CIOs must be comfortable with change

The BBC’s chief information officer, Keith Little, began his career journey when he decided to pursue a childhood interest in technology by taking a computer science degree. After graduating he took his first step on to the IT ladder as a program and systems designer for oil giant Shell.

Since those early days, Little has come to see the modern CIO’s role as one that is essentially about enabling change. In his career, Little has managed to drive change through the innovative use of IT in various industries. Having worked in the gambling industry as online gaming sites began to take off in popularity, and now in broadcasting as it undergoes a digital revolution, Little has been at the forefront of some of the most interesting developments in the use of online technology.

Little believes technological advances in areas such as online service delivery are having a profound impact on the role of CIO. A recent report by analyst firm Forrester highlighted how IT chiefs have reached a fork in the road, noting that CIOs must choose whether to become “business-change agents”, thus gaining greater influence over the board, or remain as “general managers” of IT operations. Little, however, believes that to be effective, a CIO needs to be able to perform both roles.

“It’s all part and parcel,” he said. “I do delivery and strategy but the key is managing risk and that comes from managing change programmes.”

The BBC’s Digital Media Initiative is perhaps the biggest change project on Little’s agenda. The initiative involves the creation of a flexible, multiplatform digital production capability to support the shift in the media industry towards the consumption of digital content, delivered on demand through a variety of platforms.

A major part of this will be the move from tape to file-based digital production.
Little believes that taking on business change is outside the comfort zone of many people, but is vital for a successful IT director. “It’s dangerous because you haven’t got the control you have over technology ­ you can’t manage the way people work; it’s all about persuasion and being an enabler,” he explained. “All a CIO can do is enable the change ­ they’re the only person in the business that can [perform that function]. It’s about being there from the start to the end and not just focusing on the technology aspects.”

Little’s role at the BBC is perhaps more diverse than that of many CIOs. IT is only one part of a particularly varied technology picture that spans everything from networks to studio technology. While the BBC retains in-house staff to manage technology in certain areas such as news and radio, in 2005 Little helped to negotiate a £2bn contract with Siemens to take over operational responsibility for functions such as networks, desktops and helpdesks. The move has worked out well.

“You either have a headache about managing IT internally, or about outsourcing,” he said. “Service provision is always an issue, whether it’s internal or outsourced IT, but we have a fairly flexible contract that is quite innovative.”

The deal has created efficiencies and reduced costs, and brought a level of skill and expertise in certain areas that was lacking internally, said Little. For example, Siemens was able to bring in specialists from Cable & Wireless to help put in new network infrastructure.

Little conceded that outsourcing does not suit everyone though, adding that individual CIOs must ask themselves if it is really a good fit for them before going down the outsourcing route.

As far as Little is concerned, a major benefit of outsourcing is that it takes away the worry of having to find the right level of skilled IT staff. “They can be hard to find ­ people come from the business and take on technology and vice versa,”
he said.

Little advised fellow CIOs to look within their business, do as much as they can to develop talent, and rotate staff so they get a more rounded skillset. Formal training can also help with this cross-pollination of skills between IT and business, Little said. “There are ways of training that can give you the right mix of skills. MBA-type courses are good for giving technologists negotiation skills, for example,” he added.