Information technology (IT) has the power to disrupt industries and transform how business is done. Leading companies are already tapping that power. Rethinking business strategies, processes and management practices. Reshaping companies and cultures. Recasting infrastructures and product portfolios. And most important, achieving exceptional business results. Standing at the center of this transformation is today’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). There might have been a time when keeping the company’s data centers up and running was good enough. But today, expectations for a CIO are much, much higher.

Roles and responsibilities:

CIO is responsible for the management, implementation and usability of information and computer technologies. The CIO analyzes how these technologies can benefit the company or improve an existing business process and will then integrate a system to realize that benefit or improvement. His role covers all the aspects of the organization’s information technology and systems.

One of the most important responsibilities of a CIO is of developing future IT leaders. Yet many CIOs do not spend enough time and attention doing it. Somewhere between the pressure of budgets and deadlines, the best of intentions go awry.

CIO’s 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.

CIO manages people with different skill sets - application developers, operations people, project leaders. He scales the notion of interdependencies to a broader level that includes board and governance, product management, people, services, and sales.

The CIO role has in some cases been expanded to become the chief knowledge officer. The CIO role is also sometimes used interchangeably with the chief technology officer’s role, although they are slightly different. CTO is responsible for technological research and development as part of products and services whereas a CIO deals primarily with information technology as infrastructure.

Profile:

One of the most demanding jobs in today’s corporate environment is that of CIOs, requiring specific characteristics, personal traits, technology skills, and business acumen that make for a highly effective and functioning CIO. Far and away, the characteristic most identified with an effective CIO is that person’s ability “to support company-wide business strategy.”

Profile of CIO needs to include: Alignment oriented, process savvy, innovation driven, customer focused, the ability to simplify complexity. He also needs to understand global competition.

Ask a dozen IT industry watchers to profile the most important trait of today’s CIO and you won’t get a dozen different answers. You’ll likely get the same answer over and over again: CIOs have to be focused on the business. IT can now be thought of as BT — for business technology. For many organizations, IT infrastructure and business infrastructure are one in the same.

The other important characteristics for CIO effectiveness are the ability to understand both business process and technology, and the ability to drive innovation. That’s in line with what most observers see as the emerging role of the CIO: a strategist well versed in the processes encapsulated in a company’s software applications and able to envision, articulate, and help implement business process change.

As for knowledge of cutting-edge technologies, that seems to be a CIO thing. More than a passing knowledge of technology is necessary to function as an effective CIO. CIO needs to understand the questions he needs to ask. Otherwise, you end up with technologists talking over your head.

A successful CIO possesses excellent negotiation skills. He needs to sharpen public-speaking skills. That includes improving (or actually acquiring) a sense of humor, such as being able to tell a joke every now and then. CIO must communicate effectively, think and plan strategically, incorporate and evaluate large amounts of information, make decisions and negotiate.

Personal characteristic, the individual trait that make for an effective CIO is the ability to inspire and motivate an organization. CIOs aren’t generally thought of as inspirational corporate leaders, cheerleaders, or motivational speakers, except if you think of some highly visible CIOs, such as Rob Carter of FedEx, who isn’t only a brilliant technical tactician but an IT visionary. Other personal characteristic required is ethical integrity. It’s significant, though, for this reason: Because the CIO is the steward of a company’s data stores - employee data, partner data, customer data - personal integrity is an asset for that person, and even potentially a competitive advantage for the company where he or she works.

Failures:

Whereas earlier CIOs rarely made it past two years, now three years is the make or break point that shows if you’re going to be successful in the long run.
For those CIOs who don’t make it past their third year, it’s usually for one or more of these reasons:

• Not focused on the business: If it doesn’t deliver a measurable and worthwhile ROI for the business, it’s a failure. “CIOs need the ability to run their IT departments in a business-like way.
• Major application failure: At the enterprise level, when an IT department makes mistakes, they usually make big headlines. The CIO is often the first to go in the aftermath.
• Project never gets finished or goes too far over budget.

Areas to work towards, for success:

Even for what is considered a successful run in the CIO chair, longevity is not typical. Following areas are suggested for CIOs to focus on, to ensure that their tenure on the job is a long one:

• Leadership skills: A CIO has to demonstrate the right level of sophistication for the job. A lack of leadership will be the first thing to expose a CIO’s incompetence.
• Management skills: More so than other departments, CIOs have to manage multiple groups (staff operating within the IT department, as well as extended across other departments, outside vendors, projects, and, of course nowadays, the performance of outsourced contract workers, as well).
• Alignment with business executives: It’s essential today that a CIO knows how to fit like a glove with the other C-level executives and other influential leaders within the organization. IT is no longer just a service department making sure the computers work and stay online. Companies count on IT for new technologies that will give the business an edge against competitors.
• Good style match: Is the company more comfortable with the conservative button-down type or the risk-taking maverick? For the new CIO recruited from outside the organization, it’s especially important to quickly get a sense of the corporate culture - and adapt quickly enough.
• Strategic thinking There’s a reason why 35% of all CIOs today, according to Forrester Research, come from a business background and not IT. Increasingly, the core mission of IT is less about implementing technology and more about implementing business strategy in the form of new technologies.
An MBA is now a basic job requirement for many CIOs. An IT background is increasingly not.

Prominence:

The prominence of this position has risen greatly as information technology has become a more important part of business. The CIO may be a member of the executive board of the organization, but this is dependent on the type of organization.

The number of CIOs has increased greatly with the expanded use of IT and computer technology in businesses.

CIO role, if managed correctly, can be the perfect place for becoming a CEO, (Chief Executive Officer), the highest ranking corporate officer. With their unique role in the enterprise, CIOs are well positioned to develop the attributes of great CEOs.

It’s increasingly a rotational job for other C-level executives being groomed for the CEO job. It’s a trend that’s on the rise.

Posted on October 1st, 2008 by Vikram Kole
Filed under: CIO Community

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