CIO

We ask a lot of our CIOs. Just follow the myriad magazine articles and research pieces targeting CIOs to read of the breadth and depth of expectations heaped upon a single role. The industry experts who define what CIOs ”should be” suggest that they must be technology visionaries and innovators, business transformation change agents, vendor relationship negotiators, sav

Today’s CIOs face a ticking clock: Every year, according to one estimate, between one-quarter and one-third get the boot. Using the higher rate, that’s a turnover of 50 percent every 21 months. Not much of a honeymoon for them, and a deeply destabilizing fact for the rest of the organization.

What gives?

Though there are no definitive answers, IT industry watchers have identified one problem that seems to run rampant among IT leaders—a lack of “vision,” meaning long-term strategic business thinking.

For the third year, Architecture & Governance Magazine has undertaken a major survey of the IT community to understand its changing perspectives on strategy, process, politics, and the evolving role of the enterprise architect. This year, 401 readers completed the survey over a seven-day period in June. Some of the results were expected—following trends we have observed in years past. But some were quite startling—in particular, the declining relevance of the enterprise architecture process among its more quantifiable brethren.

Surviving—and Thriving—as the CIO for an IT Company

With today’s accelerated business pace, increasing compliance requirements, and ever-changing technologies, the role of the chief information officer has never been more interesting or challenging. That’s especially true if—like me—you’re the CIO of a company that provides IT products or services.

With many IT leaders forced to justify their group’s economic value, it’s more critical than ever to present executive managers with the right measurements for IT’s contributions. But most IT organizations fall short of this objective.

With the dialogue about climate change increasing, businesses look to their CIOs to take action and glean the benefits gained from “doing good” — improved corporate reputation and financial gains.