CIOs Take Centre Stage in Organisations

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) now have more prominent roles in their organisations than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) 2021 report shows.

According to the report, the pandemic thrust digital capabilities of organisations into the forefront by accelerating the adoption of new tools and practices in ways previously unanticipated.

“Today’s technology portfolio is a dynamic mix of centralized, decentralized, and federated services. CIOs at large enterprises now manage hundreds, if not thousands, of applications spanning dozens of functions, often at a global scale. And while CIOs continue to deliver the core IT services that power the day-to-day operations of the business, they are also expected to drive innovation that paves the way to a successful future,” the report says.

The report highlights that back in 2011, only 1 in 5 CIOs ranked themselves as a critical enabler of business/organization vision. “Now, they’re collaborating with colleagues to meet fast-changing demands and driving value throughout their enterprises and beyond”

The study surveyed 5,000 C-suite technology leaders, including both CIOs and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs). IBM also asked 3,000 CEOs to identify the C-suite executives most critical to their organisational success, CIOs and CTOs jointly ranked in the top three. “Among CEOs at top-performing organisations, technology leaders were second only to CFOs”.

However, the increasing prominence of CIOs in organisations brings challenges to them. They are not only required to embrace their increasingly diverse set of responsibilities, but also do so under longstanding talent and budget constraints.