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IT chiefs pushed aside at the top level

Although execs recognise that IT has a key role in business, those employed to be responsible for it do not have enough boardroom presence.

By Asavin Wattanajantra, 19 Mar 2008 at 13:21

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IT is being sidelined at the top level of business, with less than half of CIOs able to bring up IT issues in the boardroom.

New research released by McAfee has shown that only 47 per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) could talk about IT issues with their board.

In almost half (45 per cent) of the surveyed organisations, chief executive officers (CEOs) took the lead in IT issues. Even more surprisingly, a fifth of chief financial officers (CFOs) represented IT at top level.

"It is worrying that in a day when governance, risk and compliance is now crucial for business success, only a minority of CIOs are fully participating at board level," said Greg Day, McAfee security analyst.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) conducted the research, which explored the evolution of the relationship between CIOs and their board, and their changing roles in the business.

Whereas IT has been previously thought of us a cost-cutting exercise, 42 per cent of senior business executives thought of IT as primarily strategic business function.

"IT chiefs need to capitalise fast on the progress they have made over the last few years to ensure that the full business case for investment in IT is understood by corporate decision makers," said Day.

CIOs also had a cemented role in corporate governance, with 30 per cent of execs believing that IT departments were primarily responsible for system and network security.

The biggest challenge to the increased visibility of the CIO was the CFO, with a massive 86 per cent of CFOs viewing IT simply as a support function, with none at all believing that the IT could have any role in increasing business revenue.

"It has been a hard fought battle to get the board to recognise the strategic of the IT function, and the battle is not yet over," said Clint Witchalls, a senior editor at the EIU.

"The CIO needs to be careful that the current economic slowdown doesn't see them relegated to their former role as cost-cutting box shifters," he added.

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