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CIOs of PNC Bank, Bureau of Indian Affairs Talk ‘High-Performance IT’
During Forrester’s panel discussion, business leaders were encouraged to rev up their operations and create a true high-performance IT team.
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From left to right, Forrester's Chuck Gahun speaks with Monty Bedi, executive vice president and CIO at PNC Bank, and Kevin Sturlaugson, associate CIO for the US Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs about high-performance IT.Photo by Shane Snider
Using the analogy of Formula One racing during a keynote presentation and panel discussion at this week’s Technology & Innovation Summit in Austin, Texas, Forrester analyst Chuck Gahun urged leaders to utilize similar teamwork to create a well-oiled IT operation.
Forrester defines high-performance IT as “the pursuit of continuously improving business results through technology.” Gahun noted the technological shifts in Formula One racing that allows pit crews to change tires in mere seconds. IT teams, he says, should embrace this work ethic to enable high-performance IT.
“A Formula One driver’s job is to push the manifestation of the organization that is the car to its limits and never lose control," Gahun said. “Think about the level of trust they have to have in the car, in themselves, and in the organization. Trust is what builds confidence in IT’s role in contributions … ”
Gahun showed Forrester research that demonstrated when a company is able to streamline alignment (the successful communication and strategies between business units and IT), trust and adaptivity in its IT operations, those companies are more likely to have successful outcomes.
How They Built High-Performance IT Operations
Gahun invited Kevin Sturlaugson, associate CIO for the US Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Monty Bedi, executive vice president and CIO at PNC Bank, to discuss how their IT operations successfully navigated the phases needed to develop high-performance IT.
Sturlaugson talked about how the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ IT teams impacted the organization’s overall mission as they provide services to the hundreds of federally organized Native American reservations. “It’s a very complex government organization -- more complex than some others,” he said. “We have to support roads, public safety, education, waters and dams.”
PNC’s Bedi said business in the banking industry changed drastically after the financial crisis of 2008 and continued to change with new threats and social changes. “It started out as a credit crisis, and very soon became a liquidity crisis,” he said. “We had to adapt quickly. The government came in and put in all these regulations … so we focused on that. And then came the cyber era -- and it became very, very intense with all these state actors trying to disrupt our business.”
How the bank adapted to monumental changes helped build its high-performance IT operation, he said.
Sturlaugson talked about how the Bureau of Indian Affairs achieved alignment and adaptivity throughout its IT operations. He said the move to the cloud helped achieve alignment. “Technology moves at a quick pace … In our organization, we’ve had to drive alignment with Cloud -- as we look in that space, we’ve included the businesses into being part of our governance process, so that they’re along for the journey with us.”
PNC’s Bedi said building trust was an important part of the high-performance IT process. “Communication, that’s the key. It’s the communication and the quality of communication,” he said. “If you really, truly understand the business space, communication is a lot easier and more effective, and you really just become a partner. You have a conversation, you discuss ideas, then you turn around and get results.”
Advice to Fuel High-Performance IT
Forrester’s Gahun asked the executives to give some tips on building an IT team worthy of the Formula One analogy.
Bedi said learning as much as possible about the business is the key to building a good team.
“Being a CIO for a large bank, some things are expected, right? I’m expected to know my technology. I’m expected to know the businesses. That’s just a skills set -- you’ve got to do that. But we really have to be in the business of people. And what I mean by that is: to acquire talent, build talent, and grow talent. The thing that is really critical is that if you make others successful, success will come back to you.”
Sturlaugson also said human talent is key to a successful IT operation. “We’ve all heard that mantra that people are your most important resource, and that has to be really intentional. We talk about trying to do things like an organization … and we talk about empowering our employees. It comes down to making sure you understand your employees.”
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