It’s the sort of thing CIOs whisper to one another over drinks at the end of a conference. “CIO stands for career is over,” they say. “Marketing has taken all the meat out of the IT office,” others mutter. Are they right? Should the CIO still exist, or can the role’s responsibilities now be absorbed elsewhere?
According to The Society for Information Management’s 2013 poll of 650 US-based IT leaders, 44.7 per cent are now directly reporting to the chief executive, a figure up on previous years. The same survey also found 27.1 per cent reported to the CFO, a figure that had declined from the previous year. Similar figures have been reported in Australia, with a CIO Survey from Harvey Nash finding 41 per cent of Australian CIOs report to the CEO.
These statistics indicate that IT is becoming increasingly important to businesses and CEOs. However, the figures also imply that the very nature of IT leadership is changing. It is becoming as much a strategic role as it is a role for a tech specialist, moving closer to that traditionally held by the COO.
The rise of the Third Platform
This change is in part due to the evolution of cloud computing, a development that research group IDC has branded ‘the rise of the Third Platform’. In the past, companies viewed cloud as a consumer issue – exemplified by popular early products such as Microsoft’s Hotmail and Google’s Gmail cloud-based email services.
However, those services – along with productivity applications like Microsoft’s Office 365 and customer relationship management (CRM) packages such as Salesforce.com – have since migrated into the enterprise. Software that was previously installed on site and came under the purview of the CIO’s office is now offered as a service, often for a monthly fee. Frighteningly for traditional CIOs, the marketing department often has responsibility for controlling the purse strings when purchasing these cloud computing services.
The Third Platform, which includes mobile, social, cloud and big data, is very much focused on the customer, and less so on the traditional enterprise desktop user. Its rise will require CIOs to develop a completely different set of skills if they are to survive.
A focus on planning and strategy
According to IDC, by 2017 40 per cent of CIOs will have taken on a strategic planning role to meet the demands of Third Platform technologies.
By 2018, IDC states that Third Platform technologies will have almost completely dominated IT roles, leaving the current gap between business planning and IT planning unsustainable. Business planning must now be about preparing to use these Third Platform technologies effectively. It cannot be separated from IT planning.
IDC advises front-footed CIOs to abandon the role of managing technology to a more junior manager, such as a chief technology officer. Delegating this role will enable the CIO to focus on strategy, information intelligence and technology innovation – tasks more traditionally handled by a COO.
It’s also key for the CIO to forge direct links with the chief marketing officer (CMO). CMOs understand that the Third Platform is about meeting the needs of customers, and less about the technology deployed on employee desks. They often have the last say in directing funds to meet the needs of Third Platform customers and consumers.
It's the CIO, but not as we know it
It seems there’s still room for the title of CIO, but while the moniker won’t change, the underlying role will.
CIOs will move from focusing on desktop and enterprise technology rollouts towards meeting the needs of consumers and end customers – mirroring some COO responsibilities, working more closely with the CMO and reporting directly to the CEO in the process.
