Hong Kong's leading CIOs of 2011 - enterpriseinnovation.net

Putting IT shoulder-to-shoulder with business
Daniel Lai, head of IT at MTRC recognized for his excellence with the
“Outstanding Achievement” award By Chee-Sing Chan
Being a business partner is central
to the ethos that Daniel
Lai brings to the CIO role. As
Head of IT at MTRC, Lai is a firm believer
that IT leaders that aspire to be
elite CIOs must be visionaries that are
not occupied by the day-to-day activities
of IT and look further beyond. “CIOs
must think like the CEO and perceive
the needs of the future and not just for
today,” he said.
The mission of the MTR is to be a regional
leader in railway and transport
operations and likewise that translates
into an IT mission of delivering best-inclass
and innovative technology solutions
for the business. To reach this goal, the
company often needs to be at least an
early mover on new trends. “But we will
only adopt appropriate technology which
doesn’t have to be the most advanced,”
said Lai. “Ultimately we must deliver innovation
and new capability to the business
regardless of the technology.”
Proactive action
Lai advised IT managers to spend
more time with internal users and customers
of the company. He personally
sits on all major project steering committees
and makes time to meet with users
to hear about their plans and business
goals. The IT teams are regularly involved
in business planning sessions to
review needs and ongoing trends. “We
actively plan with the business on their
next moves rather than wait for formal
requests,” said Lai. “IT strategy must be
part of the overall business strategy and
therefore be developed in conjunction
with the business.”
Lai has insisted his project managers
sit with the business and perform business
relationship management roles to
work with their business counterparts to
identify opportunities for improvement.
Once those needs are established the
number one goal for these managers is to
deliver the solutions with sound project
management.
Knowledge key to
development
He expects most future CIOs to come
from these roles where IT is heavily interacting
with the business. That does
not discount IT managers who primarily
focus on infrastructure though. “Those
from the infrastructure side have a different
mindset and it is harder to appreciate
the cross-organization view that strategic
CIOs must possess,” said Lai. “If
they can get the business exposure and
push themselves to be a part of the business
discussion then they stand a better
chance of succeeding.”
He added that unfortunately in Hong
Kong, many managers who have served
in a technical position
struggle to adapt to
viewing technology
from different angles
and therefore struggle
to communicate effectively
when in front of
business leaders but
he is constantly reminding
his team that
this is a necessary part
of being an IT leader
today.
One major initiative
that is more strategic
than the usual systems
and network implementations is the company’s
drive to become a true knowledge
company. Lai has been instrumental in
driving the company’s “Learning Organization
Culture Program” which emphasizes
a need to collect, retain and
share knowledge and expertise. Lai puts
heavy emphasis on team development
and he added that without a competent
and motivated team it is simply not possible
for IT to spearhead and support key
business initiatives.
Lai’s track record as an IT leader puts
him in the elite CIOs in Hong Kong and
fully justifies his “Outstanding Achievement”
award in the first Hong Kong CIO
Awards. And add to that his numerous
other awards from organizations in China,
Taiwan and across Asia, he is clearly
an IT leader that has much to offer others
who aspire to reach a higher status.
He himself plans to eventually write a
book on IT Governance and work with
educational institutions to develop training
programs for potential CIOs of the
future. 3
MTR’s Lai: CIOs must think like the CEO and perceive the needs
of the future and not just for today
www.cw.com.hk
July/August 2011 Computerworld Hong Kong 17