As the CIO role becomes a stepping-stone to other executive positions, more CIOs will find themselves reporting to bosses who’ve run IT at least once in their career. As the CIO role becomes a stepping-stone to other executive positions, more CIOs will find themselves reporting to bosses who’ve run IT at least once in their career. This can be a dream or a nightmare, according to two CIOs currently in this position.Raymond Dury, who joined Fifth Third Bancorp as its CIO in November 2006, reports to the COO, Greg Carmichael. Carmichael held Dury’s post before being promoted to COO last July. Dury says one of the benefits of reporting to Carmichael is that they have more productive discussions because they don’t have to focus so much on technology. Because Carmichael knows IT, the two can instead strategize and brainstorm ways to fulfill business requests more quickly and efficiently.The challenge for Dury: He can’t hide anything. If a project milestone is missed or a system doesn’t work as expected, Carmichael will know. Dury points out that this is not a bad thing. It just means that he has to play at the top of his game. “In order for me to excel, I have to be better than normal because he can differentiate average from great delivery,” says Dury.Richard Escue faces a slightly different situation at RehabCare Group. The CIO reports to the CFO, Jay Shreiner, who, while a finance guy at heart, once served as Kellogg’s CIO. Escue, who joined RehabCare in October 2006, says Schreiner’s CIO experience makes the oft-stressful CIO-CFO reporting relationship easier. “Because he’s been in the shoes of an IT leader, he knows we have lots of customers to serve and that we have to serve the operations side first and foremost, not the finance back office,” says Escue.Escue adds that when he interviewed for the job, he looked for signs that might indicate whether Shreiner was a micromanager. “To be a CIO working for someone who used to be a CIO and who by their nature is a micromanager would be terrible,” he says. But Escue says his experience has been “nothing but positive.” Related content brandpost Sponsored by Huawei Beyond gigabit: the need for 10 Gbps in business networks Interview with Liu Jianning, Vice President of Huawei's Data Communication Marketing & Solutions Sales Dept By CIO Online Staff Dec 04, 2023 9 mins Cloud Architecture Networking brandpost Sponsored by HPE Aruba Networking Bringing the data processing unit (DPU) revolution to your data center By Mark Berly, CTO Data Center Networking, HPE Aruba Networking Dec 04, 2023 4 mins Data Center brandpost Sponsored by SAP What goes well with Viña Concha y Toro wines? Meat, fish, poultry, and SAP Viña Concha y Toro, a wine producer that distributes to more than 140 countries worldwide, paired its operation with the SAP Business Technology Platform to enhance its operation and product. By Tom Caldecott, SAP Contributor Dec 04, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Azul How to maximize ROI by choosing the right Java partner for your organization Choosing the right Java provider is a critical decision that can have a significant impact on your organization’s success. By asking the right questions and considering the total cost of ownership, you can ensure that you choose the best Java p By Scott Sellers Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Application Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe