The Optimize "Defining the CIO" study shows CIO roles strengthening, which is good news for IT and the business as a whole.
Optimize, June 2007, Issue 68
When we develop the questionnaire each March for our annual "Defining the CIO" research project, as an objective journalist I don't hope for any particular outcome—positive or negative—I just anticipate interesting results. While I admit a certain admiration and respect for CIOs and other IT professionals, if our survey reveals trouble spots in the CIO career path, we report them and hope we're offering valuable information for a course correction. As I've often said, we'd be doing CIOs a disservice if we blindly and self-servingly championed the role if, in fact, things weren't so rosy.
This year's survey results are mostly very positive: More people believe the CIO's influence is increasing, and more say their CIO is included in important business decisions. What's remarkable is that this comes when many have been questioning the CIO's impact.
To me, the data reveals a snapshot of the overall market. There are still challenges. CIOs still struggle with balancing "maintenance IT" with "innovation IT." Also, as I mention in my "CIO Nation" blog, some enterprise-software vendors acknowledge they often bypass CIOs when trying to make a sale because they feel business-unit users know what they want. This is a trend we'll follow. But our research shows a marked increase in regular interaction between CIOs and their line-of-business colleagues.
So, although vendors may try to sidestep IT, it won't be easy. Business folks are becoming more tech-savvy—and that's good. But CIOs are gaining in business knowledge, and that's even better. For everyone involved.
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