Today’s CIO has moved out of the basement and into the boardroom, becoming a key figure in purchasing decisions, operational strategy, and even marketing and sales.
This was a key finding of a recently released survey report from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance on how today’s IT professional views the role of the CIO within their organizations.
Other key findings were as follows:
– The higher the maturity level of the organization, the more strategically defined the role of the CIO becomes. Similarly, the more established a company, proportionately established is the role of the CIO.
– CIOs in China share similar issues and concerns, with their counterparts in North America. For example, both Chinese and North Americans respondents chose “Security and Risk Management Concerns” as their number one choice when asked to rank their toughest challenges they foresee for the CIO in the next 3-5 years.
Noted CATA President John Reid, “CIOs cannot escape this ever-changing business environment. In order to survive within the business community, they need to evolve and keep abreast of change… As organizations become mature the CIOs role is becoming more and more strategic, looking more and more like a CEO rather than a CIO.”
More information about the survey can be found on the CATA Web site: www.cata.ca.