Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash
Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash for the past eight years, has seen the publication of as many of the recruitment consultancy firm’s annual CIO surveys and is well aware of the challenges facing today’s chief information officers worldwide.
The Harvey Nash CIO Survey 2013 is the 15th of its kind, meaning the company has accrued 15 years’ worth of data from CIOs, heads of IT and IT executives across the globe. This year’s participants numbered more than 2,000, coming from an increasingly diverse geography and representing more and more senior positions.
Ellis presented the results of the survey at The Marker Hotel in Dublin’s Docklands on Thursday. Amid references to cybersecurity in the wake of recent headlines and the question of whether or not big data is a fad or the real deal, Ellis addressed the major barriers facing CIOs.
“Your challenges, from a fiscal point of view, are not going away,” he said, as he revealed results from the survey showing that budgetary problems continue to hold CIOs back from achieving their vision.
Another concern for CIOs is ‘shadow IT’; that is, spending of the IT budget that’s out of their control.
Ellis took the opportunity to introduce his concept of the Naked CIO – inspired by chef Jamie Oliver and referring to a return to raw ingredients; the core skills needed by a CIO today. While in 2000 CIOs needed to lead, manage and operate, in 2013 they need to do all this and communicate, too, and building a relationship with other key figures, such as the company CEO and sales and marketing executives is an essential part of this strategy.
