CIOs need to do more, survey indicates
Survey results challenge CIOs to manage their career paths and help in the development of companies.
Traits that define the CIO of the future —customer focused, globally oriented—are found lacking in today’s CIOs.
In a recent research conducted by InformationWeek, the number of respondents who identified an effective CIO with having a personal touch with the company’s clients and one who understands global competition was in the lower ten percent range, across the board.
Data also showed a quarter of CIOs say that they personally take care of their companies’ customers and 35% of CXOs agree; and almost half (48%) of CIOs surveyed say they understand global competition and 39% of CXOs agree.
The figures show that many CIOs are realizing the importance of customer relations and global competitiveness.
The research surveyed over 700 business executives, not only CIOs and VPs of IT but also IT managers and staff, senior corporate managers (CXOs such as CEOs, CFOs, and COOs), and line-of-business managers, according to InformationWeek’s John Soat.
The survey aimed at finding out the characteristics, personal traits, technology skills, and business acumen that make for a highly effective individual in one of the most demanding jobs in today’s corporate environment: the CIO, according to Soat.
Soad added that the intent was to provide a complete picture of what makes for a highly functioning CIO. The result was a mixed review: some A’s, a few C’s, and some significant check marks under “needs improvement.” Results of the survey were presented to an annual meeting of the Society for Information Management.
The survey said most respondents say “CIOs need to sharpen their public speaking skills,” including improving (or actually acquiring) a sense of humor. On the other hand, 35% of CXOs say “the CIO should try to come across as less of a ‘techie’.” In other words, Soat said, “drop the acronyms and the code-jock jargon and brush up on your business lingo.”
The survey also said 67% of line-of-business (LOB) managers want their CIOs to help their companies choose the right technologies; only 37% of them think their current CIOs do that.
A significant issue came out of the survey, according to Soat, as most respondents see their CIOs’ greatest tech asset is their ability to support collaboration. “That makes sense: An army runs on its stomach, as Napoleon famously said, and a company runs on its e-mail system,” Soad said. However, the survey indicated that only a third of CXOs and LOB managers see supporting collaboration as critical to a CIO’s effectiveness.
While 42% point to knowledge of cutting-edge technologies with pride, less than a third of CXOs and only a quarter of both LOB managers and IT staff consider it important.
M.S. Krishnan, chair of business information technology at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, said that the research was a challenge to CIOs, saying that CIOs are “going to step up or they’re going to step down.”
Customers, M.S. Krishnan said, would always have more choices—and globalization will force companies to change business models. This, he added, is an opportunity for CIOs to control their career paths and help in the development of their companies.
“It’s IT that runs every business process today,” Krishnan said. “And while the IT department takes the responsibility for running those processes—the applications are doing fine, transactions are going great—they don’t take ownership.”
According to Soat, the good news is that most executives believe IT departments are bringing value to their companies. “Today’s IT departments are successfully accommodating business demands with the assets they have on hand. CIOs today are also better able to handle the demands of business strategy while managing their operations.”
