IT's traditional policies are toppling like dominoes

THEY are the movers and shakers of the Australian information technology industry, in command of tens of thousands of workers and controlling million-dollar budgets.   

THEY are the movers and shakers of the Australian information technology industry, in command of tens of thousands of workers and controlling million-dollar budgets.

They have risen through the ranks -- usually over two decades or more -- and held their places in an industry that seems to consolidate the old guard at a rapid rate.

But despite their tenacity, Australia's IT industry "influencers" are an endangered species.

The Australian IT sector is on the cusp of a generational change. The baby boomers and Gen Xers who lead it find themselves increasingly under pressure from upstart Gen Ys. While the incumbents might retain their positions on the list for some years to come, increasingly it is the Gen Y cohort that is guiding their actions.

Consider the plight of modern CIOs who in the past few years have had to contend with changes that would have seemed inconceivable only a decade ago.

Social media, cloud computing, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and flexible working conditions are all considerations that have been thrust upon CIOs by a Gen Y workforce more accustomed to doing what it wants rather than being told what to do.

CIOs are also in danger of getting flattened any time their organisation's social media policy blows up -- something that Qantas's Stephen Wilson has no doubt lost sleep over after some recent gaffs by his marketing team. At least he is used to dealing with fickle Gen Ys thanks to his time heading IT for the NSW Department of Education.

But like dominoes, traditional IT policies are toppling one after the other as CIOs seek to placate their workforce.

Suncorp chief information officer Jeff Smith's decision to let his workers use their own devices has placed enormous pressure on other CIOs to follow suit, and his policy has become a point of difference for Suncorp in a tight labour market.

The infiltration of consumer devices into Australian business is just one symptom of the consumerisation of the IT industry -- a trend that shows itself through Tim Cook's placement as the only head of a device maker to appear in the top 10. Overall, the list has a heavy weighting towards consumer focused organisations, reflecting the rise in importance of the IT industry in the national consciousness. Indeed, the leaders of hardware companies -- once the kings of the IT industry -- are being displaced by those from software and service-based groups.

Even those hardware makers that have made it on the list owe much of their positioning to their software and services activity, such as Joe Kremer at Dell, where services now comprise half of the company's Australian revenue.

Andrew Stevens and Paul Brandling, from IBM and HP respectively, also owe much of their influence to the massive services and consulting organisations they have built.

Look a little deeper and you'll see that it is the internet that is the real agent of change here.

By pushing IT into the home, the net has enabled anyone to be their own CIO. It was the internet that fuelled the explosion in home PC use, taking them from being tools for business and enthusiasts to an essential appliance, and igniting consumer demand for faster, lighter and more powerful products.

The influence of the internet is reflected by one-fifth of the list owing their living to it. Mike Quigley, Mark Zuckerberg, Nick Leeder, Ruslan Kogan and Matt Barrie run companies that wouldn't exist without the internet, and it is doubtful anyone would even know Julian Assange's name without it. And it's also questionable whether Stephen Conroy, Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Fletcher would be placed so highly were the future of Australia's internet infrastructure not so central to the current political debate.

The internet has also served to expose the workings of IT to consumers in a way that was never possible before. CIOs such as Smith and Wilson, along with CBA's Michael Harte, understand the critical role they play in maintaining their organisations' operations and reputation. Consumer demand for internet-based services means even the smallest flaws are on public display.

If the IT influencers of today are being driven by the younger workers they service, how long will it be before Generation Y starts making its influence more overt? Zuckerberg, Kogan and Mike Cannon-Brookes represent the only Gen Ys to make the list this year, a remarkable feat considering that none have had a full decade in the industry to stamp their authority.

Future years will demonstrate whether Gen Y is ready to step up to form the leadership group within the industry. But it may well be that the real influencers will always be -- and may always have been -- the millions who use technology in their everyday lives.