Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - April 2008 - (Page 21) Pharmaceutical Executive Europe April 2008 Technology: CIO Focus 21 Looked at from this point of view, the job of the CIO is not only essential but daunting. The person inhabiting the role must find ways to do the job effectively and not be overwhelmed by complexity. (S)he must be a first rate communicator and a quick study related to all parts of the business. To deal with complexity, the individual must surround himself/herself with subordinates who are both smarter and more knowledgeable about different parts of the business, while being sharp enough not to be mislead by them through ignorance. Last, but not least, the CIO must feel equally comfortable being a business and a technology leader. To deal with complexity, CIOs have most often divided IM along corporate or divisional lines. On the corporate side, the CIO focuses on company-wide information management standards and shared systems. Good examples of this would be the selection of systems used by all employees (for example, e-mail or word processing) or those serving all employees although not necessarily physically touched by them (for example, ERP and HR systems). Standards focus on how organisations gain access to and use such systems, what processes need to be followed to implement new systems, and what steps must be taken to protect the IP of the company and the privacy of its employees. On the divisional side, the CIO focuses on the discreet needs of groups small and large like manufacturing, clinical research, sales/marketing and government affairs. It is here that CEOs or corporate CIOs feel the need to hire specialists who understand the discreet business of each of these organisations. In many large pharmaceutical firms, these individuals may also have the CIO title. The CIO for R&D, for example, will have responsibility for systems in both discovery and development and work with each discreet organisation (for example, pharmacogenomics, biostatistics, regulatory affairs) to enable their work via IM. On the surface, the organisational approach to managing complexity seems reasonable and practical. Unfortunately, the approach has also created artificial barriers that now hinder productivity. On the divisional side, the development of systems that meet discreet departmental needs make it difficult, if not impossible, to effectively share information. A good example of this is the need to migrate and transform clinical trial data from EDC and/or CDM systems to SAS datasets usable by statisticians and statistical programmers and then again from SAS datasets to relational data usable for pharmacovigilance in a data warehouse. On the corporate side, the focus on shared systems has resulted in the delivery of “common denominator” features and functions that meet some but not all of the critical needs of employees. This has created the need to build and maintain discreet systems that meet the unique needs of specific work groups who must then switch between separate systems depending on what part of their job they are performing. A good example of this is the simultaneous existence of document management systems, one for controlled (that is, regulatory) and another for un-controlled documents. Compounding the problems created by the organisational approach to IM is the historical and organic evolution of computer systems dictated by tactical needs and/or physical isolation. A good example of this is the existence of multiple systems resulting from mergers and acquisitions. Another is the implementation of a new system via ignorance of the fact that a similar system is already in use elsewhere in the same organisation. The astute CIO will recognise the issues raised by the organisational approach to IM and have the resolve to address its key challenges. Summary To be effective, the CIO must receive direct support from the CEO who, in turn, recognises the value that information technology delivers to the business. Such support includes the directive to all of the other CxOs that responsibility for any IM project and programmes must be shared with the CIO. As a corollary, the CIO must be the true partner of each business leader and exhibit both business and technical acumen deserving of that partnership. In short, the CIO will not succeed without the X factor being in play. ■ About the Author George Laszlo is the managing director of Laszlo Consulting (US), a firm providing strategic IT consulting to the industry. He is also the editor of The Laszlo Letter, an online webzine devoted to operational excellence in life sciences via IT enablement. He has over 35 years of experience in biopharma business process improvement and information technology. To discover how to further align your business and IT strategies, turn to George Laszlo’s follow-up article on page 22 http://laszloletter.typepad.com/
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