The CIO's Influence in the Business Is Growing
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The CIO's Influence in the Business Is Growing
IT leaders are becoming change instigators and business co-creators in their companies, and are in a good position to influence and support digital initiatives. -
Net Gain
41% of CIOs and other tech leaders surveyed said their IT budget has increased by at least 5% in the last financial year, while 21% said it declined by at least 5%. -
Majority Share
On average, CIOs and other technology leaders said they control 77% of the tech budget. -
Top Emerging Tech Investment Targets
Cognitive technology: 64%, Internet of things: 61%, Robotic process automation: 43% -
Multiple Hats
55% of the CIOs and other tech leaders consider themselves "trusted operators," and 45% consider themselves "change instigators" or "business co-creators." -
Versatile Asset
56% of the respondents have held leadership roles outside of IT, with 42% of them holding these roles in a business or geographic unit. -
Talent Assessment
68% said they'd rate their IT department's business acumen as no less than "above average," and 18% rate their tech staffers as leading class for business acumen. -
Business Expectations of IT Leaders
Improve business processes: 70%, Reduce costs and increase efficiencies: 67%, Maintain IT systems: 66%, Manage cyber-security: 61%, Support business innovation: 57% -
Market Perspective
57% of survey respondents said they are keenly focused on customers, while 49% said they prioritize growth. -
Characteristics of Successful IT Leaders
Technology vision: 71%, Ability to influence internal stakeholders: 64%, Strong communications skills: 57%, Ability to attract and retain talent: 48%, Ability to communicate the financial impact of IT: 45% -
Employment Shift
Survey respondents said 74% of their IT staff works full time, but this should decline to 71% within two years. -
Most Desired Tech Skill Areas for Recruitment
Analytics: 65%, Customer and digital experience: 52%, Program management: 44%, Cloud and distributed systems: 43%, Systems and enterprise architecture: 41%
In addition to being perceived as trusted custodians of technology systems, CIOs and other tech leaders said they are becoming change instigators and business co-creators in their companies, according to a recent survey from Deloitte. The accompanying 2016-2017 global CIO survey, "Navigating Legacy: Charting the Course to Business Value," indicates that most CIOs now come to their positions from leadership roles outside the IT department—frequently within a business area. Survey respondents think highly of their IT department's business acumen, which helps them meet expectations related to the improvement of business processes and innovation. And, to ensure their efforts align with immediate and long-term strategies in an enterprisewide manner, respondents said that over the next two years, they will seek to hire tech pros who are skilled in analytics, the customer and digital experience, and program management. "The CIO is well-positioned to influence and support the whole digital iceberg and to help create the right strategy, platforms and services to realize a holistic digital enterprise rather than a collection of disjointed departmental investments," according to the report. "[Because] many business priorities are related to the digital agenda, CIOs can be more responsive to bridging current gaps. Effective foresight enables them to effectively prepare themselves and their IT organizations to support the next business need and even influence the direction of the overall business." More than 1,215 global CIOs and other technology leaders took part in the research.