Entrepreneurial CIOs wanted

Best-performing firms have proactive IT bosses

For businesses to thrive over the next two years they will need an entrepreneurial chief information officer (CIO), according to recent research from analyst firm Gartner.

By 2012, the research says that firms with the top 25 per cent of earnings growth will have CIOs with characteristics that include vision, persuasiveness and a willingness to take risks.

Gartner says that these technology managers will take on overall business risks or come up with solutions that make a difference to the revenue, financial results and market share of their employer.

IT leaders need to be creative and approach things differently while ‘setting new levels’ of IT productivity, says the analyst, adding that while these initiatives may not succeed, CIOs must be aware that the business will surely fail if it does not act.

According to the research firm, entrepreneurial CIOs are required at a time when the need to improve productivity is greatest.

“One of the biggest dilemmas facing organisations as we head towards 2010 is how chief executive officers (CEOs) and CIOs can execute entrepreneurial tasks in the current risk-averse environment,” said Jorge Lopez, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.

“As shareholders see the recession recede in their day-to-day actions, they will drive for revenue and earnings growth, and expect CEOs and CIOs to perform to heightened expectations.”