Where next for the CIO? High street giants Boots and House of Fraser recently announced plans to phase out the role of IT director. Experts suggest retail firms could stick with existing systems and place more responsibility on the chief financial officer. Are we about to see a reduction in the power of the chief information officer?

Those of us old enough can remember when the finance director (FD) had responsibility for IT because the only real technology applications centred on financial systems. We can also remember how IT was treated as an also ran because the FD was more comfortable working with his accountant teams than with what he saw as a bunch of geeks.

I thought we had moved on from those dark times. Have we reached the end of the road as far as new technologies and developments in IT are concerned?

Denise Plumpton, director of information, Highways Agency

Don’t discount the CIO role. Not only does a good CIO deliver the business plan, they should also influence corporate strategy. If you lose that role, you ignore the positive impact an employee with a deep understanding of both IT capabilities and business imperatives provides.

Of all sectors, I was surprised to see the phasing out of the CIO role being mooted within retail. Retailers have thousands of face-to-face customer interactions every day, and even a few minutes thinking about IT reveals the fantastic customer profiling and cross-sell opportunities a real-time customer relationship management system should provide.

Rorie Devine, chief technology officer, Betfair

Today the majority of businesses are happy with the CIO playing the role of general manager of IT. When businesses decide they no longer need a CIO, it is often where they have stopped seeing value and decide that IT is simply a cost to be managed or function to be outsourced. How does a CIO avoid such a fate?

Forrester sees the role of the CIO evolving to two models. In firms where technology is important to business strategy, the CIO should be the chief business technologist, leading and evangelising the organisation’s use of technology as a strategic concern. Here, the individual is the expert at understanding how technology is transforming business operations and customer expectations.

Marc Dowd, principal, The CIO Group, Forrester Leadership Boards

These announcements have also led to a debate in the US, in which the CIO role in the public sector has been questioned. In my CIO elective, one participant reported that two CIO contacts had recently taken on the chief operating officer role, quoting the limited span of the CIO in their organisations. Yet at the same time, we hear that other organisations, such as Tesco, are providing high levels of compensation to their CIO.

It seems that the only functional role that is safe at the board level is the chief financial officer. That is probably a combination of many factors including the regulatory need, importance to shareholders and the level of specialism. Other C-level roles either need to demonstrate a similar level of ‘must-haves’, or the individual holding the role needs to be a strong general manager.

Sharm Manwani, Henley Management College

We shouldn’t take two organisations which happen to be in the same sector,deciding to restructure at management level for an as yet undetermined period of time to be indicative of any major change in the industry.

No two organisations are the same and no two organisations have quite the same strategies and drivers ­ even if they operate within the same sector. This is not the start of a new trend and nor do we find it worrying. Large organisations all go through cycles to adopt different corporate structures depending on the particular business conditions they face.

Ollie Ross, director of research, The Corporate IT Forum

Mergers and acquisitions When two organisations merge two sets of technology systems and databases need to be brought together. How should the CIO direct merger and acquisition technology processes ­ and what are the key methods that will ensure a smooth transition?

The most important point is to be involved at the start, and throughout the considerations around a merger or acquisition. This is one of the true tests about whether the CIO really does have a seat in the heart of the business.

Assuming that has all been taken care of, the next question is whether the acquired business is complementary to the original one or is it a case of “more of the same”.

Either way, intuitively there must be savings to be made in having a common infrastructure and common database standards, but there may be some need to retain specialist applications.

Denise Plumpton, director of information, Highways Agency

Build an integration team ­ multifunctional and not led by IT ­ the business must drive the technology to be successful. And do not underestimate the people side ­ you will be combining two sets of workers with a totally different company cultures and visions.

Communicate everything twice and when you have done that ­ do it again to make sure everyone is on board ­ then you will reap the rewards.

Graham Nugent, regions applications manager, UPS

In the aftermath of a merger, emotions often run high and the decision-making process can become clouded as competing egos jostle to get their own way ­ not necessarily the best solution for the business.

However, our blue-chip subscribers tell us that power tussles can be avoided by taking a structured people management approach and by developing a post-merger decision-making model that is methodical and transparent. They also tell us that it is critical to have in place a clear business case round the technologies and applications that will be used or lost.

Ollie Ross, director of research, The Corporate IT Forum

If the organisation is used to mergers and acquisitions, this will influence the process. In my two European IT director roles, I found that one group had a clear business model with IT as a strong enabler and the other focused more on an IT standardisation policy. The CIO needs to be clear on which is the dominant approach.

Sharm Manwani, Henley Management College

Before doing anything, the most important thing is how much integration is really needed. M&A levels are at decade highs, so today’s acquisition could very easily become tomorrow’s disposal.

Fully assimilating acquired systems into your own data centres and then disentangling them again creates an opportunity cost ­ think of the other business IT initiatives that will be denied while complex integration projects grind on.

Mark Raskino, research vice president and fellow, Gartner

Don’t get bogged down in a long evaluation process - move as swiftly as you can, get your new management team in place and get on with the merger. Recognise that you will make some mistakes but you can correct them as you go. Taking too long means much of the talent you hoped to retain will be disturbed and will leave anyway.

John Proudlock, transformation director, Vertex Financial Services