A job title in decline?

HAVING WRITTEN A column directed at the CTO community for over a year, I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting and getting to know CTOs of all ages, industries, locations, and personalities. I've mingled with my fellow CTOs at InfoWorld's CTO Forum and traded e-mails with many of them as we all eagerly await the next conference. I've done business with CTOs, had beers with CTOs, and called fellow CTOs to get their experienced counsel as I've considered various technology solutions for InfoWorld. I've responded to hundreds of challenging and thoughtful e-mails from some of the 70,000 of you who get this column as a weekly e-mail newsletter. In all cases, I have been consistently amazed at the intelligence, reach, and influence of CTOs across all industries.

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So you can imagine my dismay when a fellow CTO sent me a piece from Aug. 1 issue of CIO magazine titled "Whatever happened to the CTO?" ( http://www.cio.com/archive/080102/tl_role.html ) I began reading the article with a bit of morbid excitement as I delved into what promised to be my career obituary. "There's always pizza delivery," I said to myself, reflecting on those lean college days when I was willing to do whatever was necessary to pay the bills. I could quibble at length with the study's methodology -- making a statement on the state of the CTO based on a survey of subscribers to CIO magazine seems kind of like asking subscribers to Cat Fancy magazine what they think about the state of canines -- but there are more important points I would like to make.

First, I think it's time to dispense with the notion that the CTO's job is only about hands-on technology and not strategy, as the article states. Hands-on technology is strategic, just take a look at what it has done for General Motors. Six years ago it took them 48 to 50 months to produce a new vehicle, from initial design to delivery. They've cut that down to 18 months through the strategic technology implementation led by their CTO, Tony Scott. With 73 percent of CTOs reporting directly to the CEO, it's clear that the CTO has a seat at the strategy table. CEOs rely on the counsel of their CTOs to make key strategic decisions.

Also, CTOs don't just work for pure technology companies -- there's Scott at GM, Phyllis Michaelides at Textron (a conglomerate that manufactures everything from helicopters to golf carts), and Gene Rogers at Boeing. These CTOs are not simply "chief geeks" churning out software; they are articulate and accomplished businessmen and women helping create products used by people around the world. The CTO title is even ascendant in areas outside traditional industries. InfoWorld awarded its CTO of the Year honor this past year to Dawn Meyerriecks of the Defense Information Systems Agency, where her mission is to identify, create, and implement technology to give U.S. service personnel proven and adaptable C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) capability. In January, President Bush picked Norman Lorentz as the very first CTO of the federal government. Did someone say this title is on the decline? Perhaps these CTOs are too busy in their jobs to answer surveys about job titles. What's happened to the CTO is that the title is more popular and critical than ever. CTOs are particularly dominant in companies outside the Global 2000 set, especially in the resurgent ASP space.

If the CTO job is disappearing, someone forgot to tell the CTOs. At InfoWorld, we're looking forward to another amazing array of speakers and panels for our CTO Forum in spring 2003, and judging from my informal conversations with my fellow CTOs, it will be bigger and more dynamic than ever. The CTO is here to stay.