The teaming up of two complementary personalities in the form of Eileen Wilton and Danny Naidoo, to steer Old Mutual SA's (OMSA's) IT strategy, gives the group a competitive advantage, says Pete van Vuuren, an executive partner at Gartner's Executive Programme.
In January, financial services group OMSA appointed ex-Microsoft SA personality Danny Naidoo as its chief technology officer (CTO), after almost a year in which that position was vacant. Six months later, Naidoo says the position is extremely challenging, due to the sheer size of the group's IT estate and the diverse needs going across its business lines.
OMSA did not have a CTO for a while, due to the extensive search conducted by its CIO Eileen Wilton, “who was looking for a very particular personality profile to fit the position”, a spokesperson for the group says.
The company debated whether an enterprise, especially one the size of Old Mutual, should separate the roles of CIO and CTO and, if so, who should report to whom and their relative lines of responsibility.
“We are seeing a split in the CIO role in which he or she will be responsible for business processing improvements, while the CTO will actually take care of technology,” Van Vuuren says.
The combination of Wilton and Naidoo at OMSA could give the group a strategic advantage over its peers, he adds, as both have the kind of personalities and expertise that suit them in their particular roles.
“Wilton has proven herself to be a business-oriented person, while Naidoo is known for his technological expertise and the ability to get his message through,” Van Vuuren says.
Naidoo says his role at OMSA sees him reporting to Wilton and to ensure OMSA is able to leverage its technology to its competitive advantage.
Neither are board-level appointments, because the structure of Old Mutual is that the MDs of the various businesses constitute the group's highest decision-making body. However, Wilton and Naidoo are close enough to have direct input when necessary.
“A major requirement will be to drive down the costs of IT, while contributing to the overall success of the group. This includes the leveraging of the considerable IT estate with regard to intellectual property and the development of the way forward,” he says.
Naidoo was not able to elaborate on the strategy, as the Old Mutual Group is in a closed period ahead of releasing its financial results within the coming month.
The global economic crisis has impacted Old Mutual, and its IT strategy will be crucial to its future, says Van Vuuren. “In order for Old Mutual to exploit its IT advantage, it needs to have the right people in the key roles of CIO and CTO.”
Naidoo left Microsoft SA, where he held the position of developer and platform group director, in April 2007. He took a two-year sabbatical during which he participated in some private equity ventures.
It was soon afterwards that Old Mutual signed a global contract with Microsoft to roll out the Vista operating system across its 20 000-odd PC base. This is still ongoing, with Vista being installed whenever a business unit needs to refresh its computers, Naidoo says.
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