CA not as vulnerable as you might think

With the recent news about Sanjay Kumar stepping down – leaving Computer Associates virtually CEO-free for an undetermined time – there has been much speculation about the vulnerability of CA in terms of customer loyalty. And while of course competitors will want to paint a picture of CA as a wounded creature, limping from uncertainty and the stigma of corruption, it is a cartoon image that would appear to be out of line with reality.

With the recent news about Sanjay Kumar stepping down – leaving Computer Associates with only an interim CEO for an undetermined time – there has been much speculation about the vulnerability of CA in terms of customer loyalty. And while of course competitors will want to paint a picture of CA as a wounded creature, limping from uncertainty and the stigma of corruption, it is a cartoon image that would appear to be out of line with reality.

Computer Associates has begun a deliberate, if slow, “cultural revolution” that’s probably more aptly described as “cultural evolution.” The characteristics of the “cultural evolution” include more open industry dialog, and with that: 

* A less defensive posture vis-à-vis industry questioning

* A clear focus on customer loyalty – away from autocratic account control and towards more of a partnership role with customers

* An investment in understanding clients’ evolutionary requirements from a pragmatic, rather than absolutist perspective

* An evolving architectural vision that reflects a similar openness to third-party brands, along with distributed analytics

* A proactive posture towards investment in areas critical to its success, such as advanced analytics and security – well reflected in the acquisition of Silent Runner from Raytheon last year

* A new focus on cross-brand integration across security, network/systems management and storage that, while still apparently undefined in specifics, could become a viable path for industry leadership

These, in my opinion, are the real foundations of what CA – at least, potentially – could become. And while Kumar’s role in the above “evolution,” has been significant, he is really just one of many contributors – which is as it should be.

So what does CA have to do to weather this hopefully modest storm? While America has a CEO cult, I am not a believer in it. In the best of all worlds, CEOs are not strutting prima donnas but articulate facilitators. Above all, they must be good and creative listeners, willing to broker innovation that participates in their vision, but does not necessarily stem from it.

Interim leadership at CA will become a significant problem only if the relevant creative forces within the company behind this “cultural evolution” become stymied, introverted and secretive. It will become a significant factor if the investment in innovation, dialog and “next steps” is put on hold for political reasons, as the company listens for someone new to set the agenda. And it will become a fatal factor if a new, non-interim CEO decides to erase the positive investments from the recent past for his or her own egocentric attempt to reinvent the wheel. 

Barring disruptive politics, CA’s agenda has largely been set. Moreover, it is a good and an ambitious one. The company is partway there in many respects, but it has a lot of work yet to do to flesh out its strategy in everything from role-based consoles (potentially across security, network management and storage) to distributed analytics (across the above), to other critical areas of synergy and innovation. And while CA clearly needs an “outsider” for credibility, the worst-case scenario for CA would be to hire a CEO who mistakes vision with politics, treats the company as a tabula rasa, and decides to build a new agenda from scratch. I’ve seen this happen many times – almost invariably with destructive results.

CA will be fine, as long as it invests in finding someone willing to promote and accelerate a direction of openness, dialog and facilitation. If it opts for the tyrant with a “new personal agenda” – well then, it will be handing its competitors undeserved and unwarranted opportunities for encroachment.