The Evolving CIO-8th Annual Survey

Senior IT Interim Management roles continue to be an important functional component within the Interim Management world for us, so the recent publication of Harvey Nash IT's (one of our sister company's) publication, the 8^thAnnual 'Strategic Leadership Survey- A CIO Perspective' was of great significance to us.

The survey sponsored by KPMG has been supported by regional events to launch it. Each was well attended by the senior 'good and the great' from the world of IT. 'Things are looking pretty good for CIO's this year, and most are in a confident mood. Salaries are increasing, packages are expanding and IT budgets, while not booming, are at least in line with inflation'.

I have highlighted summary points of the survey below for your interest:

A positive year for CIO evolution:The CIO is continuing to evolve into a more strategic role, with heads of IT keen to gain more responsibility. Some 76% now believe their role has become more tragic, compared to 67% last year, and many are widening their remit away from just the IT department - 66% have already expanded their scope of responsibility, and the 34% who aren't, would like to do. They are increasingly involved in strategic decision making that reflects the broader needs of the business, as well as taking specific responsibility for areas such as logistics, business continuity and corporate change management.

Their growing confidence means that if CIOs are not getting what they need to feel fulfilled in their roles, they will look around to see what other employers can offer them. Some 60% say they are likely to move within the next two years, but only 16% of them are actively looking for a new job, indicating they are reasonably satisfied with their roles. On the whole CIOs seem happy and fulfilled with their current roles, but are keen to expand and evolve further.

Strategic challenges:

The vast majority of CIOs say they are happy in their role, indicating high levels of
job satisfaction. The primary drivers for CIOs seeking a new role is a greater involvement  in business strategy (25%) and a new challenge (32%). The results all point to CIOs being  more confident in their roles, and more determined to dictate their responsibilities.

Better packages:

Salaries and packages are also an indication of the upbeat mood, and show that not only are CIOs being paid more, but they are also they are receiving better packages, and benefits, compared with a year ago. The average respondent salary in 2006 was £104,000, compared to £84,800 last year, and while the 2006 benefits CIOs receive are similar to last year, bonus payments are higher.

Top priorities integrating business and IT:

CIOs believe that IT and business integration is moving in the right direction with 59% of respondents saying that they are well integrated, compared with 41% last year. However with a substantial percentage not properly integrated there is still much work to be done.

Meeting project deadlines has also become more important for CIOs, with 39% believing they are a high priority, compared to 28% last year. As the IT recruitment market becomes more buoyant, staffing issues have also become more of a concern - 17% of CIOs believe staffing is a high priority compared to 7% last year. The importance of controlling the quality and costs of outsourcing has also become more important this year with 17% of CIOs citing it as a high priority. This may be suggestive of an upward trend in outsourcing cost as competition for talent in countries such as India becomes more intense.

CIOs think that the outsourcing market has matured. Some 85% use it to run some of their operations, and 48% think spending on it will increase, however, only 14% think all of their original outsourcing objectives have been met.

Ten percent more CIOs are looking for cost reductions from outsourcing this year, 33% compared to 22% last year.

Offshore meets business expectations:

Of those who outsource, the majority use offshore services, and 41% of those expect the amount of work they send offshore to increase. On the whole offshore services are working well, some 66% of CIOs say that their business expectations of offshore services are being met, and 7% say they have been exceeded.

Suppliers still not delivering:

Against this backdrop there is a growing frustration with suppliers who are not exhibiting an understanding of CIOs' business needs. Vendors, outsourcers, and those organisations that supply advice and consultancy are all criticised by CIOs. CIOs are becoming more demanding, both of their teams and their suppliers.

Team strengths:

There seems to be some work to be done in improving the capabilities of IT teams, as although the majority of CIOs believe that building and maintaining relationships with the business is very important, only 18% of CIOs believe that their team is excellent at doing it, compared to 25% who thought so last year. Similarly 63% of CIOs think managing and delivering IT operations are very important, but only 30% believe their team is excellent at it, compared with 38% last year.

Future trends:

There is much scope for CIOs to move their strategic role forward with new technologies that will add to the bottom line. Technology convergence is now mature enough to make a real difference to the business, and 63% of CIOs are investing time in this area this year. Blogging, although in its infancy has the potential to add even more business value, but only 8% of CIOs have realised the impact it could have on their organisations, and are actively using it as part of an enterprise-wide strategy.

Corporate social responsibility will continue to be an issue for CIOs, with 72% believing that there is a justification for an ethical supplier policy, and 77% thinking that technology has a role to play in bridging the gap between the developed and developing worlds.

If you would like a soft or hard copy of the full survey email me at clive.sexton@impactexecutives.com