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Hansen, who assumed the hot seat in September 2006, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview that the role of a CIO has evolved from earlier days as a "support-function oriented" role to more of a "business-enablement" role.
With over 18 years of experience in heading IT departments, Hansen said today's CIOs are moving up the value chain and taking on business process design and re-engineering responsibilities.
Hansen joined CA in 2002 and has held a number of appointments in the company, including senior vice president of CA Technology Services for North America in 2003, as well as senior vice president for worldwide presales in 2005.
Now back in his comfort zone of running an IT organization, Hansen is looking forward to helping CA run a tip-top technology business.
In an e-mail interview with ZDNet Asia, Hansen explains why he thinks CA is in a strong position with a portfolio that "is the best CA has ever had". He also talks about his role as a CIO in a global company and how he intends to address the talent crunch.
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Q: You were in-charged of CA's global technology services department before becoming CIO. Which role do you find more interesting?
Hansen: I was previously responsible for our global presales or technical sales support [in the] organization, and before that, I ran the services team in North America. This was challenging and exciting. Prior to joining CA, I was always on the customer side of the desk. Taking on the CIO's role is really in my comfort zone. Five years working directly with our customers have provided me with an excellent foundation to reinvent the role of the CIO. An important part of my job is to be a showcase for CA's solutions. I know what our customers are looking for.
What do you think are the requirements of a CIO for a global IT company?
The skills that are essential to a CIO include a strong understanding of IT, good financial stewardship, cross-cultural awareness in a global environment, and understanding how IT aligns with the company's business objectives.
Do you think the global nature of your current capacity adds another dimension to the role?
I like to share data and knowledge with my CIO peers, and it's always beneficial to hear what different CIOs are doing with their organizational structures. Also, learning about their differing pressures, demands and approaches help keep me up to speed with customer CIO issues. [In addition], exposure to other CIOs, for example, helps me to run a leading-edge disaster recovery operation.
The CIO is becoming more important, and naturally his/her responsibility increases accordingly. How do you feel about that?
This is a status that has to be earned by CIOs. Many CIOs expect to be involved in making business decisions. In earlier days, the CIO's role was very much support-function oriented, but then [it] evolved rapidly to more of a business-enablement role. Now I see CIOs moving up the value chain and taking on business process design and re-engineering responsibilities.
What are your top five priorities in managing enterprise IT?
My current priorities are:
1. A successful SAP rollout--this is a critical implementation for CA because replacing applications and driving new and improved business processes will help CA in our ongoing transformation and make our IT organization more relevant to the business we run around the world.
2. Realizing the EITM (Enterprise IT Management) vision--this is our vision for enterprise IT management, which we are applying to CA's global operations. As we achieve greater integration, we are also quick to deploy the technology internally across our IT infrastructure. In fact, we expect to have made significant progress towards this goal by April 2007 when we will be holding our CA World event.
3. Employee development--the IT market is heating up fast, which means the supply of talent with the right experience and skills shrinks every day. This means we have to do more to ensure we have the right employees, and we need to invest seriously in skills development. This is key to our strategy.
4. Consolidation--this is about vendors, servers, services, networks and overall IT.
5. Continue to build a best-in-class IT organization--this includes all of the above.
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