Chief information officers (CIOs) will undergo a major shift this year from predominantly inward-focused technology agendas to become more externally focused, according to research by analyst Gartner.

It says businesses now expect IT to play a significant role in supporting growth and competitiveness, rather than simply managing operational processes.

Marcus Blosch, vice president and research director at Gartner Executive Programmes (EXP), says the CIO role is becoming more challenging, with greater demands being made from an effectively flat IT budget.

‘The survey results make it very clear that business expectations of IT have changed dramatically, and executives are expecting their CIOs to move beyond concerns about cost, security and quality to help grow the business,’ he said.

Gartner EXP’s Growing IT’s Contribution: the 2006 CIO Agenda report says worldwide IT budgets will increase by an average of 2.7 per cent in 2006, before adjustments for inflation.

‘IT budgets are in lock-step with business budgets, although companies expecting to grow faster than the market are spending more on IT, with budgets expected to increase by 4.8 per cent,’ said Blosch.

The pressures on budgets are changing in another way, says Blosch, with annual planning cycles shortening and IT leaders needing to think more strategically about which technology projects to invest in and when.

‘It is not just a matter of managing one annual budget anymore. CIOs now have to manage their own investment portfolio to get the maximum return from their budgets,’ he said.

Gartner’s research also highlights the changing skills required for top technology jobs, with a far greater emphasis on business competencies.

‘There is an increasing trend for CIOs to come from a business role,’ said Blosch. ‘It is not just a more senior project management job.’

Gartner EXP polled 1,400 CIOs in 30 countries for the survey.

2006 priorities

Business
1 Business process improvement
2 Controlling enterprise
operating costs
3 Attracting and growing
customer relationships
4 Improving competitive
advantage
5 Improving competitiveness

Technology
1 Business intelligence
applications
2 Security technologies
3 Mobile workforce
enablement
4 Collaboration technology
5 Customer sales and service
Source: Gartner EXP – January 2006