Chief information officeholder is a C-suite job title given to the executive in accuse of information technology initiatives and strategy. The CIO oversees the calculator systems required to support the organization's unique objectives and goals.
The CIO part was established in the 1980s. At that time, the CIO primarily focused on managing technical projects, launching systems and using technology to increase efficiency and productivity and cut costs. The job evolved as the storage, transmission and analysis of electronic data grew in importance in enterprises.
The role of these corporate leaders has continued to expand. They have get key contributors in how technology could be used to further business concern objectives and abound the height and bottom lines. CIOs now atomic number 82 digital transformation initiatives, besides as efforts that effect in broad organizational change.
In recent decades, engineering science has get cardinal to advancing production and service innovation and contributing to business growth. As a result, CIOs have forged closer ties with the business side of their organizations. Various new technologies are driving changes in the enterprise, including in the deject, data analytics, DevOps, the internet of things and artificial intelligence.
Every bit new technologies emerge and digital transformation accelerates, CIOs take had to develop skills that go beyond traditional technology management. CIOs accept taken on increased responsibilities. And in big organizations, they have typically delegated responsibility for solar day-to-day It operations to deputies. These technology-focused specialists often manage specific areas of IT.
The pinnacle tech executive'south priorities have changed over time as engineering science has advanced.
CIO job description and duties
The responsibilities of CIOs vary co-ordinate to the arrangement, industry and region in which they work. The main data officer at one organization could have an entirely dissimilar set of responsibilities from the CIO down the street.
CIOs in most organizations are responsible for the IT and computer systems that support enterprise goals. It is the CIO'south job to innovate, collaborate, balance the Information technology budget and motivate It staff.
The CIO'due south responsibilities include the following:
managing Information technology staff and developing department goals;
developing and overseeing the It budget;
planning, deploying and maintaining IT systems and operations;
managing the arrangement'due south software evolution needs
developing It policies, procedures and best practices
staying updated on IT trends and emerging technologies;
developing and enforcing It best practices across the organization;
ensuring It strategies and processes support company-broad goals;
overseeing relationships with vendors, contractors and service providers; and
explaining to the board of directors and other executives the benefits and risks of new IT-related projects.
See the 17 qualities that contribute to the success of top-performing CIOs.
Who does a CIO piece of work with?
In many enterprise organizations, the CIO reports to the chief executive officer (CEO). At some companies, the CIO has a seat on the executive board. CIOs frequently have close relationships with several other C-level executives, including the following:
main marketing officer
chief financial officeholder
primary supply chain officeholder
chief homo resource officer
CIOs likewise piece of work closely with the chief technology officer, who typically focuses on products to meet customer needs. They tin accept overlapping responsibilities with master security officers and principal digital officers in companies that have those positions.
Requirements and qualifications
The educational background of CIOs can vary. Still, they usually have at least a bachelor's degree.
Traditional college majors for this position include IT, informatics, management data systems, IT direction and project direction. CIOs may come from other technology disciplines -- including networking, data scientific discipline or security.
Some companies seek to hire CIOs with graduate degrees in fields such as IT management, project management and computer information systems. Others look for candidates who have a Master of Business Assistants degree with an emphasis on Information technology.
CIOs practise not have to accept technical degrees to lead an It organization. With sufficient technical cognition, people without a degree or with a non-tech degree can run these organizations. In some cases, this technical knowhow can come from on-the-chore learning.
Regardless of their educational background, CIOs must exist able to monitor and understand technology trends and tap the knowledge of engineering science experts. Other skills and expertise that can be useful in the top tech job include the following:
legal expertise
corporate finance
data management
vendor and partner management
projection management
compliance
security
Key CIO skills
Organizations are looking for CIOs with skills in 2 important categories: hard skills and soft skills.
What hard skills should a CIO accept?
These are skills that involve specific, teachable abilities required to exercise a certain job. CIO job postings often ask that applicants take hard skills such as these:
proficiency in establishing It services framework and It security policies;
ability to recruit and manage Information technology staff members;
projection management skills;
budget management skills;
aptitude for customer appointment assay; and
ability to institute partnerships with service providers and vendors.
Notice out the 5 characteristics common to transformational leaders.
What soft skills should a CIO have?
Soft skills cover an individual's power to appoint with others. They include empathy, optimism, integrity, teamwork and humour. All these attributes contribute to a person'southward leadership and management abilities, both of which are vital parts of the CIO job.
One important aspect of the CIO job is selling the benefits of engineering science and the need for digital transformation to a company's executives and board of directors. Given that, communications and interpersonal skills are specially important. These skills not only enhance an Information technology leader's relationships with other executives and their IT staff members, but they likewise ameliorate job performance and career prospects.
Salary data
CIO salaries vary co-ordinate to several factors, including the following:
level of education
feel
range of skills
location
industry
type and size of the organization
According to Salary.com, the boilerplate base of operations salary for CIOs is $125,524. However, salaries tin vary from $83,064 to $150,982. Bacon.com said the average full greenbacks compensation -- base bacon plus bonus and turn a profit sharing -- for CIOs at $237,956. That rate can range from $158,906 to $285,879.
As their jobs evolve and require disparate skillsets, CIOs must be flexible.
Indeed.com pegged the average base salary for a CIO at $122,002 a year and turn a profit-sharing at $21,200. This would be in addition to other benefits, including 401-Chiliad matching, paid fourth dimension off and medical insurance.
According to Dice.com, which hosts a database of engineering jobs, the average yearly salary for IT direction roles -- including the CIO and CTO -- in 2020 was $143,416 in the United states of america. Dice does not publish a separate figure for CIO pay.
Task outlook
Every bit a member of an organisation'south executive team, the CIO must have strong business acumen, outstanding communication skills, strategic planning skills and knowledge of an organization's internal operations and engineering science initiatives. This became clear as the COVID-19 pandemic forced further evolution in the CIO job. Equally the workforce went remote and customer interaction inverse, CIOs had to focus fifty-fifty more than on business operations and how IT could brand information technology more productive, cost-efficient and secure.
The role of the CIO will go along to evolve. CIOs will have to pay attending to several IT trends, co-ordinate to Niel Nickolaisen, SearchCIO contributor and senior vice president and CIO at O.C. Tanner Co. These trends include the emergence of a services-centric awarding architecture to replace the large, monolithic enterprise application. Some other trend that can't be ignored is the ever-quickening stride of engineering and business alter. The advantage in IT is speed, Nickolaisen said, and CIOs should focus on innovation for competitive advantage.
As their jobs evolve and require disparate skillsets, CIOs must be flexible. They volition have to draw on their own diverse strengths and those of their colleagues, teams and partners.
Collaboration will be key, and duties and task titles will overlap. When working with their teams, CIOs may have to shift their focus from talent acquisition to talent development on the job and through training programs.
Find out more than about the evolution of the CIO job over the last 40 years and the role of the CIO today in this in-depth review.
Post a Comment for "What depth of IT understanding does a CIO need in order to be effective"