🚀 go-pugleaf

                              The Interview: Article 3

Feedback from CEOs
In the Computing Canada interview I also discussed the need to take the message of
professionalism and professional certification to employers.  The primary reason for
this was that the common response from practitioners as to why they have not applied
for the I.S.P. designation is "why should I be certified when employers don't think it is
important."  I shared with Martin the statistics quoted in the article.  I'm sure that I can
find many other sources to back up the high degree of systems project failures.

The discussion then turned to my meetings with senior officers of Canadian companies
and government departments.  In almost every case, these senior executives shared their
concerns about their increasing dependence on their IT departments and the broader IT
industry (hardware and software vendors, consulting and contracting firms, and
outsourcing organizations) for their company's future success.  Their key concern almost
always focussed on the poor track record of the IT industry when it came to systems
delivery.  The  IT industry was often criticized for over commiting and under delivering.

It was as this point in the interview that I noted that one senior executive referred to the
IT industry as a "bunch of shysters."  I must admit that while I didn't think this comment
would end up in print, at least it was one description of our industry that was printable.
Believe me, some senior executives were less generous to our industry.

Clearly, this reference caused some concern and caused a few individuals to respond that
I was not doing the industry a service.  For those that thought the description was too
harsh, just put yourself in the CEO's position in front of a board of directors,  having to
explain why a major systems initiative was late, over budget, or had to be cancelled.  The
board of directors are not going to be comforted by excuses that the users didn't know
their requirements, or that the head of the IT department didn't feel supported, or that the
project was late because users kept changing their requirements.  The CEO expects the
head of IT to know the business, understand how to apply information technologies to
the business, and to be able to manage the complexities of system projects.  Whether we
are talking about the CIO, a project manager, a systems analyst, a hardware or software
vendor, an IT consultant or an IT contractor; each one should be accountable for their
individual contribution.
Kevin Brown, I.S.P.
President,
Canadian Information Processing Society