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By Michael Eggebrecht
Working on the natural assumption that CIOs are interested in, and can learn from, what their fellow technology executives are doing, IBM on Thursday released a study based on interviews with more than 2,500 of them.
The report, which includes CIOs from 78 countries, 19 industries, and companies of varying size, focuses on the broad -- seemingly contradictory -- responsibilities of the role. IBM divides the characteristics of a successful CIO into three sets of pairs: an insightful visionary and able pragmatist; a savvy value creator and relentless cost cutter; and a collaborative business leader and inspiring IT manager.
"Even some experienced CIOs acknowledged that they are sufficiently strong in just one or two of the six CIO roles," says the study. "Yet every role requires at least some attention."
According to the study, CIOs spend 55 percent of their day on activities that spur innovation, including "generating buy-in for innovative plans, implementing new technologies and managing non-technology business issues." The rest of their time is devoted to "more traditional CIO tasks" related to managing the IT environment.
"In IT, we are not magicians, but we are certainly jugglers," said an electronics CIO interviewed by IBM.
"Clearly the role of the CIO is changing dramatically," said IBM CIO Pat Toole in a statement announcing the report. "On the one hand they are trying to standardize routine processes and simplify their existing IT infrastructure to reduce costs, hence their growing interest in technologies such as cloud computing. On the other hand, given the central role that today's CIO performs in driving new business models … it's not surprising that the amount of time they are now spending on driving new kinds of growth for their companies is growing considerably."
IBM classified companies that participated in the study as high-, medium- or low-growth based on their profit before tax from 2004 to 2007. At high-growth companies, says IBM, 62 percent of CIOs were members of the most senior management team, compared to 46 percent at low-growth organizations. Sixty-four percent of high-growth CIOs said they actively integrate business and IT across the organization; 33 percent of low-growth CIOs are active integrators.
IBM says that high-growth CIOs are more likely to proactively innovate, but what areas are they focusing on? Business intelligence and analytics, said 83 percent of respondents. "CIOs are investing in business analytics capabilities to help them improve decision-making at all levels," said Toole. "In addition, in this challenging economy, CIOs understand that analytics can be key to new growth markets, whether it's new ways to manage a utility grid or smarter healthcare systems."
Seventy-six percent of CIOs named virtualization as a priority, followed by risk management and compliance (71 percent), customer and partner collaboration (68 percent), mobility solutions (68 percent) and self-service portals (66 percent).
High-growth CIOs spent 28 percent of their time on new technology and business initiatives, compared to 15 percent for low-growth CIOs. Meanwhile, low-growth CIOs spent 74 percent more of their day focusing on core technology services.
Successful organizations and their CIOs, says IBM, are working to improve communications both within the enterprise and with external partners and customers. High-growth CIOs were 60 percent more likely to use collaboration technology than their low-growth counterparts. However, noted a CIO of a Chinese consumer products company, "collaboration tools need to be institutionalized to meet the demands of the business."
Cost-cutting is an increasingly important aspect of the CIO job in the current economic environment. According to the study, CIOs spend 14 percent of their time removing costs. One way to control costs is through centralized infrastructure and processes: About 75 percent of CIOs expect to have a strongly centralized infrastructure within five years.
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