If you look up the definition of CIO, it says, "Chief Information Officer is a job title commonly given to the person in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals."
However when we started asking CIOs if they thought there should be a new definition for CIO, not only did we receive a resounding 'yes', they gave us many suggestions for exactly how the acronym could change to reflect new role of the CIO.
- Cynthia Stoddard, Senior Vice President and CIO of NetApp would change the name of the Chief Information Officer to, "CCO for Chief Collaboration Officer."
- Tim Elkins, CIO of Primelending would change it to "Chief Strategic Officer."
- Michael Macrie, Vice President and CIO of Land O' Lakes, Inc. would change it to, "Chief Process Innovation & Information Technology Officer."
- Aaron Stibel, Executive Vice President of Technology for Dunn & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation who declared that it should be "Chief Everything Officer."
Wow.
The message is clear. The role has and continues to dramatically change. CIOs today not only have to "keep the lights on," but also need to fully understand where the business is headed and play a key role in optimizing their organizations and processes to affect the bottom line.
As editor in chief, I hope this site becomes a resource for CIOs and future technologists alike to come together to discuss and brainstorm what the future CIO role looks like and give literal examples of 'enterprising moments' that show precisely how CIOs can help drive the business and ultimately affect the bottom line.
