What do CEOs want from CIOs? A conference invitation on my desk offers to give me the answer. But if we’re to avoid the lowest common denominator, surely it’s got to be personal?Let’s suppose I’m your CEO and you’re my CIO. What do I want from you? If we’ve been together for more than a few moments, I’ve already figured out where I think your strengths lie, and I’ll want you to exploit those strengths as much as you can to the benefit of our corporate strategies and of your career. I’ll also have concluded any gaps in your strengths that we’ll need to plug if we’re going to get the best out of our investments involving IT. Whatever any other CEOs might be expecting from their CIOs, as far as you and I are concerned, I know what I want and what – realistically – you will and won’t be able to give me. Which is not to say I’ll be ignoring the market, and what other CIOs are doing for their CEOs. But you and I may be achieving greater things together than the market out there, in which case I’ll ignore market orthodoxies and stick to the journey we’re on. On the other hand, if it sounds like there’s some folks getting much more from their CEO/CIO relationship than we are, you can bet I’ll be listening. And contrary to much of the messaging that goes on, I’m not really interested in what percentage of the market we’re talking about. If there’s just one CEO who’s managing to get much more from the CEO/CIO relationship than I am, I want to know what they’re doing differently.In fact, if anyone just wants to tell me, in a conference or anywhere else, that 99% of CEOs expect X from their CIO so X must be the right answer, forget it. Firstly I’m not 99% of CEOs. I’m me. And the innovator in me knows that the more people who are doing something, the more it’s likely to be yesterday’s solution. So by all means remind me, briefly, what 99% of people are doing just in case I’ve missed it. But the people I’m really interested in are the other 1%, and whether I’m one of them. Related content opinion Android Security Hole of the Week: Researchers ID New, Severe DoS Attack A group of Italian security researchers have discovered a new Android Denial of Service (DoS) attack that can render Google smartphones and tablets useless in a matter of minutes, making it the most severe Android DoS attack ever identified. By Al Sacco Mar 27, 2012 3 mins Small and Medium Business Smartphones Mobile Security opinion Trip to Ethiopia Trip to Ethiopia to meet with couple of microfinance institutions By Jiten Patel Jul 24, 2010 2 mins IT Leadership opinion CGAP - Virtual Conference Recap: Hurdles to Surmount for Microfinance - Capacity Building & Technology Good 2 day conference on challenges faced by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on the critical subjects of capacity building and By Jiten Patel Jul 09, 2010 1 min IT Leadership opinion CGAP Virtual Conference - Day 2 Jul 8th: Getting past the technology hurdles faced by MFIs CGAP Forum - Getting past the technology hurdles faced by MFIs By Jiten Patel Jul 08, 2010 1 min IT Leadership 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