Running a tight, secure technology department is a given;
what boards really want is strategic vision and innovation from
their IT heads, market analyst Gartner has found.
The analyst’s annual global IT barometer of 1,400 CIOs in 30
countries reveals business process improvement – making a company
easier to do business with – as the top business priority.
“Executives are expecting their CIOs to move beyond concerns about
cost, security and quality to help grow the business,” says Marcus
Blosch, vice president and research director at Gartner Executive
Programs.
Creating a better chain of information is one of the key challenges
for CIOs in 2006. Two-thirds of CIOs believe their competitors make
better use of technology. Another challenge is to build new
business skills in IT, particularly in the areas of information
design, process design and sourcing.
Two out of three CIOs believe they still need to work at breaking
down the barriers with business heads, moving from a “what IT can
do for me” attitude to “how we will solve the problem together”.
On the technology front, business intelligence, security and
increasing workforce mobility top the shopping list.