CIOs: Are you finding that you have an opportunity to exert more strategic influence than ever before, but somewhat ironically, your time is being eaten up by maintaining the very IT infrastructure that your organization’s business processes have become more dependent upon?
If so, you’re not alone, according to a new CIO/IDG Research Market Pulse report sponsored by Red Hat. When the research services survey asked 100 respondents at the IT director level (and above) to name their top five activities, 48 percent selected “improving IT operations/systems performance” and 47 percent selected “implementing new systems and architectures.”
Then when survey respondents were asked how they would like to spend their time in the coming years, all the top desired activities were directly related to business-focus roles rather than IT upkeep. However, the survey found that “in a sign of the disconnect between the daily IT reality and the ideal, the top desired role — “Identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation” — wasn’t even among the the top five current activities of the IT executives surveyed.
How to “keep the lights on” is pulling CIOs away from more strategic roles. And that could be contributing to the overall job satisfaction of respondents. The survey asked IT leaders if they were satisfied and fulfilled in their current roles, and while the majority were, a fair amount reported little or no enthusiasm about their jobs.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. The survey found that “many IT executives are already taking steps to help identify new business opportunities within their organization.” The report details which technologies they believe will help drive company differentiation in the future, and which innovation projects respondents are focusing on to move the business forward.
The report also questions whether the CIO title and role have grown stale, suggesting four ways to rethink the CIO role.
To learn more about the pressures and challenges facing other IT executives and how you can help lead the cultural change at your organization, download the full CIO/IDG Research Market Pulse report, “CIOs at a Technology and Cultural Crossroads.”
