Three weeks is a long time in the banking world, especially when the sun is shining and the surf is up. In a low-key changing of the guard Nigel Smyth has been appointed CIO at Macquarie Bank, replacing Ian Graham who has, at least according to his former employer, taken up life as a waxhead, replete with a brand new surfboard under his arm as a parting gift.
Smyth officially took over the CIO's chair at Macquarie on September 1, although a "hand-over" period of around three weeks saw them both collaborating to usher in the new regime.
"Ian was here for two years on a fixed-term contract, and the organisation was very happy with the direction of ISD (information services division) and wanted to continue that", Smyth said referring to his appointment.
"Macquarie doesn't make big announcements on those sorts of things. Internally it's been announced for quite a long time that I was taking over on Ian's departure. It was made several months ago -- in March or so to prevent speculation. Everybody's bored with it now I think," Smyth said, explaining why there had been so little fanfare regarding his ascendancy.
Computerworld understands that Graham's fixed-term appointment was constructed so that opportunities were not closed to internal candidates while Macquarie's IT house was put in order. "He wouldn't have taken the job any other way the environment he came from was one of doing relatively short-term [contracts] and CIO roles on a temporary basis. He wasn't looking for a permanent job. Everybody's really very happy with the way he left [the state of] technology."
According to Macquarie, Graham's immediate intentions are to travel around Australia through the summer in search of the ultimate wave, while learning to master his new toy: "I believe he's learning to surf," Smyth said.
No bloodbath, no sacking -- just the primal call of another day at the beach versus sitting in front of a monitor.