CIOs and CEOs get closer, says survey

Chief information officers are bypassing their long time rivalry with the finance department and increasingly reporting to the chief executive, according to an IDC survey.

Preliminary results of IDC's Forecast for management survey of around 150 senior IT managers in Australia found more than 57 per cent of respondents reported to the chief executive officer.

The finding is a marked shift from the traditional reporting line, whereby the CIO would report to the finance department head.

Catherin Bennett, director, IT Management Programme, IDC, told attendees at the IDC Directions 06 conference in Sydney: "CIOs are now clearly in favour with the CEO."

IDC has seen a 19 per cent increase in survey respondents reporting to the CEO since 2003, according to Bennett. The survey is conducted annually. Survey respondents ranged from small to large organisations and across industry, IDC said.

The shift in reporting lines would result in "greater lines of communication, greater understanding of the direction of the business, and a really clear alignment between the direction of IT priorities against the direction of the business," said Bennett.

Although in favour with the CEO, this did not mean CIOs' workloads had become any lighter.

Responsibility for mobility technologies such as mobiles and PDAs, office equipment such as printers and multi-function devices, and records management were all increasing the workload on CIOs, the survey found.

In addition, according to the research, it is becoming standard for CIOs to have to justify their investments within a timeframe.

Bennett said: "Return on investment timeframes are dominating our respondents. They have to demonstrate a return on every IT investment in 12 months. In fact 23 per cent of our respondents have to do so."

An additional 19 per cent had to demonstrate return-on-investment within a 12 to 24 month period.

Bennett added: "So… 42 per cent of our respondents have to demonstrate a very clear return on every IT investment within 24 months."

Steven Deare writes for ZDNet Australia