News in Information Age that is simultaneously encouraging and puzzling: according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (presumably, rather than the ‘Economics Intelligence Unit’ the article credits):
“…globalisation and increasing competition in markets worldwide is driving senior managers to demand a closer alignment of IT to business goals. The research indicates that 69% of senior IT and business executives expect the primary role of IT, traditionally cost efficiency, to be elevated to that of enabling revenue growth within three years.”
However, the report talks of a ‘fissure’ between CEOs and board directors, who are supposedly pushing for this transformation in the role of IT, and CIOs and IT managers who are apparently dragging their feet.
This strikes me as odd, given that shift is inevitable and surely a golden opportunity for the IT function to secure the long sought-after guaranteed place at the top table. The evolution in the role of the CIO is about to go into fast-forward – let’s hope enough people are ready for it.
