Are cloud and mobile really disrupting CIOs?

This post by Diginomica blogger Jon Reed asks this pivotal question and then offers a very intelligent and nuanced “verdict.”

“The results analyzed in this piece do support the narrative I laid out in the intro, but with a big ol’ caveat: the adoption levels [of cloud and mobile] are bumpier than we might think, and not driven by tech for its own sake. My current view is that security, integration and platform management concerns give the CIO a seat at the tech purchasing table for the foreseeable future. But in the longer view, CIOs who are unable to demonstrate their ability to grow the business will suddenly find themselves with time-a-plenty to play with the gadgets of their choice.”

No doubt, mobile and cloud are getting their fair share of IT and enterprise tech dollars as the video blog I just shot indicates.

Reed says that the stampede to mobile and cloud is far more deliberate with security and integration as gatekeepers. If the cloud and mobile cannot secured and integrated, then it’s no deal. Throw in that “Mobile apps are hard to do” and you can see the challenge for enterprises and some measure of job security for CIOs. He also uses CIO and IDG data to make his case. The ECF is owned by IDG and is part of the CIO brand.

Worth mentioning is a quote from Kim Nash, my colleague at CIO. And it speaks volumes about the changing role of the CIO, who many pundits like to say is on the way out.

“Nash had a nice line on the CIO’s lack of control not necessarily corresponding with diminishing importance: ‘control does not equate to ‘influence’, and CIOs are increasingly seeing their role as collaborators rather than controllers.”  

Yes, much is changing, but it’s neither all bad nor a zero sum game. Enter the Age of IT enlightenment.

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https://diginomica.com/2013/08/15/cloud-mobile-disrupting-cios/