Narinder Elhence - Western Power
Narinder Elhence - Western Power
Is the role of CIO gaining importance in WA?
Yes, very much so.
How many employees are you responsible for?
Four senior staff dedicated to strategic issues and governance (Office of CIO staff).
Has the number of staff in your company, devoted to IT, changed in the past five years?
Overall, the number of IT staff has reduced by about 5 per cent to 7 per cent at the organisation level.
What are some of the challenges you face as a CIO in WA?
Employees with the right skills mix such as program/project management, dealing with vendors, sourcing of specialist skills as most of them reside in the eastern States and forums to share ideas/experiences.
What is your opinion of WA’s ICT market and future outlook?
Small market. Much of the spending is in the public sector along with five or six large corporations.
Overall, the IT budgets are under pressure and organisations will continue to restrict spending over the next two to three years.
What are the top six issues on your agenda?
p Support the implementation of electricity reform in WA which has a major impact on IT&T in Western Power; enterprisewide IT operating costs and budget pressures;
p reducing total IT costs;
p strategising the information system-business linkage;
p strengthening program and project prioritisation and management;
p IT governance and change management (people, processes and technology); and
p managing benefits realisations from investments in IT.
