Senior IT executives now consider themselves very much business managers first and foremost, ahead of just being traditional IT experts and back room technicians.
The CIO Asia magazine survey found that most senior IT executives (about 51 percent) now believe that business management skills and understanding business processes are far more important than having technical proficiency (9 percent). Significantly, 29 percent of CIOs listed aligning IT and business goals among their top priorities.
This approach mirrors the enterprise management philosophy of Xavier Rambaud, the CIO of French specialty chemicals manufacturer Rhodia, who firmly believes IT has to be a business enabler.
Rhodia is an international chemical company partnered with major players in the automotive, tyre, electronics, perfume, health and beauty and home care markets. The Group employs about 16,000 people worldwide, and in 2006, generated sales of €4.8 (US$7.04) billion.
China growth
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In November, the Group announced plans to build a second plant in the Chinese city of Qingdao, for the production of high performance silica. This compound is used in low rolling resistance tires that generate more than five percent fuel savings and reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles.
Rhodia also recently inaugurated its new 40 hectare Diphenols production plant at Zhenjiang, near the Yangtze River. Diphenols represent a key high-growth area in which the Group holds a strong market share.
Having been present in China for more than 30 years, Rhodia's operations there have grown over the last decade and they now employ 2,300 people.
When Rambaud first joined Rhodia, he was given the mandate to merge their worldwide IT functions. To successfully achieve this, he realized he had to first integrate Rhodia's disparate business processes. He found that there were at least 17 different software systems within the organisation. "I was not able to see, for instance, how many supplier files and customer files there were," admits Rambaud.
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