More on Medtronic's effort to become a world-class IT organization - And believe it or not, Finance is playing a critical role in the effort

I'd previously written about the CIO of Medtronic, James Dallas' great address at the CFO Magazine sponsored CFO Technology Summit.  Some more highlights in addition to those that I posted in my original post are given below now that I've had a chance to review his presentation.

Highlight 1:  IT & Finance are tied together at the hip - The first and most striking thing is the title of Dallas' presentation - IT & Finance: The Key Relationship to Having a World-Class IT Organization.  Instead of the conflict that most organizations see between IT and Finance, Dallas' IT organization has openly stated that IT and Finance must work together and is predicating success of his organization on the partnership.

Highlight 2:  Focus on the similarities and not the differences - Dallas' presentation shows his desire to build bridges between the two groups and not focus on differences.  In fact, during his presentation, he repeatedly recognized his finance colleague/partner who was in attendance.  But Dallas went on to to highlight several similarities between IT and Finance highlighting the following:

• We are two of the three groups (HR being the other) that look up, down and across an organization and industries - We know where the opportunities are
• We are process oriented - Good analytical and project management skills
• We are aware of and understand the different cultures that exist within organizations - Know the change management hurdles that have to be cleared

Highlight 3:  Finance is the language that IT needs to be talked about in - Dallas highlights that finance is the language (NPV, ROI, cash flow, etc) of business and that finance can teach IT how to speak that language.  Dallas openly admits that the discussion of bits, bytes and server uptime is not how business gets done and per my earlier post, this is the reason he has worked with Finance to setup training for his IT staff on the basics of finance.  This realization is one that everyone despite their protests should come to as it is pragmatic and right.   

Highlight 4:  It's a symbiotic relationship which benefits IT - The partnership benefits IT in many ways but on 2 notable fronts.  Finance can provide "air cover" for projects that encounter culture resistance.  As he says "culture eats strategy for lunch" and his strategy of having 2 constituents backing an initiative versus 1 is astute.  He also points to finance as a partner who can help provide a budget for innovative projects aka "game changers".

Highlight 5:  Have measurable and clear goals - Dallas was not inclined to hide behind random euphimisms and platitudes about making IT a valuable partner to the business.  Instead, he has measurable goals as part of a three-year plan including:

• IT investment to shift from 99% operational (run the business) to 70% operational.  As articulated many times, this is about creating additional investment capacity.
• 15% ROI on overall project portfolio
• 5 game changing initiatives in the portfolio
• 90% project success rate (on-time and on-budget)
• 100% individual development plans (IDPs) - this about personnel talent development

His hope is to change the view of IT expense into IT investment. 

I hope to keep updated about Medtronic's journey, but in the interim, it is good to hear of a CIO working with his finance organization of his own volition and doing it in a clearly articulated and forward-looking manner.  The means by which Medtronic is aiming to build a world-class IT organization seems, on many fronts, to be a role model for other IT organizations.  Any thoughts on their philosophy & strategy?