UK CIOs are overworked and under-supported

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A survey of UK chief information officers (CIOs) released yesterday suggests they are none to happy with their lot.

Nearly half (47 per cent) of their time is spent troubleshooting and 15 per cent patching, instead of delivering strategic value or innovation to the company, according to the 100 CIOs polled by researcher Coleman Parkes.

Almost four out of five (86 per cent) said they would like to be able to offer more innovation to their business, while 66 per cent said the ability to drive innovation is closely linked to job satisfaction.

Yet only two out of every five (40 per cent) questioned felt high levels of job satisfaction.

With innovation and business value so obviously linked in the minds of CIOs, it is perhaps not surprising that job satisfaction has emerged as an issue when only nine per cent of them have a seat on the board. And this percentage dropped still further to three per cent in large companies.

Still, very few CIOs (7 per cent), feel that they get the right level of support from their chief executive.

Meanwhile, 41 per cent admitted having to scale back on spending due to current economic concerns. But more than half (56 per cent) expected the majority of their applications to be delivered over the web in five years, which rises to 61 per cent in the largest companies where CIOs were questioned.

The survey findings suggested that business at the very highest level is yet to prioritise IT or recognise its true value, according to its sponsor Salesforce.com. Companies need to get their CIO on the board if IT is to drive real business change across the business, it said.

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