Top 10 Rules for Running a Successful IT Organization from the New Sun CIO — Bill Vass

Though I will no longer oversee the day-to-day operations of the Sun IT organization, I will be meeting with CIOs worldwide to discuss the Information Technology realities they face every day. Scott, President and COO Jonathan Schwartz, and I are committed to working with these CIOs to ensure that Sun keeps their needs and challenges at the forefront as we continue to create innovative business and technology solutions for our customers.

My successor for the role of CIO is Bill Vass. Bill joined Sun as an IT Vice President four years ago. Bill has been key to Sun's success in driving the internal Mobility with Security solution and is frequently invited to participate as keynote speaker at industry conferences and other events. He has been invaluable in our campaign to help customers and thought leaders better understand the real potency of mobility with security and how well Sun can deliver it.

Prior to joining Sun, Bill worked in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Office of the CIO. In this capacity, he provided CIO oversight for software systems in the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, and all infrastructure groups. Bill also acted as the CTO for the Department of Defense.

Recently, Bill and I had the opportunity to sit down and discuss his focus as he steps into his new role as CIO.

Bill Howard: IT executives face plenty of challenges right now. As Sun's new CIO and, prior to that, with your oversight responsibilities of all software systems at Sun as well as at the Department of Defense, you've probably seen it all. After witnessing many projects succeed and fail, you've developed your own rules to help ensure success in the world of technology. What are they, and why are they important?

Bill Vass: I believe a successful IT organization needs to focus on 10 key things. I refer to these as my Top Ten Rules for how to succeed with technology, sometimes referred to as IT Essentials.

BH: So, tell us about these rules. I'm sure that our Inner Circle readers, especially those with their own career ambitions to become CIOs, may find your rules and experiences helpful.

Rule 1: Open systems succeed

This rule has been true from the beginning because open systems are standards based. Of course this is good for Sun to say because we're an open-systems company, but I've watched many, many open systems succeed in scale and continue over a long life span. As an executive who approves or influences technology purchases, don't you want to guarantee that your systems will scale to meet new demands?

BH: Absolutely! But you hold the budget now (laughter) So, tell us, what led you to this first rule?

BV: When I was in government, I spent all my time on two types of projects: projects that were either over budget, behind schedule, and all messed up — or projects that were ahead of schedule, on time, with happy users, and under budget. And in almost 100 percent of the cases, the good projects were based on open standards because only they had the flexibility to scale and the flexibility beyond being locked into one vendor.

As technology changes/advances during the implementation of the project, the open systems projects could adapt and take advantage of changes, rather than be stopped or derailed by scaling and technology changes.

BH: OK, so then what are number two and number three?

BV: Rule 2: Proprietary systems fail

The second rule is the opposite of the first. Proprietary systems don't scale. To accommodate any unplanned growth, they must be redesigned in the end. And they always cost more in the long run. Proprietary systems were the single greatest waste of IT dollars I saw in those 6,200 government systems.

To use a construction analogy, imagine that every IT system starts off based on plans for a house, but usually grows into a skyscraper. If you build on open systems, you have a strong foundation on which your systems can grow to accommodate new business and user demands.

If you build on proprietary systems, you're starting with a house foundation, without planning that the house may one day become a skyscraper. You will end up either redoing the foundation to support the newer, larger structure, or tearing it all down and restarting from scratch — both immensely expensive and time-consuming propositions.

For these reasons, proprietary systems usually cost three-to-four times more than open systems over their life spans. No engineer building any physical product would ever lock himself into a proprietary component or design. IT should follow the same basic engineering principles that all other design engineers follow.

Rule 3: Separation of logical layers

This is a key insight into a major cost driver in system lifecycle cost, and it's a technology decision you have to make early. This rule might seem very technical to a business executive, but it's important. Spend a little extra time up front to separate your technology layers: presentation, business logic, and data. By separating them out in the beginning, you are ensuring that each can scale and change independently.

For example, the presentation layer — what the user sees and interacts with in a desktop or handheld application or Web page — will always change as technology advances, but the business rules (logic) and data behind it often will not.

If you put all your logic in the presentation layer, maybe under the "Submit" button on a browser screen, when you change the presentation to a cell phone, you'll have to rewrite that business logic. If you separate the three layers, each can scale and change independently. And that ends up costing you a lot less and giving you a lot more flexibility in the long run.

BV: So these are the top 10 rules by which I manage myself and my teams. I feel if you follow these 10 rules, you'll always be successful with technology.

BH: Speaking of teams, what are the "must have" experiences IT managers should have in the future?

BV: Well, at Sun, talented IT managers will wear three-cornered hats. They will be rotated through management experience in software development, systems operations, and enterprise architecture, until they understand how one is related to the other. The CIO works for everybody in the company. Without having that background, you won't be a successful CIO.

BH: I agree. I have to tell you, Bill, you have some very well thought out, experience-driven top-ten rules for how to succeed with technology, and clearly Sun is benefiting from that experience. Thanks for sharing them with our Inner Circle readers here today.

BV: My pleasure, Bill.

If you have any questions or comments on Bill Vass' top 10 rules, please feel free to direct your e-mails to cio@sun.com.

Best regards,
Bill Howard
Chief CIO Advocate and Advisor to the CEO
Sun Microsystems, Inc.