Most admired person?
Apple’s Steve Jobs took the
crown as the person most admired by our interviewees, with Bill Gates and Tim
Berners-Lee close runners-up. Given his company’s leading-edge design ethos and
an incredibly devoted customer base, it is easy to see why Jobs would lead in
this category.
Most influential IT vendor?
In a reversal of the above, Microsoft just edged ahead of Apple in the vendor
stakes – though IBM, SAP and Dell all got mentions too. No room for HP, Intel or
Oracle or any of the other big players, though.
Most useful qualification or training course?
Project management and leadership qualifications were highly prized by our Hot
Seat candidates, with
Prince 2 the most
popular, followed closely by other project management courses, MBAs and Itil
training. Technical courses came a distinct second to the more business-focused
qualifications, a reflection of the pressure on IT chiefs to broaden out their
skills. Vendor-specific training from firms such as Microsoft and Novell
received only the odd mention.
Technology that has made the biggest impact?
This question generated a fairly mixed bag of answers. BlackBerrys and broadband
were the two technologies that appeared most frequently, with both receiving
more nods than the humble mobile phone and the internet. Almost all of our
candidates owned a BlackBerry, with
most admitting it had a tendency to take over their lives.
What keeps IT chiefs awake at night?
Security was the biggest concern for our respondents, followed closely by
keeping email systems up and running. While budget management and system
failures are also the cause of sleepless nights for IT chiefs, for one it was
his two children and the cat.
If you weren’t in IT what would you be doing?
It certainly seems that IT directors do not suffer from a lack of ambition.
Prime minister, professional footballer and children’s book author were all
cited as alternative career options by our candidates. We also had wannabe
inventors, lawyers and classic car engineers – while one simply wanted to hang
out on the beach and play with his blues band.
Most ridiculous support request?
The prize goes to the IT worker at Betfair who was asked by a user for help with
buying a flat in London.
