Being CIO at a large enterprise means heading up a large staff, a large budget and large opportunities. But it also means having to deal with a large bureaucracy. Being CIO at a small or mid-size business likely means having to do more with less, but there are some notable benefits in that environment, reports Beth Stackpole at Computerworld.

Steven Porter is CIO for Touchstone Behavioral Heatlh, and he manages a staff of four. His job isn't in the same league as an enterprise CIO's, but it gives Porter a broad set of responsibilities, an ever-changing set of tasks and, in some ways, greater control over the outcome of his initiatives.

"I'm IT director, chief technology officer, truck driver, window washer and, at the end of the day, hands-on technologist," Porter said. "I have the opportunity to make a difference and the flexibility to be hands-on when I want to be. That's a pro for me."

Heading up IT for a small or mid-size business comes with a variety of advantages, including the opportunity to work in the technology weeds if the need arises. For Porter, working in the SMB arena means he can run a more nimble team and implement big projects faster than his counterparts in the enterprise realm.

"Governance becomes a matter of two or three business units getting together, sometimes literally in the hallway or over a cup of coffee, and making the decision to go in a certain direction or to have this particular project's needs supersede anything else going on," he said.

What's more, for those who have little tolerance for bureaucracy, a small organization can allow a greater percentage of the day for actual work rather than paper work. When Paul Haugan worked for the city of Fresno, Calif., he helped supervise 75 IT employees. Getting funding for a business intelligence project and a T&A system took approximately 15 months. In contrast, as CTO of the much smaller city of Lynnwood, Wash., he was able to accomplish the same initiatives in about three months.

"In a big operation like Fresno, by the time [you] go through the bureaucratic administrative steps just to get a project done, the technology is obsolete," said Haugan. "I'm a firm believer in technology's opportunity to enact significant change. I'm one of those guys who can't wait for the bureaucratic wheels to turn, because there is too much value being lost."

Career advisers warn, however, that remaining in a small operation too long can consign IT leaders to a rut, making them less attractive to large companies. "If you start exceeding the five-year mark, you need to stop and think from a career perspective, 'Am I happy staying in this type of setting from now on?'" said John Reed, executive director at Robert Half Technology.

For more:
- see Beth Stackpole's article at Computerworld

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