Nash USA, 44 percent of respondents reported having responsibilities outside of IT. "The kind of stuff CIOs are good at — consistency, predictability, an organized approach to problem solving — can be a unique skill set in many companies," says Cameron. "IT is one of the only departments that spans the enterprise, which puts the CIO in an excellent position to drive value in other areas." Indeed, CIOs who have worked hard to prove the importance of IT have made that case so well that their bosses are beginning to take advantage of their expertise.

"We have worked hard to demystify IT and be seen as integral to the business. We've learned to think and act and speak 'business first,'" says Joe Drouin, VP and CIO of TRW Automotive, who recently took on additional responsibility for global logistics. "This is all being recognized by senior executives who say, 'This person is more than a technologist. He or she knows my business as well as anyone else, if not better. What else could I have him or her do for me?'"

The phenomenon is familiar to Al Etterman. When he took a job at software company OpenWave in 2002, he recounts, "I started as CIO, but I picked up a couple of other pieces along the way." He ended up in charge of a corporate program office, real estate and facilities. "I kind of forgot to duck," he says, half-joking. When JDS Uniphase (JDSU), a Milpitas, California-based manufacturer of communications test and measurement solutions and optical products, hired Etterman in 2004, the new job encompassed not only the CIO role but also the position of SVP of customer advocacy. He added chief administrative officer to his portfolio a year later.

Most of the time, additional titles are bestowed after success with an IT initiative. "It almost happens through osmosis. That initiative becomes a stepping-stone to a bigger leadership role," says Gordon of Harvey Nash.

When Tom Coleman became CIO of plumbing products manufacturer Sloan Valve Company in 2000, he was concerned that the company wasn't getting enough out of its SAP software. "I had experience with business process reengineering so I started talking to my boss, the CEO, about the fact that unless the software were connected to business process improvement, the system was worthless," Coleman recalls. Long story short, business process improvement became one of the top corporate initiatives. Coleman became, in addition to CIO, the chief process officer (CPO).

Other times, however, an expanded role comes straight from left field. TRW's Drouin had discussed the idea of added responsibility with his boss. "I was expecting something that might be more intuitively linked to IT," he says. Like running TRW's continuous improvement organization or its shared services centres. At an offsite last year, Drouin suggested to the COO that the company form a task force to reduce inventory, outlining plans for the team and even offering up a few IT people to contribute. To Drouin's delight, the COO loved the idea. But to his surprise, the COO asked him to create and run a new global logistics organization. The focus of the new job: Get a handle on inventory and materials management, but also oversee transportation, freight, distribution, warehousing and customs.

It was pretty far afield from any additional role Drouin had pictured himself taking on, but he was game. For one thing, "I don't think I could have comfortably declined," says Drouin. "My boss and I discussed that I was ready for a new challenge." Besides, says Drouin, the add-on role opens up a world of possibilities careerwise. "Having this additional, non-IT responsibility could lead my career in a different direction than I had always assumed — into a more general management or operations-management leadership role. It could be a good thing."