American CIOs worried about illiterate execs

MUMBAI, INDIA: Business leaders must embrace the true value of technology according to CA Technologies' global 'The Future Role of the CIO; Digital Literacy' report. The study reveals that 84 percent of the North American CIOs interviewed believe a lack of digital literacy amongst senior executives could be hampering business growth.

Further, a fifth (22 per cent) of the CIOs interviewed believed that the C-suite does not understand the impact of new and emerging technologies.

CIOs fear senior-level digital illiteracy is causing a lack of market responsiveness, missed business and investment opportunities, poor competitiveness and slower time to market.

A company that is getting the strategic leadership piece right is Jaguar Land Rover. "CIOs have to find radically different ways to move very quickly and spend low amounts of money to get to a position where they can demonstrate something of worth to the business," said Jeremy Vincent, CIO of Jaguar Land Rover.

He believes CIOs are well positioned to identify strategic business thinking from an IT perspective. But, to do this successfully will take leadership, innovation and a holistic view of technology and the business.

The report also highlights that 44 percent of CIOs believe senior executives see do not understand the potential of IT to grow the business, make processes more efficient, and introduce greater agility and competitiveness.

As a result, it is not surprising that only 43 per cent of CIOs globally are involved in the strategic decision making process, impeding the digital strategic thinking of the senior leadership team.

Professor Joe Peppard, Director of the Information Systems Research Centre at Cranfield School of Management, believes senior managers must acknowledge that the value from IT comes not from technology, but from the ability to manage and exploit information. "A lot of organisations just wouldn't be able to survive for very long without their IT systems," says Peppard.

"CIOs are transitioning into the role of brokers of IT services. They will also be orchestrators of decisions concerning the architecture of the enterprise, innovation with IT, compliance and policies, and will have closer involvement with line of business managers in realizing value from their digital strategies," he continued.

Peppard believes that by working in this way, both the IT organization and the CIO role will evolve and be able to lead discussions and education about how they drive the business forward through IT innovation. "CIOs are in a good position to become more involved in strategic discussions. This will enable them to demonstrate how a particular digital strategy or project can deliver value, and win the credibility to take it forward," Peppard concluded.

Vincent agrees, noting, "CIOs need to be able to stand their ground, show people they have an opinion and be able to demonstrate business value and understanding."

"We regularly work with CIOs to help ensure they have the tools they need to communicate value effectively to the business," said John Michelsen, chief technology officer, CA Technologies. "We see CIOs becoming more involved with their business colleagues and communicating the value of technology more effectively."

"CIOs are much more in tune with their businesses than they were ten or twenty years ago; however, they are fighting the belief that technology can create process efficiencies, but it can never deliver value on its own," he added.