Three questions CEOs ask CIOs
- TAGS:budgets, CIO, competition, investment, risk, strategic
- IT TOPICS:Management
IT management consultant Harwell Thrasher notes that the higher you move in the IT organization, "the less the job is about technology."
At the very top of the IT organization in the CIO role, the focus isn’t on IT at all – it’s on doing the best thing for the business. In fact, Peter Whatnell, CIO of Sunoco and 2009 President of SIM International, recently said that most CEO’s just want the CIO to provide answers to three questions:
1. Where do we need to invest?
2. How do we stand versus [the] competition?
3. How do we mitigate risk?
And, indeed, those aren't technical questions. Do you have answers? (See Harwell Thrasher's newsletter for more discussion.)
I'll just add that, in these difficult economic times, you may also get asked:
Are there areas we can cut, to free up money to invest in other areas (question No. 1)?
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