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Want to make CIO? Then don't go into tech…
Non-IT skills a must, says Gartner

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Wednesday 06 February 2008

Aspiring CIOs should try to gain experience in non-IT roles in order to have the right experience to fill the top tech job.

That's according to research from analyst house Gartner which suggests executives looking to fill the CIO role want candidates to have experience in non-IT parts of the business as well on the tech side.

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Ken McGee, the Gartner analyst who conducted the research, said that over the past few years CIOs have been required to show they've managed non-IT departments more than demonstrate that they have a tech background.

He said professional IT "qualifications and competence" will not be enough for people looking to step up to the CIO role in the next few years as the job now entails more non-IT duties.

One of the recruiters quizzed said the key attribute of a CIO is the "ability to leverage technology for competitive advantage - to innovate".

The findings reflect the views of silicon.com's CIO Jury which agreed techies lack the business and leadership skills to operate at board level.

The research included interviews with bosses of IT recruitment companies which have been responsible for placing CIOs at around half of all Fortune Global 1,000 companies for the past few years.

Check out silicon.com's guide to the top five CIO skills.