Love or money?

With IT underpinning so many parts of a business, a CIO carries many responsibilities. Yet the importance of the role is often unrecognised by the board, and the business itself. So what gets a CIO out of bed in the morning? Merri Mack talks to Diane Fernley-Jones, CIO at Leighton Contractors, about the rewards of being a CIO.

Fernley-Jones is just about to celebrate her fifth anniversary as CIO of Leighton Contractors, the contracting arm of Leighton Holdings, one of Australia’s largest contracting, services and project development groups. At Leighton Contractors, Fernley-Jones is responsible for information technology and telecommunications (IT&T) across all business operations and strategic planning.

Leighton Contractors is a rapidly growing business, so as CIO, Fernley-Jones must provide IT&T applications, systems and services suitable for all phases of this growth.

“The ever-increasing pace of change in technology and finding the technologies that will assist is also a challenge. We have vendors who understand our business and we scan the market, too, for appropriate technology,” says Fernley-Jones.

The business is maturing and there is a lot more information generated, so the company needs standardised processes to deal with this information.

“Five years ago we had different accounts payable systems across some of the states, but now, because of the growth, we have migrated from our mostly in-house legacy systems to world-class applications,” says Fernley-Jones.

Fernley-Jones has an IT&T team of 150 employees, plus around 25 contractors at any given time, as well as third-party services to meet the challenges of growth. In 2006, when she started at Leighton Contractors, the team provided services for 24 project sites, and in 2010 this had grown to 200 project sites. Back then there were 1700 users - there are now 12,000 users.

What’s more, these projects could be anywhere in the country, including quite remote outback locations where satellite services are vital.

“The project logistics mean we have to provide IT&T for roles anywhere, anytime and on any device,” Fernley-Jones says.

“We have just completed a pilot for safety managers using tablet computers, which they can use on the job on site, so they can complete their work without having to go back to the office,” she says.

This solution provides Leighton Contractors safety teams with quick access, available around the clock, to the company’s safety, health and environment (SHE) processes and procedures.

“Delivering this information to our SHE team’s fingertips enables a stronger awareness and adherence to our safe work method statements, hazard identification and SHE management information. The mobility solution comes equipped with a camera, GPS (including geo-tagging information), high-performance computer processing and process management software all bundled in a ruggedised device to offer our SHE teams the most functionality in a single device,” says Fernley-Jones.

Her IT department also supports the growth of the company, by improving processes and automating them.

“We do this by working more smartly with the same amount or a few more people rather than proportionately increasing our staff levels,” she says.

According to Fernley-Jones, the ultimate pay-off for being CIO is the simple satisfaction of knowing that IT is integral to the running of the business.

“The reward of being CIO is seeing the business grow, and the change IT can make, and knowing we are a key link in the growth of the business. The company has definitely changed since I started, but all parts of the company work together, and everything I do is [part of] a team effort,” she says.

“A challenge I relish is creating a strong team and providing a strong career path for the team. At induction we provide training and tools as good as we can get. This includes a little book of values with the very top value being safety and health above all else,” she says.

*Diane Fernley-Jones is the CIO for Leighton Contractors, which has hands in construction, mining, industrial, telecommunications and investment activities. She has had a long and varied career in the IT industry, working with blue chip companies such as Honeywell and ICI in the UK, Europe and Australia. She has an MBA from the University of New England, NSW.