The changing role of the CIO
The role and position of the CIO in the corporate structure is rising steadily and inexorably from the tactical/operational level to the strategic/management level. In an article in the B. Strategy Review (Summer 2004) Mark Polansky suggests that the 21st Century CIO will be required to master a complex portfolio of IT investments and he will be expected to enhance the value of information at multiple points along the value chain. It's not about running the computers anymore says Doreen Wright, CIO of Campbell Soup Company. "It's about using IT to enable and innovate". As a result, Jeff Spar, CIO of Readers Digests adds: "The days of the CIO reporting to the CFO are gone at companies who truly value the impact IT can have. The CFO focus is on generating value through cost management and financial processes while the CIO delivers value by leveraging IT against the company's "sweet spots' to generate value. Both should work directly for the CEO to maximize shareholder value and B. impact". I think there are still many companies that need to implement this sensible advise from Spar.
2 Comments:
In my practice as a BI vendor, we see more and more CFO type of managers running projects aimed at collecting data their selves. Especially in Financial Accounting kind of departments the Metadata about information is essential since SOX. Where is the data from an who entered it. IT departments’ usually don’t really grasp the SOX concept and keep on coming up with solutions that offer no guarantees about the quality of data.
Ergo CFO's are buying financial solutions, usually based on Business Intelligence, and run their own projects.
BI is already implemented by many organization and it is not limited for financial solution sector only. I find a system more capable than SOX concept will emerge out and it will play a vital role in coming years with more advanced technology that would be more sustainable and comprehensive.
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