Make The Management MoveMake The Management Move

Those who are aiming to become a CIO or other top tech-leader job especially need to build diverse business skills, experience, and knowledge of global issues, says Kirsten Smith, partner at executive recruitment firm Battalia Winston International. CIO wannabes should spend some time working in the two major components of an IT organization, Smith says: the infrastructure side, which includes networks, data centers, and outsourcing; and the application side, which includes sales force automation, billing, and support, and usually gets closer to the business-unit needs.

One reason CIOs need broad technical experience is that they'll be called on more often during deal making. "CIOs are being included much earlier on in merger and acquisition discussions and are part of due diligence teams," says Beverly Lieberman, president of executive recruitment firm Halbrecht Lieberman Associates.

PARCHMENT MATTERS

Not having an MBA isn't a deal breaker for a CIO or for higher IT leadership roles. But candidates need to have added experience to make up for it. Says Lieberman, "When I see a candidate without one, I ask questions like, 'Did you run a P&L? Do you have marketing experience?'"

Ernie Park, Select Comfort's senior VP and CIO, who has an MBA from UCLA, says that an educational credential is increasingly becoming a requirement for CIOs. However, tech credentials matter, too. As CIO at Maytag before he joined Select Comfort last year, Park led IT during a global rollout of SAP ERP, and that global experience is now a big plus at Select Comfort, he says.

For IT pros short on business experience, a stint in IT consulting can be a good way to learn about a range of businesses and a variety of users, says Elliot Oshman, an IT manager who's moved up the ranks at Pariveda Solutions, an IT consulting firm. That diversity of business exposure can help build relationship, contract, and project management expertise, providing an opportunity to polish skills and learn new ones for the upward climb in management. "When it comes down to it, management is all about people and relationships," Oshman says. That's true whether you have other people reporting to you or your role is more of a liaison between groups of people.

As the interface that tries to keep projects, budgets, and deadlines on track, though, the role will inevitably include being the messenger of bad news. Warns Oshman, "Conflict-resolution skills are a big part of being a good manager. You may have a project that's not moving along, individuals on a team who don't get along, and you have to address those problems without having people feel attacked."

Smart companies provide a career track for superstar techies to advance without becoming managers, those for whom tasks like conflict management and budgets aren't appealing. "It's not the finish line for all producers to get into management," says Eric Samargedlis, a regional VP at IT staffing firm Hudson. Talented staff can "earn as much as managers or more."

Perhaps that's true for some. But in general, moving into IT management jobs brings a bump in pay. information Research's National IT Salary Survey in 2006 found that while the average IT staffer earns $73,000 annually, the average IT manager makes nearly six figures--$99,000 a year.