CIO career pathDoes a CIO need a technical degree anymore?Chief transformation officers vs. CIOsChief digital officers vs. CIOsHow many CIOs are women?What is the future of the CIO role? ]. Chief Information Officer (CIO) Interview Questions. You need to make relationships – with people in your community, with other partners, and with other departments – before you need them.” (Read also: 5 lessons on the people side of data: City of Asheville CIO.). Keep me informed as needed, but go for it.’, “I know what it’s like to work for leaders like this and I make sure to pass the same privilege and respect on to everyone on my team.”, [ Read also: 10 TED talks to sharpen your communication skills and Top soft skills for IT leaders and how to master them. Read also: 7 valuable certifications for IT leaders. In large corporations, the chief technology officer, or CTO, is directly below the CIO, and the IT project leader answers directly to the CTO. Technology leadership is different today than it was just five years ago. The CIO investigates how the organization can use its technological prowess, speed, and customer service to outperform rivals. With so much riding on effective technology strategies in the digital age, the chief information officer (CIO) is a cornerstone of corporate success. While research and development have been a component of businesses for many years, the rise of information technology (IT) and computers has increased the importance of the chief technology officer. [ Want to build these skills? Successful CIOs have become business leaders of digital business units or have empowered IT to create a digital backbone. Laurianne McLaughlin is Content Director for The Enterprisers Project, delivering analysis and advice for the IT leadership community. Determines an organization's long-term systems needs and any hardware acquisitions needed … Expect CIOs to take more of a lead on hiring and training for new skills and identifying who enterprises need to develop over the near- to medium-term, predicts Patrick Heffernan, senior analyst at Technology Business Research.“CIOs that are active now in setting the training agenda are the ones to watch,” he adds. There are typically four different kinds of CTOs, whose main duties may differ. “As Aptean’s CIO, my customers were internal – our users and business units. Get the free eBook: “The Open Organization Guide to IT Culture Change,” featuring advice from 20+ IT practitioners, industry leaders, and technologists. ], “In short,” Kelly adds, “today’s IT leaders need to be culturally competent as much as they are technically competent.”Â, Communication skills and the ability to give autonomy go a long way in these change-filled environments. Get the digital transformation eBook: Teaching an elephant to dance. Previously, she served as Editor-in-Chief at InformationWeek.com and Managing Editor at CIO.com. While CIOs used to make their careers on cost-efficient and reliable infrastructure, today they make their careers on revenue-generating ideas. The CIO role is also seeing a return of decision-maker clout with vendors and consultants in digital transformation work, versus line-of-business heads. The Enterprisers Project aspires to publish all content under a Creative Commons license but may not be able to do so in all cases. As previously noted, many CIOs play a central role in digital transformation. Whether a company has a CIO, a chief technology officer (CTO), or both depends on company culture. The average salary for a Chief Information Officer (CIO) is $165,239. A CTO should have the business knowledge necessary to align technology-related decisions with the organization's goals. The average CIO makes $170,726, according to Glassdoor data. The chief information officer (CIO) has an information technology (IT) background and manages an organization’s technology and IT interdepartmental manager communications. “With every company essentially becoming a technology company, the CIO reporting to the CEO makes the most sense, regardless of industry.”. That type of iteration exemplifies the agile style of work that many digital enterprises have found essential to improving time to market and customer experience. the CIO role currently requires the CIO to embody three crucial personas, 4 styles of decision-making: A leader’s guide, Transformation Masters: The New Rules of CIO Leadership, Giving up control and embracing failure are key, Goodbye soft skills, hello core skills: Why IT must rebrand this critical competency, The Open Organization Guide to IT Culture Change, 10 TED talks to sharpen your communication skills, Top soft skills for IT leaders and how to master them, The unique story and evolution of the CSO role, 5 lessons on the people side of data: City of Asheville CIO, comparison of 25 Fortune 500 CIO pay packages, DevOps careers: 35 key hiring stats from 2020, Digital transformation: 3 expectations CIOs can't falter on in 2021, Digital transformation: 4 ways to help IT teams adapt to disruption. The chief security officer is the executive in charge of the security of personnel, data, and physical assets. • Manages the overall technology roadmap of the business. Large companies with large budgets have either a CTO, CIO, or both. Many technology problems that were priorities in the past have become commoditized, simply consumed services. Read also: 4 styles of decision-making: A leader’s guide. Chief information technology officer (CITO) is a combination role of chief information officer and chief technology officer. As Red Hat CIO Mike Kelly has noted, “Good IT teams manage change. Here’s how he describes his role: “Like many tech execs, I was hired to wear multiple hats. He or she develops policies and procedures and uses technology to enhance products and services that focus on external customers. What Is a Chief Information Technology Officer? Video: The rise and rise of the CIO What is a CIO? Unlike the chief information officer (CIO), the role of chief technology officer (CTO) does not have a standard definition. Looking to land a DevOps job – or hire for one? IT leaders looked for these top skills when hiring DevOps professionals in 2020, according to the DevOps Institute's annual survey. “The top four reporting structures for a CIO are to the CEO, COO, CFO, and – at times – the CAO,” says Carol Lynn Thistle, managing director at CIO recruiting firm Heller Search Associates. “CIOs are increasingly being handed the keys to drive digital transformation throughout the organization, including areas that have been traditionally outside their purview,” says Chris Bedi, CIO at ServiceNow. “The CIO is required to know every aspect of operations in a company, and in order to do that they must be situated correctly on the org chart,” Thistle says. The responsibilities and role of the CTO also depend on the company. Project management involves planning and organization of a company's resources to move a specific task, event, or duty toward completion. CTOs will make decisions for the overarching technology infrastructure that closely align with the organization's … A chief information officer (CIO) is the company executive responsible for the management, implementation, and usability of information and computer technologies. As Kubernetes enters a new phase of maturity at many enterprises, what’s next? Writing a detailed job description is essential to attracting the right candidate for your job opening. The CIO, or chief information officer, emerged as a job title in the 1980’s: This highly technical person would oversee the information technology department’s resources and staff. A chief technology officer (CTO) is an executive who is responsible for the management of an organization's research and development (R&D) as well as its technological needs. As of early 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that job openings for CTOs are expected to increase between 2012 and 2022. As Jonathan Feldman, CIO of the city of Asheville, NC, notes, when his team opened up data sets to new internal and external customers, the hardest part was the people management challenges. A chief information officer (CIO) previously performed dual roles as CIO and chief technology officer (CTO). Every CIO I know is emphasizing the essential value of leadership, communication, agility, and the other non-technical competencies,” notes Roberts. A recent study by Deloitte’s U.S. CIO Program found that just over half (51 percent) of CIOs in the U.S. were reporting to the chief executive (as were 40 percent of global CIOs overall). According to the Robert Half Technology 2020 salary guide, which rates top IT jobs by salary for 2020 (ranked by national median salary) big data engineer checks in at number one, at $163,250. “Technology leaders of today must balance creating like-mindedness with the ability to promote, debate, and allow different ideas to flourish while also making clear, quick decisions and creating an environment in which everyone supports those ideas as if they were their own,” Koehler says. “Whether you’re in the midst of a transformation or operating in daily maintenance mode, culture change is the most difficult part of any technology leader’s job. Notes Jay Ferro, CIO, Quikrete: “I work hard to be a leader who can say, ‘You’re here for a reason. The old leadership rules don’t apply,” the report says. Visit PayScale to research chief information officer (cio) salaries by city, experience, skill, employer and more. The CTO may also manage the company's technological roadmap. The CTO also develops strategies to increase revenue and performs a cost-benefit analysis and return-on-investment analysis. A chief technology officer (CTO) is an executive who is responsible for the management of an organization's research and development (R&D) as well as its technological needs. But today, CEOs charge CIOs with working on cross-functional efforts that demand collaboration and a broader leadership skill set, including strong emotional intelligence. Focus on expectations in these three areas now - to ensure  IT shines at a critical moment. However, in some cases, a different reporting relationship than CIO/CEO may fit. But in the decades that followed, CIOs themselves rewrote the perception of their role, coming out of the back office to become true strategic business partners, working alongside their C-suite peers. Executives and other leaders – collectively known as upper management – hold the primary decision-making power in a company. That’s a far cry from a running joke In the early 2000’s: that CIO stood for “career is over.” Today, the CIO in many organizations leads the execution of digital transformation initiatives. The role of Many CIOs came up through the ranks in a culture that was known for its “command and control” style. “CIOs will need to sharpen their business skills and build relationships with the CEOs and GMs so they can collaborate as strategic partners.”, Change management skills continue to gain importance. What is the difference between a CTO and a CIO? One other trend to watch in the CIO role: The CIO will take on a bigger part of their organization’s people strategy. You might call them “soft skills,” but any CIO will tell you these are the hardest skills to learn. Let’s explore how to prepare - and look ahead at the future of the CIO role: Stay on top of the latest thoughts, strategies and insights from enterprising peers. Required reading: > Learn about the history of the CIO role and how it has evolved since the mid-1980s. Chief Technology Officer The Chief Technology Officer is in charge of running the entire engineering department. People had to give up individual tools and move toward a new way of working. Today he serves as CTO at Equifax: “At Equifax, one of the most exciting aspects of my job is our work to build a culture that embraces new challenges," he says. "I often view myself as the ‘chief disruption officer’ because I think we constantly have to help our teams feel comfortable disrupting themselves, pressurize the culture, change the way we think and the way we interact.”. “This was truly a cross-functional effort, in which everyone from finance to product teams came together to lay out the vision. “They need to perfect their methods for drawing multiple parties into a dialog and ensuring everyone feels heard. The path to becoming a chief technology officer How to follow a career path in the technology industry and become a chief technology officer, the holy grail of tech jobs On average it will take you 24 years from leaving higher education to becoming CTO. The position is usually at the executive level and most often reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). At its core, culture is about the way people think, talk, and interact with each other. As Adobe SVP and CIO Cynthia Stoddard says, “When you work cross-functionally, you can’t control everything. “There’s nothing soft about soft skills. A Chief Information Officer (CIO) manages a company's IT and technology needs. Many large companies need both a CTO and CIO, while smaller companies have one or the other. What Is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO)? For more details on the pros and cons of the four reporting structures Thistle mentioned above, read also: CIO role: Who should the CIO report to?Â. ]. Also known as a chief technical officer, this individual examines the short- and long-term needs of an organization and utilizes capital to make investments designed to help the organization reach its objectives. Technology is focusing more on integrating applications, processes, and data. And they need to hone their abilities to connect the work their teams are doing to their organization’s values, aims, and goals – to make sure everyone in the department understands that they’re part of something bigger than themselves (and their individual egos). In the CTO role, my customers are external. At other firms, the CTO focuses more on external products, especially in technology companies. The difference with the CTO role is that I am looking to commercialize and monetize technology. ]. In other words, today’s CIOs are not only sharp analysts on the lookout for business opportunities, but also skilled people motivators. 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