Eight Roles of the Multidimensional CIO
04 Dec 2006
by Jeff WackerChoosing the Right Roles – And Avoiding the Wrong Ones – For a Successful Balance
The companies that appointed the first CIOs in the late 1970s couldn't have envisioned the demanding, multiple responsibilities into which the position has evolved. Since the first CIOs were mostly technicians, they approached their jobs from a technical perspective: Optimize the acquisition, integration and application of information technology.
But as the role continues to gain prominence and value in the enterprise, the multiple dimensions of the job – in increasingly complex business and technology environments – are truly becoming daunting. In case anyone doubts this, here are just a few of the many hats today's successful CIOs are wearing:
- Chief integration officer. Generations of single-viewpoint decisions – a.k.a. silos of legacy systems – have created an integration nightmare in most enterprises. Each operational silo is continually demanding a singular set of solutions it considers ideal. But the CIO must take an enterprise perspective of the situation that will inevitably mean compromise at the division level.
- Chief innovation officer. We know that innovation is coming from all directions and sources – and in an environment of increasing change, it must be understood, cultivated and managed.
- Chief irritation officer. OK, so this isn't the most flattering dimension of the CIO, but it certainly is important. Every organization needs a strategic irritant: someone who challenges, yet respects, the status quo, striking a balance between what's technically possible and what's economically feasible.
- Chief identity officer. Identity management is a capability to optimize the flow of information to partners, customers and employees. CIOs should know who the right person is, and provide that individual with the right information in the right form in the right place at the right time to drive the right outcome (Right6).
- Chief inoculation officer. Applying the appropriate perimeter security capabilities to not only inoculate the organization against threats but also recover from these incursions is a critical dimension of the CIO.
- Chief international officer. While the primary responsibility for international relations might fall to the COO, the challenge of managing the business and technical infrastructures necessary for the global enterprise rests at least partly with the CIO.
- Chief investigative officer. New constructs around utility computing, pattern recognition, simulation, predictive technologies, complex-event processing and event-stream processing technologies emerge from every page of the next IT journal. The CIO must understand these new capabilities – and, when economically appropriate, apply them to create high business value.
- Chief information officer. Sure, you already knew this. But let's focus on information, not information technology. A 2003 University of California-Berkeley study stated that the amount of uniquely digitized information is “expected to double every year for the foreseeable future.” And a 2004 EMC study reported that “humankind will generate more original information over the next three years than in the previous 4,000 years combined.”
Not only must CIOs work at the strategy level, they must also understand and relate to the details. They must understand and preserve that which is optimally efficient, yet also muster the courage to find what could work better. Their role is part lawyer, technician, mediator and change agent. They must be as much at home in the business environment as in the technical world.
No other position requires the executive to excel in so many capacities. And even if someone masters the many dimensions explained here, it's safe to say that the future CIO should prepare to take on further additional, unexpected responsibilities. It's the nature of the job.
About the Author:
Jeff Wacker
Jeff Wacker is an EDS Fellow and a futurist. He has appeared on the History Channel's “Modern Marvels,” is a contributing writer for EDS' Next Big Thing Blog and is an expert on RFID.