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Leading off this week’s roundup, from our sister site SearchCIO-Midmarket.com, we have a CIO whose gold medal-worthy green tech innovation is truly energizing London’s Olympic Park. Also, read about how speeding to market with software could kill a trading firm, and read about the CIO’s role in IT transformation.

As chronicled on the SearchCIO-Midmarket.com blog, CIO Symmetry, the CIO of the London summer games scored big, lighting up Olympic Park with green tech innovation. And he didn’t even have to put on a Speedo.

Speed is great for sprinters and the like but can be downright dangerous for makers of stock-trading software. Perhaps Wall Street’s third stock-trading fiasco in five months will drive home this point.

Winning by changing the rules doesn’t sound very sportsmanlike. Unless we’re talking victory over network hackers — then by all means we ought to hear out the argument for changing the rules of writing code.

Think social collaboration is a frivolous pursuit? Perhaps this bar graph can convince you otherwise.

Finally, be sure to check out this week’s CIO Matters column, in which SearchCIO.com’s Editorial Director Scot Petersen looks at the role of the CIO in the midst of IT transformation.

• “Maintain direct and timely communications with senior and middle management.”
• “Contributing to the definition of the organizational risk profile, and ensuring that all IT risks are highlighted and agreed actions addressed in a timely manner.”
• “Proven experience developing and maintaining a qualified, diverse ITS staff through appropriate hiring, staff development and training, and effective, timely performance.”
• “Build strategic partnerships with vendors to maximize investment and provide timely delivery of initiatives.”
• “The executive is also responsible for ensuring reliable, timely, cost-effective, efficient and secure delivery of information technology to all areas.”

Another common denominator? Very rarely did an ad call for CIO skills that were timely but not cost-effective as well.

There were also a few job descriptions that screamed Landmine ahead. For example:

• “The ability to defuse conflict.”
• “Develop greater confidence throughout the organization and with physicians in the ability of information systems to meet the needs of individuals and the entire organization.”
• “Reports unusual events appropriately.”
• “Motivate subordinates.”

My favorite description was from a publically traded energy company (but then, I have a soft spot for CIOs): “The impact of this position on company performance is very high.”

We will be running down the top CIO skills in a future article, but just to share one more tidbit: This one skill was posted by a religious institution: “The ability to ‘helicopter’ from big picture, strategic issues to more granular levels of detail as needed.” Whee!

I just found a new way to say multitask.

Let us know what you think about this blog post; email: Christina Torode, News Director

This was clear in a story I did this week on a snazzy hotel app deployed by the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. The free mobile app basically delivers round-the-clock service — a bottle of Dom Perignon, more shampoo — at the touch of an icon. IT Manager Eric Chao, the hotel’s point man on the mobile app, was happy to talk up the app’s front-end value: how it takes customer service to a new level, etc. But ask about the sophisticated analytics whirring on the backend that allow the hotel to figure out what a guest wants before he even knows it – and this reporter got the cold shoulder. The hotel PR squad flat out said no way.

“The app collects a lot of data,” was about all Chao could say. That, and it’s been “great for business.” Indeed. I have no doubt that the data collected contains information so valuable to the hotel that it’s not sharing it with anybody, never mind reporters.

Chao was not the only circumspect CIO I talked to this week. A CIO in the automotive industry I interviewed yesterday for an upcoming story on mobile BI stopped short when the topic of analytics came up. Routine analytics were handled in-house, he said, but the sophisticated stuff done by statisticians and data scientists—the secret sauce, the golden goose — that analytics was being outsourced. To whom? He couldn’t say, in fact, was prohibited from divulging that information to anyone outside the company.

My take on the silent treatment? If CIOs are not putting a lot of resources into advanced business analytics, they’re in trouble.

By the way, the same silence principle holds true for security too—in particular, app security, but shhhh that’s a post for another day.

As Yvonne Genovese remarked in my story this week on the impact of Big Data on CIO careers, business leaders are convinced that wisdom — or better yet, money — lurks in these vast amounts of distributed data, and they are counting on their CIOs to find it.

That is the good news, of course, for CIOs. In this era of commoditized IT, leveraging the value in Big Data gives CIOs a plum role, or as Genovese bluntly said, puts them “back in the boardroom.” They become the heroes of the enterprise again, she said. But what is becoming clearer with every conversation I have with CIOs, turning Big Data into information, and information into actionable knowledge, is a huge challenge.

Sure, there are technologies and applications that can help do that, as consultants and vendors are eager to inform you, from the Hadoop and MapReduce frameworks to SAP’s HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) and Watson, IBM’s super-duper computer. Prospecting for nuggets in the goldmine of data out there, however, means getting through a minefield of organizational challenges. Those include finding the right IT people for the job, for example, and competing against other departments interested in Big Data that might not answer to IT, such as marketing and operations.

“The CIO’s role is very difficult,” Boris Evelson of Forrester Research told me. “CIOs know the reason for Big Data, they know the technology out there; but no one knows literally how to create an organizational structure and best practices around it.”

Evelson said he has talked to clients with multimillion-dollar budgets for Big Data, approved by the business to get started tomorrow! But “when they called IBM, Accenture, Deloitte and PwC, you name it, all [the vendors] were doing was pitching Hadoop,” he relayed.

As for what kind of organizational structure they should aim for, figuring out how business processes will change, and who owns this stuff, “CIOs have to figure it out on their own,” Evelson said. “We are on the cusp of an era where we will learn from our mistakes over the next few years.”

So, there you are, out there again — the enterprise’s guinea pigs (or is it monkeys?) in deep space — braving the unknown. Here’s hoping you return from your journey as conquering heroes. And please, if you are inclined to talk about how you are tackling the puzzle of leveraging Big Data, let me know. I’m even willing to negotiate terms of disclosure.

“Let’s say, hypothetically that you’re a CIO in a $5 billion business,” said one of the dinner guests. “Good on the left side, been there for three or four years, and typecast. The business sees you as the IT guy who keeps the infrastructure running. How do I break out of that so I can start moving to the right side?”

“Don’t get in the box in the first place,” someone at an adjacent table retorted. “Once you get in, it is hard because you have already told them what your comfort level is.”

The left side vs. right side discussion was in reference to the evening’s presentation — a discussion of The CIO Edge: Seven Leadership Skills You Need to Drive Results.

The authors tapped into the mammoth databases of executive search firm Korn/Ferry to come up with seven skills typical of really successful CIOs. The gist is that those technical, left-brain smarts might be table stakes for running a data center, but they won’t get you a seat at the table. The latter requires the right-brain skills that allow you to manage, manipulate and mesmerize people. (This press release will save you the trouble of buying the book.)

An elder-statesman CIO from a large utility company softened the blow: “Depending on the situation, it might not be worth your time and energy to make them see you in a different light.”

And?

“So quit,” he said.

With unemployment at 9.2%?

You could feel the air getting sucked out of the room, as table by table the guests pondered whether CIO leadership might be out of one’s grasp, due to one’s own half-brain nature or a pack of unnurturing business partners.

“Say that you are going to make a change,” a guy piped up. “Say, ‘I have spent the last three years on delivery and getting things in shape. And now that things are in pretty good shape, I am going to focus on other things.’”

Constructive.

“Whereas,” this guy continued, “If you just try to change without telling people why you are changing, then it is just this odd behavior.”

Now there’s a CIO with right-brain skills, I thought, joining in the relieved laughter that filled the room.

That was the CIO feedback in a workshop titled “How to sell internally without ROI” at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week.

The session no doubt began with a trenchant analysis of why CIOs often find themselves in the position of having to sell ideas that don’t have an ROI. By the time I walked in, however, attendees were engaged in that staple of CIO conferences — self-flagellation self-examination. This was followed by an exercise aimed at developing the perfect elevator sales pitch for executive peers and other business customers.

What? You’re not a salesperson, and all your constituents take the stairs? Irrelevant.

Developing an elevator sales pitch for your proposals, whether recited in an elevator to the people you’re trying to convince, or never delivered at all, is a useful exercise for CIOs, explained Leigh McMullen, the Gartner analyst leading the workshop and author of “Creating Proactive Proposals That Stick.” For starters, the process helps crystallize your ideas. The cost of sales is an important metric when you’re selling an idea or proposal, he said. CIOs have enough to do without wasting their time pitching ideas that don’t go anywhere. A good elevator pitch also forces you to think in terms of two things that don’t come naturally to many CIOs: affinity (as in, what you and your ideas have in common with the people you’re trying to sell to) and messaging (more on that in a moment).

So, how do you develop an elevator sales pitch that might actually get you somewhere — aside from couching it in the language of business (for example, “What if I can shorten the cash-to-close cycle to 15 days from 90 days?”), establishing trust and improving your “opportunity management” skills?

McMullen’s advice to CIOs is basically to channel your inner novelist — or better yet, your inner Hollywood scriptwriter. Turn your proposal into a story that will resonate with the people you’re trying to convince.

Without further ado, here are Leigh McMullen’s step-by-step instructions for developing proposals that stick, as well as a sample elevator pitch in which a hypothetical CIO of a major hotel chain tries to sell the idea of putting in check-in kiosks:

1. Good characters drive a compelling story.

Decide who the “main characters” in the story are. These aren’t necessarily the stakeholders or influencers who are being sold to. They usually are constituents of these stakeholders.

The main characters in the hypothetical automated-kiosk caper are the hotel’s frequent (aka high-margin) travelers.

2. Reveal the problem.

Determine the problems the main characters face. What keeps them awake at night, and what is the basic problem the proposed solution is trying to solve?

“Frequent travelers are always standing in line — at the airline check-in, at security, when boarding the plane. And finally, when they get to their hotel, there’s another long line.”

3. Allude to, but do not reveal the solution.

This is often called the compelling question, because it causes the stakeholder to focus on the answer that the seller is about to provide.

“What if, when they got to our hotel, there were never any lines?”

4. Pitch the solution, then anticipate objections.

In one or two short, simple sentences, describe your idea and how it solves the problem of the main characters.

“If we deployed automated check-in kiosks, we could virtually eliminate customers having to wait.”

“Now, I know that sounds expensive, but we can more than make up for the investment by reducing front-desk staff. Additionally, we’ll actually improve customer service and perception of value, because the front-desk staff will be more available to help serve the customer rather than be occupied with mundane tasks.”

Or you could just download “Get Shorty.” Not that I’m saying you or your customers have anything in common with loan sharks and petty mobsters.

Certainly the business cognoscenti were taken aback by the news that one of America’s largest retailers had put an IT executive at its helm. Echoing others, Douglas McIntyre of AOL’s Daily Finance called the move a long shot: “The board may eventually come to regret not bringing in a seasoned executive from a firm like Macy’s or Wal-Mart,” he warned.

Or not. Maybe technology is changing how business gets done, so fast and so fundamentally that nontechnology companies are starting to feel that having an IT executive at the helm is not a long shot but a matter of survival.

Of course, Sears didn’t exactly go hunting in a basement data center for its new CEO. D’Ambrosio comes from technology with a lot of business savvy: He capped his 16-year stint at IBM in Big Blue’s marketing and sales division, where he reportedly was known as the billion-dollar man because he oversaw more than $1 billion in investments in programs for IBM’s software partners. As CEO at Avaya, he was in charge of taking it private — lucratively, as it turned out — and it’s rumored that Sears might want to go the same route. D’Ambrosio also has an MBA from Harvard and was valedictorian at Penn State.

But the reason this appointment strikes me as a big deal is how Sears Chairman Edward Lampert talked about it in his annual letter to shareholders:

“From the beginning of our CEO search, we were determined to find a leader with information and technology experience who could catalyze the transformation of our portfolio of businesses in the context of the evolution of the retail industry that is occurring more broadly. … Lou knows what it is like to be the 800-pound gorilla from his days at IBM, and he knows what it is like to compete against 800-pound gorillas from his days at Avaya. He also understands how technology can shape and change companies and industries. The profound changes that many industries, including retail, are currently experiencing require new thinking, new leadership and new business models. Information and technology have always been an important part of the supply chain in retail, but more and more it is becoming critical that we use information and technology in a much more profound way to deliver great customer experiences.”

“Determined to find a leader with information and technology experience” — wow! What will be interesting is to see what effect an IT executive as CEO will have on the job and life of Sears’ CIO.

“Each position was as a CIO where the company was looking for leadership to create a growth strategy. I turn 65 this year, with no end in sight for employment opportunities,” Ron emailed me yesterday.

He was writing in response to my story this week on CIOs and age discrimination, a look at whether the CIO career is more vulnerable to ageism than other C-suite roles.

As might be expected with such a fraught issue, the reality is not given to simple answers. But it’s probably fair to say that IT executives come to the end of their CIO careers before they reach Ron’s age. Technology changes fast, the role constantly evolves, the revolving door still spins faster for CIOs than for other occupants of the C-suite: All these things conspire against a CIO career that extends into one’s twilight years.

If you are 55 or 60 years old and have the bad luck to be on the job market — especially this job market — “chances are diminished for finding a CIO job,” said Jerry Luftman, a professor of IT management and executive director of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N. J. Most CIOs in that position became consultants. The good news is that they are in high demand, he said. The Big Five consulting companies go after the Fortune 500 CIOs, or “magnets,” to capitalize on their large networks for snagging new clients. And the smaller consulting firms court CIOs from smaller companies to serve as mentors to their clients.

Nothing wrong with that, but it was nice to hear from someone like Ron, whose CIO career path certainly did not dead-end at age 55 or 60, and who has bypassed the consultancy route. From Coke, he went to work at Pacer Global Logistics, a large freight transportation and logistics business, and from there to NuCO2, a carbon dioxide gas distributor. Today he’s CIO of Education Corporation of America, an operator of private accredited colleges across the United States. I took a peek at his photo on the website and saw the Ron I met five years ago when he was at Pacer, only grayer on top and with a snow-white moustache.

“One thing I might add,” Ron wrote, “is that if you are a gray-hair, you are not only less vulnerable to repeat the same mistakes, but you are also better positioned to understand what new thing is old and vice versa.” Take VDI [virtual desktop infrastructure]. He jumped on that innovation early because of his experience with the dumb terminals of the ’70s and early ’80s, he said. “We just have a lot smarter ‘terminal’ now and we can manage it with a lot less resources.” It was obvious to an older CIO like himself that VDI was the “best of both worlds.”

Experience counts, he was telling me, just as it does in other C-suite positions. Maybe the real question for older CIOs, he said, is what one’s experience represents. “Is it one year on the job repeated 30 times? Or do we continually learn, embrace, grow; learn, embrace, grow … ?”

“If somebody isn’t going to hire you because you’re 58 rather than 52, then it is probably not the right place to be anyway, because that is a narrow view,” he said.

That’s true, I was thinking. But in a job market with 9% unemployment, taking the moral high ground could come at a hefty price for a middle-aged, out-of-work exec looking for a CIO job. Especially when older workers are having a hard time getting hired.

Another headhunter made a slightly different point when I raised the age question. When he sees a date left off on one’s education, his first thought is that the person didn’t go there or didn’t graduate. It’s not an age issue, it’s an integrity issue, he said. Not to mention annoying. He then has to call up Columbia or Carnegie Mellon and or wherever and verify whether the person was awarded a degree. Not a good way to make friends with a recruiter.

This interesting but minor debate about whether to include a date for one’s education on a CIO resume, of course, raises a more fundamental question: Is the CIO job a young person’s game? Given how quickly technology changes, are companies more comfortable hiring a youngish CIO — and what is youngish anyway? If so, the bias seems to be quite different for CEOs, where experience is valued and it’s quite common for companies to yank very seasoned fellows — think Ed Whitacre at General Motors — out of semiretirement to set the business straight.

So far, I’ve been batting around this idea about ageism and the CIO job mainly with consultants and headhunter types. I’d love to hear from CIOs of a certain age who have some firsthand experience with this issue.

Write to me at ltucci@techtarget.com.