Deloitte: Many CIOs Not Involved in Digital Strategy
Almost half of chief information officers are not involved in developing and executing digital strategies, according to Deloitte’s “2018 Global CIO Survey.” The study finds that, while some CIOs are at the forefront of digital technology, many still have a long way to go.
According to the study, 44% of CIOs aren't actively involved in either developing or executing their organization's digital strategy. And just 25% of respondents, regardless of role, said they have any type of enterprise-wide digital strategy. The study also makes a clear distinction between "digital vanguard" organizations — companies that have mastered digital strategy — and the rest of the industry.
"Vanguard CIOs are involved in the entire business, from front- to back-office functions," said Kristi Lamar, managing director and experience leader in Deloitte's Consulting CIO Program and the report’s co-author. "Every company is a technology company. It's critically important for CIOs to know and partner with the entire business, be involved in enterprise strategy and cooperate closely with corporate boards. Those that don't will struggle to adjust to technological change."
Vanguard CIOs are much more likely to have strong relationships with both front- and back-office functions. For example, 72% of report strong relationships with sales teams — versus just 55% of other CIOs. Vanguards also have much stronger relationships with client-facing functions when they foster the enterprise’s tech fluency.
But overall, 60% of CIOs said they did not have leadership roles in developing digital strategies for their companies. Not surprisingly, vanguard organizations are far ahead of competitors in developing processes to prioritize IT investments: 51% of the vanguard ranks (versus 35% of other organizations) have a coherent and transparent process for investment prioritization.
"CIOs need to be deeply involved in both developing and executing digital strategy and transformation, from planning the initial investment to adoption of technologies," said Khalid Kark, U.S. CIO Program research director at Deloitte. "We've seen clearly how digital vanguard CIOs directly help drive success at and gain, or maintain, credibility by telling the value creation story."
The third and final report in Deloitte’s CIO legacy project, the survey is designed to identify key trends among CIOs and explore how the role delivers lasting value to an organization. The final survey was conducted in early 2018 across 71 countries. It involved in-depth interviews and online surveys with 1,437 executives across 23 industry segments.