CIO Straight Talk - Issue 10 - 34

Reflecting on this evolution led us to realize
that at Bekaert, there is no such thing as an IT
project. As a result, although we should still
consider IT a key strategic asset, it doesn't make
sense to treat it as something separate from the
larger business. Nor does that stop at our front
gate: our CEO has made co-creation with our
customers a core competency, so our boundaries
now include not only all of Bekaert's business
units and vendors, but our clients.
Another outcome of these workshops was
that the business units were encouraged to
appoint individuals to serve as business process
owners. IT had been asking for this for years
because when you're streamlining a process
or integrating the processes of an acquisition,
the challenges are often more political than
technical. Historically, it was difficult to find
people who could make decisions, or if they had
the authority, to get them to work with IT so that
we could understand their needs. Since these
workshops, the businesses are taking more time
to talk with us about what they need and what
ways we might help them.
It's worth adding that, although I think we've
made advances in integrating IT into the
business, this idea of deep integration isn't
entirely new for Bekaert. My own career is an
indication of just how seriously the company
believes that IT must be made a part of the
larger business. Before I became CIO last year,
I'd been working at Bekaert for eight years

"iF SoMEThiNG iMPoRTANT iS
hAPPENiNG, ChANCES ARE GooD
ThAT iT iS ThE WiRE hoLDiNG ThE
PRoCESS ToGEThER."

34

not in IT but in Procurement. My appointment
didn't mean that the executive team didn't take
IT seriously as a discipline. I began training in
IT management three years before becoming
CIO, and I already had a lot of responsibility for
IT supplier spending in my previous position.
Rather, my move from Procurement meant that
the company's leaders no longer thought of the
function as a separate silo.
This collaborative attitude is a natural part
of Bekaert's culture. That's because we're an
industrial company accustomed to being a
critical supporting player. Nearly 30% of all the
tires in the world contain Bekaert tire cord. Eight
million cubic tons of concrete are reinforced with
steel fibers invented by Bekaert. And when the
world celebrates, chances are good we've got
a seat at the table: every year, people pop 300
million champagne corks by untwisting a Bekaert
wire muselet!

FIRST-YeAR LeSSOnS
In addition to the workshops, I also spent time
getting to know the people in my department,
not just the people in our headquarters I knew
already but the people in the regional offices
as well.
People sometimes asked if I find it intimidating to
lead a department that's mostly men, but I have
to say, it hasn't been an issue. I'm an engineer by
training-my graduating class was 12% female-
so I've been working in mostly male groups for
my whole career.
Now that we have a reasonably good idea of
where we're heading, we're trying to figure
out how to get there. I have a team of four
developing a road map for the next five years.
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 10

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CIO Straight Talk - Issue 10
