CIOs and CTOs argue that their peers DO have the right skills to become CEO

IT leaders hit back against claims made by website owner who sacked former Net-a-Porter CIO

CIOs and CTOs are fighting back against claims that they don't have the right skills to make the transition to CEO.

The claims were made by the co-founder of luxury lifestyle website Discover&Deliver (D&D), Isabel Rutland, who had hired former Net-a-Porter CIO Richard Lloyd-Williams as the company's CEO back in 2014, but along with her business partner Stephanie Mahl, decided to let Lloyd-Williams go last month, claiming that he was unable to make the transition to becoming a CEO.

Rutland had claimed, among other things, that CIOs tended to be by nature introverted people.

But Simon Harrison, CIO at Kingston University, said that he disagreed with Rutland on a number of levels.

"It's sad that IT seems to still be associated with being ‘introverted' - a rich diversity of people ranging from introverts to extroverts, highly technical to customer facing, [actually] adds strength to teams," he told Computing.

Joe Baguley, CTO of virtualisation giant VMware, agreed with Harrison, stating that the stereotype of the IT geek sitting secluded in the server room is "quite frankly outdated".

"Any forward-thinking organisation recognises the intrinsic business value CIOs bring. The role demands both technical and soft skills to support the board - of which they are often a part - to better engage with customers and transform operations. To be a CIO today you must understand what drives profit and have a unique blend of both business and technology acumen to help business retain customers and maintain a competitive edge," he said.

But D&D's Rutland claimed that she probably wouldn't find CIOs or CTOs with the right human characteristics and dynamism that she is looking for to run a small business.

"[Staff] have to love you, they have to follow you - and you have to have a tremendous amount of leadership character to be able to do that," she said.

Research from Sungard Availability Services highlighted that CIOs across the UK are seen as key to creating competitive advantages through generating new ways to communicate with customers and employees as well as understanding and improving the customer experience.

According to Jason Ward, senior director enterprise at EMC UK&I, Rutland's views may have rang true 10 years ago, when he believes there was still a lack of skills among CIOs preventing many from making the step up to CEO.

But he said that things have now changed and that any good CIO should eventually be equipped for the CEO job.

The generalisation made by Rutland of all CIOs - no matter how good or bad - not having the right skills to be a CEO was labelled as "absolute nonsense" by Simon McCalla, CTO of Nominet.

"The idea that you can generalise the skill-set of all CIOs is both outdated and wrong. In many ways CIOs can be perfect for the top role - but it all depends on whether they have the breadth of skills to really drive the business. For many CIOs, it's a case of finding opportunities to gain the necessary commercial experience within their current job role, which will then allow them to go on to lead the company successfully.

"I'm not saying that CIOs will always be suitable for the CEO role, but increasingly CIOs are becoming more commercially savvy and their responsibilities span across a far broader remit than before. We shouldn't be written off so easily," he said.

VMware's Baguley agreed with McCalla, stating that CIOs now had strategy, process and digital change incorporated into their job description.

"This often means they become more client-facing, which in itself means they must be able to represent the business and drive relationships and sales. This level of responsibility and this training absolutely prepares them for a position at the top," he said.

"A true CIO has depth and breadth, works across organisational boundaries, drives change and is therefore well placed to lead at an organisational level," Kingston University's Harrison added.