CIO Today writer Lisa Valentine drew some interesting responses from H. William Howard, CIO of Sun Microsystems, in a recent interview. Among the issues most important to Howard are reducing complexity, keeping technology current and maintaining corporate agility.

The key to agility, Howard said, is simplifying the corporate environment by driving out complexity and shedding redundant applications. In that way, Sun is better able to respond to changing business conditions.

In contrast to the economic climate of five years ago, at the top of the bubble, today's focus is on doing more with less rather than "get it here yesterday," according to Howard.

Explaining the driving forces behind the IT department, Howard said, "I'd like to say it's driven by what the business requirements are. But at the same time, we've got to do more with less, so the financial considerations are important. We try to have a partnership with the business to fully understand the strategies and the priorities. We use a Business Systems Council made up of top executives of the company to prioritize our spending. I work closely with them to determine the spending envelope as well as the priorities."

Howard pointed out that Sun runs its own betas, allowing the company to develop reference implementations for its customers. In this instance, he said, business requirements strongly combine both financial and technology considerations.

Sarbanes-Oxley and privacy issues also occupy every CIO, Howard assured Valentine. "It becomes incumbent on any CIO to make sure that the right practices and policies are in place to deliver on all of the legal expectations. It adds a whole new dimension to the CIO's job -- to really make sure that there is a proper focus on those things."

"In the past," he continued, "it was assumed that people were doing the right things and abiding by policies and standard practices, and now you have to make sure they are being followed much more rigorously."

Looking ahead, at least across the coming year, Howard predicted that accelerating the delivery of Web Services would receive considerable attention from his department.

Howard outlined the decision-making process at Sun, which he said begins in strong partnerships with the business and a definition of objectives and requirements by a cross-organizational working group that then recommends a course of action to a steering committee.

"The Business Systems Working Council looks at the entire spending envelope and determines what get done first. The prioritization then goes to the executive Business Systems Council for ratification or modification. Finally, after a sourcing process, it goes to the CEO and CFO," he concluded.

In Howard's view, the next-generation Internet will demand attention from CIOs, along with VoIP, wireless and RFID. [...read more...]

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