NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 CIO BlackBerry News and Tips
 CIO Research and Analysis
 CIO Microsoft
 CIO Insider
 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 


Wed, Aug 6, 2008 9:39 EDT

Are More CIOs Getting Fired?

Topic: Enterprise Management

Blog: Difference Engine

Current Rating: 5 Comments: 15

As long as there have been CIOs, there have been people claiming that IT executives get fired a lot more than any of their C level colleagues. In the early '90s, some sharp-witted observer quipped that CIO was coming to stand for "Career Is Over." Conventional wisdom held that the average tenure of a CIO was 2.5 years (it seems that Paul Strassmann may have been the originator of this data point); in fact, as little as a few years ago people were still citing that number, which hadn't been true since at least the mid-90s - if it ever was true at all. It began to feel like some overworked Rodney Dangerfield skit.

Tired of the stereotyping, we did a survey with HR Executive magazine in 1996 that looked at CIO turnover and compared it to that of executives in finance, HR, sales/marketing and manufacturing/operations. It showed that while IT execs did have a slightly lower tenure (4.9 years for the current position holder, whose tenure was not yet up, and 6.8 years for his or her predecessor), they weren't getting fired the most; they were leaving voluntarily to take other jobs (HR execs had the dubious distinction of being most often fired).

Today it appears that CIO turnover is increasing again. Meridith Levinson's Movers & Shakers mailbox is filling up with notices of executive moves. And I had an interesting conversation with Bruce Rogow the other day. Bruce, who's enjoyed a 40-year career in IT research and consulting, conducts what he calls the CIO Odyssey, traveling around the country to visit with hundreds of CIOs every year. He uses the insight he gains from these visits in research and writing he does for Gartner and Don Tapscott's New Paradigm (now nGenera), among others; he also facilitates high-level knowledge exchange programs for Rick Swanborg at ICEX.

Bruce said that a few months ago, it was as if the bottom fell out on the people in his network, with some 60 percent of them suddenly no longer at their companies (compared with a more typical 5 - 10 percent turnover in previous years). He figured this was partly demographics; Rogow likes to visit IT execs who have been in their jobs at least 5 years, and the law of averages says that after five years, a lot of CIOs are going to move on. Many were retiring, some were victims of restructuring or mergers. I checked this out with some recruiter friends, who said they were seeing some uptick, but not the kind of spike Rogow was talking about. He said that was because the majority were being replaced internally, so the head hunters wouldn't necessarily be seeing a dramatic increase in searches.

The most interesting reason some of the CIOs gave for why they were leaving their positions was that the CEO and/or the business direction had changed, and there was a new sets of expectations for IT. Seventeen or 18 that he talked to said they had been doing a great job (one even faxed over his performance review to prove it), and they didn't see it coming. They were told, simply, that the business needed a different kind of leadership.

So what's going on? According to Rogow, a lot. He said for the first time in five years, the CIOs he's been meeting with have more questions for him than answers. They know that the imperative is for growth, and they have CEOs who understand that IT is

You do not have flash or javascript support.
Average (4 votes)
5
 
 
Wed, Aug 6, 2008 12:11 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: Tim (@Twalk) Walker
Rating: 70

Very interesting, Abbie. As a complete outsider to the CIO field, I wonder if this maps at all to the general state of the economy? I'm with you in thinking that the biggest driver of this turnover is the tsunami of changes washing over the enterprise IT realm . . . but I can't help but wonder if the economic downturn also plays a role.

 
Wed, Aug 6, 2008 14:03 EDT
Posted by: Abbie Lundberg
Rating: 70

Hi Tim - I think you're right. In fact, a CIO I met with yesterday said at his company the new CEO combined a number of executive roles in order to become more efficient, going from something like 11 down to 5 C level execs.

 
Wed, Aug 6, 2008 17:09 EDT
Posted by: MEK
Rating: 80

Interesting post Abbie,

I suspect that there is some truth here in what Rogow is seeing, however it may not be an overall accurate reading of the tea leaves.

As someone who is immediately below the CIO level, there is a strong sense of change in the air, and not just in the Enterprise I work in. Increasing numbers of Companies are on shaky financial ground, and the ones that are still in good financial shape are still pulling back and moving into generally more conservative operating modes. It would be interesting to see what the ties are here with recent CEO changes and or general financial health of the company. High level leadership changes and/or financial stress generally translate into (sometimes involuntary) leadership changes at the “cabinet” level.

Also for better or worse there is a history of IT being one of the key areas where Enterprises cut costs. This in and of itself doesn’t explain an increase in IT leadership turnover but I could see situation where there might be a leadership change if there were other “preexisting conditions” that were then combined with a cost-cutting initiative.

I’m personally seeing more unsolicited recruiting attempts going on and hearing about more in my personal network of peers and associates. The desire for Young Blood seems to be something of a factor there, but the feeling is not strong enough to form a firm opinion.

Perhaps we are seeing a perfect storm here? At the end of the day the churn in top IT leadership does seem to be rising but my suspicion is that there are multiple factors in play here that are combining to create this uptick. I’d personally be curious to see what information you or Meredith have as we get towards the end of this year. At that point it may be possible that more distinct patterns may emerge.

 
Fri, Aug 8, 2008 14:12 EDT
Posted by: Abbie Lundberg
Rating: 80

I agree there's something big going on, and that it probably can't be attributed to just one thing. We'll be doing some research on this trend, if indeed, trend it is. thanks for your comment!

 
Mon, Aug 18, 2008 14:01 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: Jack van Hoof
Rating: 70

I think the big thing that's going on CAN be attributed to just one thing, and that is the evolvement of the Internet. The Internet is turning the IT-world upside down. All other current IT-evolvements are more-or-less a consequence of that fact, imho.

Think of the Internet as the pervasive near no-cost medium to enable freedom of speech; the will be no secrets anymore. We are getting connected by social networks. I carry an IP-adress that is connected to the whole world in my pocket. That's the big enabler, the Internet.

-Jack van Hoof, IT-architect at Dutch Railways
http://soa-eda.blogspot.com

Post new comment

* Subject:
* Username:
* E-mail:
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Homepage:
* Body:
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <blockquote> <strike> <p> <br>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
More information about formatting options

* Denotes required field.

About this Blog

The Difference Engine, invented in 1821, was an early precursor to the modern computer. Today, IT is making a difference in every aspect of work, play, politics and life. This blog reports on interesting new applications of technology and the people behind them. It comments on the changes taking place and what they mean for decision-making around and management of IT.

Start a Conversation
Click to post

Got something to say? We want to hear it! Click the Post button to get started. GO»

EXPERT ADVICE
See our roster of experts.

Advice & Opinion from more than 113 of IT's most insightful thinkers.

  PARTNERS       WEBCASTS    
 

Windows 7 Webcast Series

There's a lot of buzz about Windows 7 out there. Each month in our webcast series, listen to analysts and customers discuss how Windows 7 and the Windows Optimized Desktop is impacting large companies around the world. Learn how they evaluated Windows 7, including the cost of deployment, deployment strategies, and tangible benefits.

Sponsored by Microsoft  Listen to on-demand Recordings »

 

Service Level Management Best Practices Life Cycle Overview - Improve Service Levels

Best practices for Service Level Management (SLM) is a process for consistently meeting customer requirements and delivering on IT's promises. See the steps required to ensure high-quality SLM.

Sponsored by Compuware  Read this White Paper »

 

Keeping Your Members Safe from Online Scams and Predators

In order to keep fraudsters out, romance sites must deploy effective solutions that look at information independent of what is supplied by users. A device fingerprinting solution such as iovation ReputationManager™ provides unique insight into the computers being used to create multiple accounts and exposes hidden device-account relationships that identity-based fraud solutions often miss.

Sponsored by iovation  Read this White Paper »

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library. Don't just be up-to-date—be up to the minute with our new Resource Alerts.

Defend Against Blended Threats: What You Need to Know

Blended Web and email threats are becoming increasingly complex and represent a huge...  View Now »

 

Prescriptive Actions to Reduce Risk

In this Webcast, learn best practices for effective systems management in a heterogeneous environment and keep client systems cost under control.   View Now »

 

Webcast- Vantage 11: Redefining Application Performance Management

Compuware's latest release, Vantage 11, is a major advance in end-to-end application performance management--bringing together proactive issue identification, quantification of business impact and problem resolution into a single solution. Tune in to learn how Vantage 11's top-down approach helps you make better decisions and dramatically lower operations costs.  View Now »

Resource Alerts

Get instant email notification when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library. Don't just be up-to-date—be up to the minute with our new Resource Alerts.

 
NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for the Blogs & Discussion Newsletter

 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

Return on Information: Google Enterprise Search pays you back. Get the facts.

VMware. The source for Business Infrastructure Virtualization.

ShoreTel tells businesses to untangle from competitors' complexity and turn to its brilliantly simple UC solution

See how AT&T can help protect your network.

Streamline IT Costs. Boost Performance with WAN Optimization.

Build your 1st app FREE with Force.com

TDWI checklist helps define data readiness for analytics. Download report.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

The rules of infrastructure management just changed.

A Clear View Toward Virtualization

Interactive Q&A helps you discover key ways to maximize IT assets.

Ready to virtualize tier one applications? Check your virtualization maturity.

Think you can't afford a Cisco Switch? Cisco Catalyst Switches are now more affordable.

Five minute business analytics assessment. Immediate results.

The Case for Investing in Business Analytics Technology. Read white paper.

Upgrading to VMware vSphere with vWire

Top 10 Lessons Learned for Corporate 3G Mobile Broadband Deployments

CRM Built for IT: The Executive Guide to Selecting CRM that Meets IT Needs

Return on Information: Google Enterprise Search pays you back

ROI of Application Delivery Controllers

Making Consumer Two-Factor Authentication Simple and Cost-Effective

Mining the Cloud to Ease the Enterprise Compliance Burden

Solve Five Key IT Security Challenges with Cloud-Based Authentication

White Paper: Right-Sizing Your Power Infrastructure

AT&T Synaptic Storage as a Service. Expand on demand

Trend Micro ranked #1 against real-world malware. Read more.

Webinar: Jump-start your in-house e-discovery with Ringtail QuickCull from FTI Technology

Top Five CIO Challenges

Read the RSA report: Security for Business Innovation

64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.

Increase UPS efficiency without sacrificing protection.

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

Reduce risk, gain agility. See how Progress can help your business.

Virtualization Technology as a Business Solution

eZine: A Roadmap to Reducing IT Complexity

World-class trading technology solutions from NYSE Technologies.

If You're Paying for Telecom, You're Paying Too Much. Contact Asentinel Today.

Trade-In your old printer and save up to $1,000 plus free recycling!

infoBOOM! - The Mid-Sized Company CIO's Exclusive Community

Live Webinar: Applying Business Analytics. Click here to learn more

Removing Barriers To Better Server Virtualization Efficiency

4G Revisited. The Continued Evolution of Wireless Mobility.

What's Next for Enterprise Resource Planning?

Maximizing website Return on Information with high-quality search

Gartner Magic Quadrant, Application Delivery Controllers 2009

Authentication as a Service by Forrester Research

Cloud-Based Authentication for Next-Generation Extranets

Cut Costs & Green Your IT Operations with PC Power Management

White Paper: 4 Customer Service Myths