What is the future state of the CIO?

Opinion

Aug 31, 2010

IT Leadership

The CIO role seems to be beset with the question, what is its future? It’s strange really. You don’t hear people asking, ‘will there always be a need for a Financial Director?’ Or ‘do we need a CEO?’ Organisations will always need finances, so will always need a financial director. And it would be a brave analyst who questioned if organisations will always need IT, because I doubt there are too many volunteers who really want to return to paper based processes.

The debate about the future of the CIO role is nuanced by the fact that IT, like energy, is becoming a more consumable affair that needn’t be owned by the organisation. Just because an organisation doesn’t own its infrastructure, doesn’t mean to say it doesn’t need a leading figure to work out the best way to utilise IT. For example there are myriad organisations that do not own their sales channel, but these organisations still need a leader to make sure they reach customers successfully.

One thing is clear, the CIO role is changing and along with CIO UK’s partners at the CIO Executive Council I will be hosting a conference call debate on what the future state of the CIO role will be. Please join us for this call. We are not out to sell you a package, instead this call will take you through the Future State model and how CIOs can develop their careers and teams towards a more strategic role.

The discussion will include Dave Ubachs, CIO & Shared Services Manager for UK, Ireland & Scandinavia at pharmaceutical makers Procter & Gamble. Ubachs will discuss how as a CIO he is ensuring that his role covers the functional, transformational and strategic demands that the Future State identifies for the CIO role and how he prioritises strategy. We will also discuss how IT is critical to customer interaction and therefore the organisation. This is an opportunity to learn from and question Ubachs on developing collaborative techniques and team development.