Individuals who are in possession of a CIO title know their position has grown in complexity like never before. Tasked with transitioning apps and data to the cloud, ensuring systems and networks remain inaccessible to outsiders, and spearheading digital transformations, CIOs are expected to do it all. At the same time, CEOs and other business advisors need them to win more customers and increase revenue.
3 CEO Expectations of a CIO
“Doing it all” seems all encompassing, so what are some things CEOs really want CIOs to do on a basic level? Let’s take a look.
1) Focus on strategy: IT leaders are spending more time on strategic endeavors than a year ago such as driving business innovation (stated by 33 percent of CIOs compared to 26 percent in 2016) and finding opportunities for competitive differentiation amongst competitors. Because of this shift, functional duties such as managing IT network security, application performance management, and cutting costs are a lower priority for CIOs, but those duties aren’t going anywhere either. This year, the amount of functional CIOs shrunk to 20 percent from 27 percent in 2016, while the share of strategic CIOs rose to 31 percent (up from 27 percent in 2016), the highest level since 2014.
2) Recruit top-notch employees: No matter the skill sets and transformational skills an IT leader is looking for, attracting quality employees will remain a challenge. CIOs will continue to see talent shortages in the areas of cyber security, software development, and data science. Sixty percent of CIOs say they are experiencing a skills crunch, up considerably from 49 percent last year. With this reality, CIOs will be forced to get more creative with their recruiting strategies, possibly turning to strategic partnerships, freelancers or IT Consultants.
3) Increase speed: In our now consumer-driven world, most CIOs are familiar with today’s fast pace of change. In the upcoming year, even the most traditional enterprises will need to make operational changes that drive speed and efficiency. Tried-and-true methods won’t matter if they are slow to work and gain results; the same goes for legacy staff. No single part of a company is immune to the demands of customers, their expectations, and the need for quick and modern service. CEOs expect IT leaders to push for enterprise-wide acceleration–and a comprehensive business technology strategy–to stay pace with the consumer need for new and better products and services.
Like everyone in the C-suite, a lot is expected from CIOs, particularly a strong strategic vision to act as the company’s guiding light. CEOs also expect IT leaders to attract and retain employees who can serve the unique needs of the business while increasing the speed of the organization as a whole.
