Tracking the year of CIO churn

The last 12 months have quite possibly been the most tumultuous year to be an Australian chief information officer, even by the dynamic standards of our technology industry.

The CIO role at a disproportionate number of our top technology employers – banks, government agencies and retailers in particular – has turned over since the last iTnews Benchmark Awards. To illustrate, we’ve listed a summary of those we’ve reported on below.

Earlier this week we opened for submissions for the third annual Benchmarks in a vastly different business environment to that in which we designed the program.

Some have questioned whether we need to shift from crowning a 'CIO of the Year' to something more generic.

After a few years of the analysts and consultants bandying around that ‘SMAC’ acronym as encompassing the great disrupting forces on IT,  we’ve seen it claim some genuine victims over the past six months, for better or for worse.

We’ve seen the proliferation and accelerated adoption of cloud services on Australian soil, providing yet more options for those business execs that see outsourcing as a means of attaining short-term budgetary relief. 

CMOs unsatisfied with the speed at which IT has delivered on their plans for personalised, data-driven services or app delivery, have used the opportunity to stake their claim to technology decisions.

Some organisations, feeling comfortable with the state of their IT posture, have chosen not to continue hiring CIOs. Our last ‘CIO of the Year’ actually carries the role of ‘chief digital officer’.

We won't shy away from bestowing our annual prize on a CIO, a CTO, a chief digital officer, a Head of IT Strategy - the title doesn’t especially matter to us. 

What matters is that the winner exhibited technology leadership in a team that has delivered in a big way. Successful technology executions matter more in the current economic climate – particularly in highly disrupted industries - than ever before.

Genuine technology leadership – regardless of your precise job description – is a quality that few possess and something that ought to be celebrated. 

List of CIO changes, 2014

Banking and finance

• David Whiteing for Michael Harte at CommBank
• Sue Coulter for David Gee at Credit Union Australia
• Simon Andrews for Andrew Henderson at ING Direct
• David Boyle for Denis McGee at NAB
• Matt Pancino for Jeff Smith at Suncorp
• Dave Curran for Clive Whincup at Westpac

Retail/media

• Richard Umbers [new position] at Myer
• David Marks for Robyn Elliott at Foxtel
• John Jessen for Viren Shah at Specialty Fashion Group
• Clive Whincup for Dan Beecham at Woolworths

Asset-heavy industries

• Dan Carpenter for John Jessen at DB Schenker
• Grainne Kearns for Stephen Tame at Jetstar
• Gavin Wood for Carl Duckinson at Newcrest Mining
• John Ansley for Wayne Gordon at Toll
• Bernie Wansink for Krist Davood at Schiavello

Higher education

• Peter Nikoletatos for Ged Doyle at La Trobe University
• Dr Marie Davies for Marc Bailey at Macquarie University

Public sector

• Bret Morris for Andrew Mills at SA Government
• Andrew Mills for Peter Grant at Queensland Government
• Maria Milosavljevic for Andrew Cann at Australian Crime Commission
• Dr Lesley Seebeck for Rob Lovery at the Bureau of Meteorology
• Shaun Keane [new position] to Clean Energy Regulator
• Randall Brugeaud for Rachel Noble at Customs
• Matthew Boyley for Greg Field at the Department of Industry
• Michael Walsh for Greg Wells at NSW Health
• Gyl Stacey for Tony Skippington at DSITIA (Queensland Government)
• Jensen Spencer for Glenn Walker at Queensland Emergency Services
• Mal Thatcher for Ray Brown at Queensland Health
• Chris Turnbull [new position] at Queensland Treasury
• Bill le Blanc for David Johnston at SA Health
• Bill Leonard for Andrew Robertson at WA Health
• Sarma Rajaraman for Nick Piper at Brisbane City Council

Vacant and abolished roles, 2014

• AEMO (formerly Susan Sly) - abolished
• Airservices Australia (formerly Gordon Dunsford)
• ANZ Bank (formerly Ann Weatherston)
• Arrow Energy (formerly Ross Lennox)
• Ausenco (formerly Paul Young)
• The Australian Government (formerly Glenn Archer) - abolished
• BNP Paribas Australia (formerly Mathieu Allard) 
• Coles (formerly Conrad Harvey)
• Department of Communications (for Lee Di Berardino)
• Macquarie Bank (formerly Joe Barker)
• Perpetual (formerly Jenny Levy) - abolished
• Seek (formerly David Gibbons) - abolished
• Telstra - formerly Patrick Eltridge
• University of Newcastle (formerly Mark Pigot)
• Unitywater (formerly Mat Thomas)
• Victorian Department of Human Services (formerly Grahame Coles)
• Vodafone (formerly Andrew Wiles) - abolished

Any we've neglected to mention? Email us.

The IT benchmark awards will be held during the CIO Strategy Summit.