这些是首席信息官的考验时间。宏观经济不稳定、技术进步和数字颠覆的复杂组合使企业正在寻找能够应对这种情况并将可能难以解决的挑战转化为商机的 IT 领导者。
2023 年初 Forrester 研究的坏消息表明，许多首席信息官还没有准备好满足这些新的需求。大多数首席信息官（58%）仍处于Forrester所说的传统IT领导模式。虽然 37% 的首席信息官被认为是“现代的”，但只有 6% 的首席信息官“适合未来”，具有当今变革性战略数字领导者所需的速度、灵活性和价值关注点。
这种缺乏准备看起来并不好。如果大多数首席信息官仍然专注于运营问题，那么企业是否需要一位新的数字领导者，其头衔能够反映新的角色和职责？汽车专家Holman的首席信息官贾罗德·菲普斯（Jarrod Phipps）表示，关于CIO头衔相关性的辩论是公平的。
“它可能已经走完了一点，”他说。“今天，’信息’只是角色的一部分。我们所做的很多工作都是关于建立能力。该角色还有一个转型元素，另一个组成部分是关于为更广泛的业务战略提供信息。
菲普斯说，过去的首席信息官就像水管工，确保数据通过管道传输。如今，首席信息官不像水管工，而更像是推动者。现代数字化领导者提供了一个快速敏捷的平台，支持出色的员工和客户体验。
这种情绪引起了百事公司高级副总裁兼欧洲首席信息官奈杰尔·理查森（Nigel Richardson）的共鸣。虽然过去的首席信息官专注于管理IT运营，但情况已不再如此：“随着数字技术的快速发展以及公司面临更多的挑战和机遇，这个角色已经发生了变化和增长。
业务线专业人员现在可以使用云按需购买自己的 IT 解决方案。与此同时，低代码软件开发平台的使用越来越多，将技术创造能力交到了 IT 以外的员工手中。人工智能的迅速崛起——更具体地说是生成人工智能——进一步增加了复杂性。
虽然首席信息官可能传统上监督企业内的所有技术采购，但高性能技术的现成可用性意味着首席信息官可能面临环球航行的风险。毕竟，当您可以直接与供应商联系或按需构建自己的系统和服务时，谁需要中间层的 IT 管理？
一、为首席信息官寻找归宿
虽然首席信息官的角色无疑正在发生变化，但没有企业能够让员工出去购买他们想要的任何技术。让专业人士使用自己的设备的潜在风险包括云供应方面的成本飙升，以及担心敏感的企业数据在没有适当照顾和关注的情况下被推入公共人工智能系统。
企业需要有人来确保以安全、可靠和具有成本效益的方式利用先进的数字技术。企业内部拥有这种经验的人仍然是首席信息官，理查森说。
“虽然现在情况要先进得多，但核心角色 – 确保可靠，高效和安全的业务运营 – 仍然至关重要，”他说。“现代首席信息官当然需要理解的功能和技术学科范围非常广泛，例如网络安全、云基础设施、人工智能和机器学习、最终用户体验设计、企业架构等。
这一信念与招聘公司哈维·纳什（Harvey Nash）的技术和数字高管搜索主管莉莉·哈克（Lily Haake）不谋而合。虽然首席信息官的角色已经从日常运营问题转移，但随着企业越来越多地利用新兴技术，技术能力仍然至关重要。
“事情变得越来越复杂，”她说。“如果公司正在转型成为技术公司，那么数字领导者将有技术伤疤，他们将不得不知道他们在谈论什么，以教育董事会的其他成员了解技术的潜力。
但是，即使技术知识仍然至关重要，也有证据表明，现代数字领导力的要求——包括监督IT实施、与业务互动以及管理数据和人工智能——意味着CIO头衔并不是最合适的绰号。
许多组织已经任命了首席数据官和首席数字官来监督曾经可能属于IT主管指南针的领域。与此同时，一些首席信息官采用了首席技术官的头衔，以强调他们在数字时代的技术能力。其他首席信息官现在在他们的标题中使用数字、数据、技术或转型等词来创建 CDIO 或 CTIO 首字母缩略词，以表明他们为变革做好了准备。
虽然这些修订是一个有趣的趋势，但值得注意的是，扩展职位并不总是首席信息官的杰作。有时，传统企业会改变头衔，以强调他们的业务正在进入新的领域，例如数字化和转型。“整个标题游戏通常只是组织试图传达关于什么是重要的信息，”霍尔曼的菲普斯说。
因此，尽管头衔的变化不断出现，但首席信息官——无论他们以何种形式呈现——仍然是被要求将棘手的业务挑战转化为新的数字机遇的高管。虽然我们可以争论CIO是否是现代数字领导者最合适的职位，但Haake表示，重要的是不要关注首字母缩略词，而不是角色和职责。
“我们是否会为这位领导人找到一个实际的头衔，或者我们会继续无限地添加字母吗？”她说。“我认为最终我们将不得不创建一个强有力的定义。未来的数字领导者需要什么技能，他们还需要什么特征？
二、定义下一代数字化领导者
CyberArk的全球首席信息官Omer Grossman仍然喜欢CIO的头衔，并认为它仍然具有相关性。但他认为，许多IT主管可能需要在角色和职责上进行微妙的调整才能茁壮成长。
格罗斯曼说，专注于“保持光明”的一级首席信息官将无法生存。第二级首席信息官（大多数首席信息官目前驻扎的地方）使企业拥有更高效、更有效的流程。“这很好，”他说。“与第一级的 IT 经理不同，这位 CIO 真正了解业务，并且他们与不断发展的目标保持一致。
但第三层，也是格罗斯曼说所有首席信息官都应该瞄准的目标，是数字领导者的家园，他们以富有成效的方式颠覆了组织：“利用技术的力量，改变，提升企业的工作方式——不仅支持当前的业务，而且影响业务的运作方式。
Grossman表示，未来成功的首席信息官将帮助组织的其他部门充分利用IT、安全、数据分析和人工智能。百事可乐的理查森同意，这些具有前瞻性的首席信息官将与其他业务部门合作，就技术采购提供建议，并建立强大的内部和外部支持生态系统。
“一个成功的首席信息官是一个业务合作伙伴，他通过确定技术可以为公司创造最大价值的领域来帮助制定战略，”他说。“因此，无论头衔如何，我认为拥有一个监督整个企业全部技术的角色至关重要。
阿斯顿·马丁一级方程式赛车首席信息官克莱尔·兰斯利（Clare Lansley）也指出了首席信息官角色的战略重要性，并指出伟大的IT主管会适当和建设性地发出自己的声音。伟大的想法可以来自公司内部和外部的任何地方。兰斯利说，成功的下一代领导者将是平易近人的。
“你必须保持开放的心态，”她说。“人们需要感到自在地来和你交谈。你需要一个强大的沟通者，因为 – 特别是在这样的企业中 – 有一些强大的个性，他们非常专注于他们的特定领域。
寻找新的想法还需要对新兴技术的强烈认识。Lansley将这种形式的长期水平扫描称为“保持手指在脉搏上”。哈维·纳什（Harvey Nash）的哈克（Haake）也提出了类似的主题，他说，未来成功的首席信息官将是帮助企业利用永无止境的创新管道的高管。
“他们将被执行委员会的其他成员视为了解技术世界的人，”她说。“每当一个新的炒作事物出现时——量子、区块链或其他任何东西——他们都会成为寻找下一步该做什么答案的人。
好消息是，大多数首席信息官都认识到这一要求，以帮助企业充分利用新兴技术。根据 CIO 的 1 年 CIO 状况调查.com，IT 主管认为，到 2026 年，他们的头号任务将是推动创新。百事公司的理查森同意，为业务问题提供创造性的解决方案是重中之重。
“在未来10年，成功的首席信息官将做出一个重要的转变——这个角色将把重点放在创新上，”他说。“未来的首席信息官将花更多的时间制定业务战略，开发推动增长的新产品和服务。
对于River Island的首席信息官Adam Warne来说，下一代CIO将以五个关键领域的实力为特征。首先，他们将是那些不认为自己拥有所有正确答案的听众。其次，他们将是确保增长可管理、安全和有保障的守护者。
第三，未来的首席信息官将与外部企业建立牢固的合作伙伴关系，以挖掘他们内部无法建立的能力。第四，首席信息官将是独立的法官，他们利用对数据的严格控制，为业务决策提供无偏见的洞察力。最后，未来的伟大首席信息官将成为领导者，Warne说。
他说：“为业务和技术战略提供明确的方向，并支持团队尽可能自主，像迷你企业一样推动自己的价值，这将是在保持适当成本基础的同时快速交付的唯一途径。
英文原文：
The CIO at a crossroads: Evolve or become a dead-end job
Has the CIO title run its course or is the role more relevant than ever before? It all depends on whether you have what it takes to be a next-generation IT leader.
These are testing times for CIOs. A complex mix of macroeconomic instability, technological advancements, and digital disruption has businesses in search of IT leaders who can rise to the occasion and turn what could be intractable challenges into business opportunities.
The bad news from early 2023 Forrester research suggests that many CIOs aren’t ready to meet these fresh demands. Most CIOs (58%) are still in what Forrester calls the traditional mode of leading IT. And while 37% of CIOs are considered “modern,” only 6% are “future fit,” with the speed, flexibility, and value-focus required from a transformative strategic digital leader today.
This lack of readiness doesn’t look good.
If most CIOs are still focused on operational concerns, does the business need a new digital leader with a title that’s reflective of fresh roles and responsibilities? Jarrod Phipps, CIO at auto specialist Holman, says a debate about the relevance of the CIO title is fair game.
“It probably has run its course a little bit,” he says. “Today, ‘information’ is only a piece of the role. A lot of what we do is about building capabilities. There’s also a transformation element to the role and another component about informing broader business strategy.”
Phipps says CIOs of the past were like plumbers who ensured data ran through pipes. Today, CIOs are less like plumbers and more like enablers. The modern digital leader provides a quick and agile platform that supports great employee and customer experiences.
That’s a sentiment that resonates with Nigel Richardson, SVP and CIO for Europe at PepsiCo.
While the CIO of the past focused on managing IT operations, that’s no longer the case: “The role has changed and grown as digital technologies have rapidly evolved and companies are faced with more challenges and opportunities.”
Line-of-business professionals can now use the cloud to buy their own IT solutions on demand. The growing use of low-code software development platforms meanwhile puts tech-creation capabilities into the hands of workers outside IT. The rapid rise of artificial intelligence — and generative AI more specifically — adds a further layer of complexity.
While a CIO might have traditionally overseen all technology purchases within the enterprise, the ready availability of high-powered technology means CIOs could be at risk of circumnavigation. After all, who needs a middle layer of IT management when you can either go straight to the vendor or build your own systems and services on demand?
Finding a home for the CIO
While the CIO role is undoubtedly changing, no business can afford to let their staff go out and buy whatever technology they want. The potential risks of leaving professionals to their own devices range from burgeoning costs in terms of cloud provision to the fear of sensitive enterprise data being pushed into public AI systems without due care and attention.
Businesses need someone to ensure advanced digital technologies are exploited in a safe, secure, and cost-effective manner. And the person within the enterprise who holds that experience is still the CIO, says Richardson.
“While things are now much more advanced.
That core role — ensuring reliable, efficient, and secure business operations — is still crucially important,” he says. “There is certainly a very wide scope of functional and technical disciplines for modern CIOs to understand, such as cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, AI and machine learning, end-user experience design, enterprise architecture, and more.”
That’s a belief that chimes with Lily Haake, head of technology and digital executive search at recruiter Harvey Nash. While the CIO role has shifted from day-to-day operational concerns, technical abilities will remain crucial as businesses increasingly make use of emerging technologies.
“Things are getting complicated,”
she says. “If companies are transitioning to become technology companies, which most are, then digital leaders are going to have technical scars, and they’re going to have to know what they’re talking about to educate the rest of the board about the potential of technology.”
But even if technological knowledge is still crucial, there’s evidence to suggest that the requirements of modern digital leadership — including overseeing IT implementations, engaging with the business, and managing data and AI — mean the CIO title is not the most suitable moniker.
Many organizations have appointed chief data officers and chief digital officers to oversee areas that might once have fallen under the IT chief’s compass. Some CIOs, meanwhile, have adopted the CTO title to emphasize their technological aptitude in a digital age. Other CIOs now have words like digital, data, technology, or transformation in their titles to create CDIO or CTIO acronyms that demonstrate their readiness for change.
While these amendments are an interesting trend.
It’s worth noting that extended job titles aren’t always the handiwork of CIOs. Sometimes, heritage enterprises change titles to emphasize that their business is moving into new areas, such as digital and transformation. “The whole title game is often just organizations trying to send a message about what’s important,” says Holman’s Phipps.
So, while variations in titles are appearing, the CIO — in whatever guise they’re presented — is still the executive who’s being asked to turn intractable business challenges into new digital opportunities. And while we can debate whether CIO is the most suitable job title for the modern digital leader, Haake says it’s important not to fixate on acronyms rather than roles and responsibilities.
“Are we ever going to land on an actual title for this leader or are we going to continue adding letters infinitely?” she says. “I think eventually we are going to have to create a strong definition. What skills is the digital leader of the future going to need and what characteristics will they need further down the line?”
Defining the next-generation digital leader
Omer Grossman, global CIO at CyberArk, still likes the CIO title and believes it remains relevant. But he thinks many IT chiefs might need to go through a subtle adjustment in roles and responsibilities to thrive.
Grossman says first-level CIOs.
who focus on “keeping the lights on,” won’t survive. Second-level CIOs, where most CIOs reside right now, enable the business to have more efficient and effective processes. “And this is fine,” he says. “Unlike the IT manager at the first level, this CIO really understands the business and they align to its evolving objectives.”
But the third layer, which is where Grossman says all CIOs should aim to be, is home to digital leaders who disrupt the organization in a productive way: “Harnessing the power of technology, change, and boosting the way the enterprise works — not just enabling the current business but affecting the way the business works.”
Grossman says successful CIOs of the future.
Who will help the rest of the organization to make the most of IT, security, data analytics, and AI. These forward-looking CIOs will engage with the rest of the business, offer advice on technology purchases, and build strong ecosystems of internal and external support, agrees PepsiCo’s Richardson.
“A successful CIO is a business partner who helps to shape strategy by identifying the areas where technology can generate the most value for their company,” he says. “So, whatever the title, I think it’s critically important to have a role that oversees the full stack of technology across the business.”
Clare Lansley, CIO at Aston Martin Formula One, also notes the strategic important of the CIO role, stating great IT chiefs make their voices heard appropriately and constructively. Great ideas can come from anywhere, both inside and outside the firm. Lansley says successful next-generation leaders will be approachable.
“You’ve got to keep an open mind,”
she says. “People need to feel comfortable coming and having a conversation with you. You need a be a strong communicator, because — particularly in a business like this — there’s some strong personalities and they are very focused on their specific area.”
Sourcing fresh ideas also requires a strong awareness of emerging technologies. Lansley refers to this form of long-term horizon scanning as “keeping your finger on the pulse.” Harvey Nash’s Haake picks up a similar theme, saying successful CIOs of the future will be executives who help the business exploit a never-ending pipeline of innovation.
“They will be looked to by the rest of the executive board as the person who understands the world of technology,” she says. “Every time a new hyped thing bubbles up — quantum, blockchain, or whatever — they’re going to be the person that is looked to for answers on what to do next.”
The good news is most CIOs recognize this requirement to help the business make the most of emerging technology.
IT chiefs believe their No. 1 task by 2026 will be driving innovation, according to CIO.com’s 2023 State of the CIO survey. PepsiCo’s Richardson agrees that delivering creative solutions to business problems is the big priority.
“There will be one important shift that successful CIOs will make over the next 10 years — the role will have a massive focus on innovation,” he says. “Future CIOs will spend more time working on business strategy and developing new products and services that drive growth.”
For Adam Warne, CIO at River Island, the next-generation CIO will be characterized by strength in five key areas. First, they’ll be listeners who don’t assume they have all the right answers. Second, they’ll be guardians who ensure growth is manageable, safe, and secure.
Third, future CIOs will build strong partnerships with external businesses to tap the capabilities they can’t build internally. Fourth, CIOs will be independent judges who use their tight grip on data to provide non-biased insight for business decisions. Finally, the great CIOs of the future will be leaders, says Warne.
“Providing clarity of direction on business and technology strategy — and supporting teams of people to be as autonomous as possible, driving their own value like mini businesses in their own right — will be the only way to deliver at pace while retaining a cost base that’s appropriate,” he says.
本文由数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）转载而成，来源于CIO.COM；编辑/翻译：数字化转型网默然。
免责声明: 本网站(http://www.szhzxw.cn/)内容主要来自原创、合作媒体供稿和第三方投稿，凡在本网站出现的信息，均仅供参考。本网站将尽力确保所提供信息的准确性及可靠性，但不保证有关资料的准确性及可靠性，读者在使用前请进一步核实，并对任何自主决定的行为负责。本网站对有关资料所引致的错误、不确或遗漏，概不负任何法律责任。
本网站刊载的所有内容(包括但不仅限文字、图片、LOGO、音频、视频、软件、程序等) 版权归原作者所有。任何单位或个人认为本网站中的内容可能涉嫌侵犯其知识产权或存在不实内容时，请及时通知本站，予以删除。
