Why It Matters: Citi Hires Lippert as CIO with Mandate for Transformation

The story behind the story of the operational crisis and ongoing reorganization at Citi is one of technology.On the one hand, Citi has a history of being an aggressive technology innovator, pioneering emerging technologies and channels such as ATMs, online and mobile ahead of the banking pack. On the other hand, banking history also is littered with numerous failed, diverted or abandoned Citi technology initiatives. Banking insiders often point to Citi's technology organization and its performance as a classic example of the adage that big is not always better -- that budgets and scale do not necessarily guarantee success in IT. A mix of bureaucracy, politics, egos, "not-invented-here" mentality and bad timing often has scuttled promising initiatives, or at very least made it difficult for IT fully enable evolving business strategies. So the July 3 announcement that Citi has named Marty Lippert Citi chief information officer and corporate operations and technology chief operating officer is very interesting and could optimistically be interpreted as a sign that the New York-based banking giant knows it needs to do something extremely dramatic -- both operationally and symbolically -- about its IT organization. Lippert comes to Citi from Royal Bank of Canada, where he was vice chairman and group head of global technology and operations. According to the Citi announcement of Lippert's hiring, he will "play a critical role in driving transformational change across Citi's newly centralized Global Technology and Operations divisions, working closely with Kevin Kessinger, Citi chief operations and technology officer." Lippert, who will join the Citi Senior Leadership Committee, also will oversee Citi's Corporate Shared Services and Real Estate Operations. Lippert has long been recognized as one of banking's most-effective and forward-looking technology executives, and in 2004 was recognized by Bank Systems & Technology as one of The Technology Elite most-innovative CIOs in banking. RBC has a great reputation in terms of its use of technology, and so Citi's hiring of Lippert has to be viewed as a real coup. Of course, now the real work begins, and the challenge is huge. In the Citi announcement, CEO Vikram Pandit said: "Marty's appointment emphasizes the importance we place on technology in driving enterprise transformation, and we'll look to him to be a key architect of that change. This role is central to Citi's commitment to operational excellence and cost management, and we are excited to have Marty on board to help orchestrate what we believe will be one of the great turnarounds in US corporate history." If Marty Lippert meets even a portion of the expectations Citi -- and the bank technology community -- have for him, he will be widely praised as a visionary hero who has accomplished great feats. Here's wishing him the best of luck, because I don't want to even think about the alternatives.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio