Management Toolkit

The CIO 'born and bred' in the IT department

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RFID Linux

Published: 18 Aug 2005 15:50 BST

Peter Dew, 44, is unique amongst his CIO peers for an unusual reason. He has an IT background.

Becoming a CFO with no financial experience is unheard of but the same doesn't go for the top of the information technology tree. The role of chief information officer is often awarded to individuals for their budgeting skills rather than for any inate technical ability. Not so Dew, who worked his way up the IT management ladder to its most senior position — taking on responsibilities along the way that on paper were beyond his range.

Now head of a multinational IT department, Dew is wrestling with many of the technology and business challenges confronting his peers such as the danger and opportunities posed by open source, the ability of RFID to transform the supply chain and generally keeping up with the rapid advances the tech sector is habitually exposed to.

ZDNet UK sat down with Dew to discuss how he rose through the ranks and the technology challenges facing his company and the IT industry as a whole.

BOC's technology challenges
Open source software is one of the key technology areas that BOC is interested in due to its potential to drive down TCO, according to Dew. BOC continuously evaluates an open source software stack in a purpose-built lab (For more click here.)

Path to the top
Dew, 44, has worked at BOC for the last 21 years, working his way up from project manager to CIO. "I'm one of the very few people who've been born and bred, and come through the ranks of the IT organisation to be CIO. This makes me unique among my peer group of FTSE 100 company CIOs," says Dew. (For more click here.)

What is the BOC Group?
The BOC Group is one of the largest gas companies in the world, employing over 43,000 people and with sales of over £4.5bn in 2004. It was started in the late 19th century by two brothers, Arthur and Leon Brin, who commercialised a way of chemically extracting oxygen and established the company. (For more click here.)