Technological revolutions such as the emergence of cloud computing and social media have made CIOs readjust their roles. Here is a look at why their roles changed thanks to these innovations.
Why CIOs roles are changing
With the popularity of cloud computing and big data analytics, CIOs must balance their current responsibilities while also determining which of these current trends their businesses should use. For many CIOs, this may mean changing their responsibilities within their company.
Using the example of cloud computing, here are several ways this new technology forces CIOs to change their responsibilities:
- Less maintenance: Many CIOs oversee their organization’s servers and networks, but with cloud computing, service providers do this for them. Further, service providers update software as new versions become available so CIOs don’t have to manage this aspect either.
- Change in expenditures: When companies transition their software and data over to cloud service providers, CIOs must determine how much their companies should pay for these services, while also reducing cost on storage hardware they no longer need.
- Change in role: With many organizations moving to cloud-based technologies, CIOs discover they play a more strategic role within their organization’s structure since they have the time to focus on strategic planning instead of daily maintenance tasks.
Overall, these changes can sometimes lead to greater leadership opportunities for CIOs. According to IT News Africa, 67% of CIOs have more leadership roles outside of IT. This illustrates just how important CIOs are in transitioning their companies to these new technological trends.
How CIOs can Adapt
Simply, when companies decide to transition to new technologies, the CIOs can display their value in multiple ways. Here is a look at some of the roles they can fill:
- Chief Digital Officer: According to Gartner, one in five CIOs already fill the role of the CDO. The CDO is responsible for helping their companies in digital commerce while also identifying new technologies that can benefit their businesses.
- Chief Outsourcing Officer: When organizations decide to try cloud computing, the COO’s job is to determine which programs, software and data the company decides to outsource and which ones they should keep within their company.
- Chief Cloud Broker: One of the biggest adjustments for CIOs is when they take on this role. By finding a reputable service provider that offers secure cloud-based platforms, the CCB’s primary role is to build a relationship with that service provider to ensure the provider is able to meet the organization’s needs. This role is more relationship-based than the traditional CIO’s role of problem solver.
- Chief Insight Officer: One of the best ways CIOs can show their value is by providing their companies with well-analyzed data so the executive board can make sound business decisions.
- Chief Innovation Officer: The CIO explores new ways to conduct business by researching technological trends and determining which trends are right to employ for their businesses. In this case, the CIOs becomes more like business engineers, as they research and develop innovative ways to keep their company up to date on the latest technological offerings.
Ultimately, CIOs have shown a remarkable ability to adapt to emerging technologies. As technologies such as cloud-based platforms continue to rise in popularity, the role of the CIO will continue to evolve.