The Seven Roles of Highly Effective CIOs

Key Role 1: Utility Provider

CIOs oversee building and sustaining robust, reliable and economical IT infra-structure services. As businesses expand globally, CIOs will direct the addition of key utility services such as helpdesk and the deployment of communication, collaboration and productivity tools.

Key Role 2: Information Steward

CIOs lead the development of an enterprise architecture that defins the business' information and data needs, estabilishment of enterprise-wide standards for information management and use, and compliance efforts with key regulatory and industry norms for integrity and privacy of information.

Key Role 3: Educator

CIOs rasie the awareness of their business peers about the strategic role and relevance of key informatio technologies and help them become more "savvy" in making strategic IT decisions. Savvy business exces appreciate how IT can be leveraged to drive business innovation and are willing to adopt IT-enabled business initiatives.

Key Role 4: Integrator

CIOs lead enterprise efforts to digitize and integrate processes, information and decision-support so that the firm effectively leverages enterprise information technologies such as customer resource management and business intelligence. In particular, CIOs oversee the implmentation of crucual program management offices and portfolio management systems.

Key Role 5: Relationship Architect

CIOs maintain relationships with top business leaders inside the enterprise and externally with key IT services providers. Both are critical for effective business technology management. CIOs employ formal mechanisms such as IT executive councils and business process steering teams, as well as informal mechanisms such as one-on-one relationships for nurturing collaboration. CIOs also drive the development of sourcing networks through vendor relationship management that is critical, not just in leveraging external partners for cost-effective IT applications development and services, but also in gaining access to new IT skills and knowledge.

Key Role 6: Strategist

CIOs activity serve as innovation catalysts and work with their business peers in discoving opportunities to leverage IT in innovative business models, customer relationships and the pursuit of agility.

Key Role 7: Leader

CIOs lead, design and govern the IT organization, ensuring that the IT organization has the right staff, works actively on developing human capital, and inspires IT professionals to contribute to the organization's mission and achieve their full potential.

Source: Society for Information Management