CIO job tenure is now averaging 4.6 years, which is way up from the 2-3 year average that we saw just a few years ago. CIO job tenure is now averaging 4.6 years, according to the Society for Information Management. That’s up — way up — from the 2-3 year average that we saw just a few years ago. How do you explain the lengthening time in job? Is it just because CIOs are better at their jobs than CEOs or CFOs who have higher churn rates? Probably not.My guess is that the post dot-com bust and post 9/11 recession triggered CIOs to hunker down and be a bit more risk-adverse. They stayed put for a few years, then facing the more recent economic slump, stayed put even longer. They stayed busy doing what they unfortunately are known for — helping with enterprise cost cutting. More reactive, more cost conscious, and less innovative CIOs are less likely to take risks and less likely to be fired for risk-taking.But I suspect the trend towards longer tenure is rapidly coming to an end. The CIOs I speak with are eagerly waking up to tackle innovation and new investments in 2010. And we’re seeing more and more ex-consultant hot shots and business execs from elsewhere in the company recently hired on to “fix IT” join the CIO ranks. More proactive, innovative, and impactful CIOs are more likely to follow ambitious career paths – or (if your a glass-half-empty kind of guy or girl) get fired for risk-taking.by Sharyn Leaver Related content opinion 2012 EA Award Winners: Business-Focused, Strategic And Pragmatic In Forresters EA Practice Playbook, we describe high performance enterprise architecture programs as business-focused, strategic and pragmatic. They are business-focused so that the direction and guidance EA provides has By Forrester Research Oct 08, 2012 3 mins Enterprise Architecture IT Strategy IT Leadership opinion Focus Your Information Strategy On Business Impact Today's organizations must manage the explosive growth of all types of information while addressing greater-than-ever business demand for insights into customer needs and the business environment. Meanwhile, the significant regulatory and compli By Forrester Research Oct 01, 2012 6 mins Regulation IT Leadership opinion Digital Disruption: What Software Dev & Delivery Competencies Matter? In this age of digital disruption and a society empowered by software-fueled technology, firms that can cultivate competencies in software development & delivery will establish competitive advantage as they will be better equiped to meet, and exc By Forrester Research Sep 14, 2012 3 mins Developer Enterprise Applications IT Leadership opinion Can IT Open New Sources Of Revenue? At an IT strategy offsite a senior director of IT asked this simple question: "How can we use information technology to help our company open up new streams of revenue?" A refreshing question, given that nine out of ten CIOs ask the opposit By Forrester Research Aug 31, 2012 4 mins 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