CIOs Eager to Rise to the Role of CEO, New Report Reveals
ISLANDIA, N.Y., Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) today announced that a new global report, "The Future Role of the CIO 2011; Becoming the Boss," has uncovered ambitious CIOs wanting to advance their careers from technology to business leadership. The report, which includes global research of 685 CIOs, reveals that 53% feel ideally positioned to move to the CEO role.
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"Today technology is at the heart of business strategy for many organizations and is no longer seen as a support function merely aligned with the business, but rather as the principal driver of business transformation to gain competitive advantage. The modern CIO is an experienced professional with an eye for the bigger picture, as evidenced by the results in this report," said Jacob Lamm, executive vice president of Strategy and Corporate Development, CA Technologies.
Just under half (42%) of CIOs say that they have the necessary skills to migrate to the CEO role making them an able and motivated candidate. However, CIOs also think that other job roles have greater experience of the skills required to become CEO. This is corroborated by this research which has uncovered that of today's current CEOs, 29% have risen from the chief financial officer position. Twenty three percent were previously chief operating officers, compared to the 4%* of CEOs who have risen from the CIO position. This suggests that the CIO is being overlooked by CEOs and the board in succession planning.
"Finding a suitable successor is a critical component of the chief executive's role in many businesses. The traditional way that companies have groomed C-level executives however is overdue for a refresh. The research shows that progression from COO and CFO are the most common routes to the top, but the research also reveals that modern CIOs are not only a contender for the role, but also a serious candidate with unique advantages over their peers," commented Sarah Greensmith, Managing Director, IT at Hudson the executive search specialists.
When asked why relatively few CIOs had successfully made the transition to the CEO role, 58% of CIOs stated that their role is typically viewed as technical and 53% said it is viewed as a role which runs a business support function rather than a core business area. Sixteen percent of CIOs also believe there is prejudice within their organization against CIO progression.
One in four CIOs stated that their board was 'digitally illiterate' and did not understand the impact of new and emerging technologies, and a further 39% of CIOs said that the board didn't understand the value that IT brings to the business. CIOs report these oversights as the cause of lack of responsiveness to the market (45%), missed business opportunities (40%) and slower time to market (38%).
"Five or six years ago, many businesses introduced the CIO job title with the idea that it was about maintaining the technical platform. However, the CIO role should be seen as not only leading the technology side of the business, but adding value and creating cost efficiencies, bringing the role to life by making the board digitally literate and helping them understand how technology can help from a business perspective," Greensmith continued.
The business impact was recognized. According to 45% of CIOs, the board's failure to understand and recognize the contribution that technology and the CIO makes to the business – are concerning. As a result, they fear that the company may not be viewed as a market leader. The external effect of this perception could have a profound impact on the success of a business and its ability to deliver shareholder value.
Joe Peppard, Professor of Information Systems, Cranfield School of Management said, "CEOs and the board need to embrace the knowledge and experience of their CIO rather than pigeon-hole them with pre-supposed opinions. Boardrooms need diversity, and a strategic understanding of technology can no longer be under-represented in any development of sound business strategy including succession planning for the CEO role."
About the Research Methodology
CA Technologies commissioned independent specialist technology market research company Vanson Bourne to undertake the research upon which the report is based. 685 telephone interviews were conducted during summer 2011 amongst CIOs in organizations of 500 or more employees in the telecoms, retail, financial and manufacturing sectors. Country breakdown: 30 CIOS were interviewed in each of the following countries: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Austria/Switzerland, Israel, the Nordics, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Canada, the USA, and 15 within Portugal.
*Using companies selected from Forbes' list of the 2000 World's Biggest Public Companies (calculated April 2011), the research consisted of tracking the career paths of 685 CEOs at companies across four verticals in 21 countries/regions. Revenue and number of employees (500 minimum) were identified for each company using resources such as Business Week and Reuters, along with the previous role, overseas experience and professional qualifications of each CEO.
The role of survey participants are as follows:
Chief Financial Officer – 29%, Chief Operations Officer – 23%, Deputy CEO - 10%, Director - 9%, Chief Development Officer - 5%, Chief Information Officer – 4%, Chief Investment Officer - 4%, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer - 4%, Chief Communications Officer - 2%, Chief Corporate Officer - 2%, Vice chairman - 2%, Chairman - 1%, Chief Commercial Officer - 1%, Chief Customer Service - 1%, Vice president - 1%
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About CA Technologies
CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is an IT management software and solutions company with expertise across all IT environments – from mainframe and distributed, to virtual and cloud. CA Technologies manages and secures IT environments and enables customers to deliver more flexible IT services. CA Technologies innovative products and services provide the insight and control essential for IT organizations to power business agility. The majority of the Global Fortune 500 relies on CA Technologies to manage evolving IT ecosystems. For additional information, visit CA Technologies at www.ca.com.
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