A CIO’s role in 2017: Keep the lights on while planning for the future

For companies with mainframes lurking in the basement, it is well past time to make the transition to more advanced, often cloud-based, technology. But transitions don’t happen overnight. Organizations have to find ways to keep systems running efficiently, no matter their age, while budgeting and planning for the adoption of future technology, all issues that fall to the modern-day CIO.

In October, Gartner released its 2017 CIO Agenda survey and found CIOs are starting to shift investment strategies to create a more digital business. Gartner broke down its survey of 2,598 CIOs by those "top" companies who are Digital Transformation leaders, "typical" companies and "trailing performers."

Today, the typical CIO spends 18% of the Budget on digitization, but by 2018 that number will increase to 28%, according to Gartner. The top performing companies, which are already spending 34% of their Budget on digital efforts, are set to allocate 44% of their budget on going digital.

The increased focus on going digital adds weight to a CIO's burden. Budgets need to be created with room for day-to-day maintenance while also allowing for adjustments for the future.

Without that foresight, organizations could easily become outpaced by competition. And worst case scenario, CIOs could find themselves becoming obsolete.

Analysts have continued to forecast the next generation of IT, or IT 2.0. With shifting business models, IT departments are more frequently relied upon to consult across lines of business, helping facilitate innovation through softer skills, like relationship management and engagement.

The idea of relying on IT to help as a consulting Organization is an improvement from the concept of CIO’s and their organizations as being responsible for keeping the lights on.

About five or six years ago, there were conversations questions whether a CIO was the "plumber" or the "strategist," said Raechelle Clemmons, CIO at Davidson College.

But now, the conversation has shifted to question whether IT should serve as a service and support Organization, or should its role be to drive Digital Transformation in an organization, Clemmons said.

The focus has turned to IT becoming the leader of digital transformation efforts, including everything from technology-enabled business models to creating more flexible work environments.