Absa group chief information officer Len de Villiers is stepping down at the end of the year and says he plans to take time off to “recharge his batteries” before deciding what to do next.

The Absa CIO role is one of the biggest and most demanding IT management jobs in SA.

De Villiers joined Absa in October 2008. Prior to that, he was CIO at Nedbank.

In an e-mail to Absa employees, group chief operating officer Alfie Naidoo says De Villiers oversaw the construction of a five-year IT strategic plan and won board approval for IT projects needed to position the group as a “leading bank in Africa”.

According to Naidoo, De Villiers has agreed to remain with Absa for three months and to work closely with newly appointed Absa CIO for Africa, Alpesh Patel, to ensure a “smooth transition of the complex Absa IT environments”.

“During Len’s tenure as group CIO, approximately 30 software releases were deployed throughout the organisation, while systems availability increased annually and severity one incidents decreased year after year between 2009 and 2011,” Naidoo says.

He also led the reengineering of the technology systems and operations in Tanzania and Mozambique.

As part of Absa’s new “One Africa strategy”, the technology functions for Absa Group Technology, Absa Capital and Barclays Africa will be combined to form “One IT Function and Team” that will support the structures and businesses across Africa, Naidoo says. — Staff reporter, TechCentral