All in the Family
Family commitments remain a significant factor for CIOs when it comes to deciding what, if any, education programs to take up.
A baby hijacked Joe Abraham's intention to study for a postgraduate qualification in information management at the University of Western Sydney. The commitment to three years of formal studies was too great for the new father and acting director of finance and information systems for North Sydney Health.
Already armed with a Bachelor of Business from the then Institute of Technology (now UTS), Abraham majored in accounting with a sub-major in computing, which helped equip him for the IS role he took on at North Sydney Health in an acting capacity in May 2000. He broadened that knowledge via a number of technology training courses with private firms. "It's not in-depth knowledge," says Abraham, "but I have a number of senior managers I rely on for that." And with a new baby there is little spare time for formal education to expand his knowledge base.
Walker agrees that CIOs can only divide their time to a certain extent, after which the fabric of life starts to tear. "I think you only have one life and you have to make certain sacrifices at certain stages and have less commitments," he says. "I have a wife and two children, so I head off other social functions and focus on work and family."
Brant's family focus is such that he thinks if he could take time out to attend another course or program it might not be related to IT or management. Instead, he'd look to take a financial management course that might help him better provide for his family long term. But then Brant's a Duntroon man and that, he believes, has stood him well in terms of preparation for the CIO role itself.
"At Duntroon you get good leadership skills. That's not to say that everyone should go in the army but it stood me in good stead, certainly with respect to leadership and management and big picture strategies," Brant says. "You get a lot of experience at a young age."
And management experience is key according to most CIOs. "This is all about managing people and large projects and communications," says NSW Health's Sobski. "People make things happen, not systems."
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