Research: CIO relationships and priorities remain conflicted

Summary:A new global CIO study from Deloitte sheds light on why CIOs and IT have a tough time. The data offers lessons on how to fix the problem.

New research from Deloitte sheds light on the state of CIOs today and covers several important points regarding CIO activities, relationships, and strategies. You can download the full report as a PDF here.

Deloitte claims it surveyed over 900 CIOs; however, the data shows that 50 percent of respondents have the title CIO, 22 percent are Head of IT or IT Director, and 22 percent are other. The number of CIO respondents is significant either way, but maintaining a skeptical eye is always important when interpreting research.

The following graphic shows the respondent breakdown and their reporting relationships:

IT budgets and priorities. According to the research, 77 percent responded that IT budgets are growing with only 23 percent reporting that their 2014 budget declined from 2013. However, the most important IT priority in the next 12-18 months is the vague goal support new business needs, as shown in this graphic:

Supporting new business needs is the motherhood and apple pie of IT, expressing a positive intention to do what the business needs. However, without more detail, such phrases provide little insight into specific actions IT must take to increase value to the business.

CIO portfolio. The survey presents more good intentions in its analysis of key dimensions of CIO portfolio. Here is the diagram:

However, a closer look at the data raises concerns about the CIOs ability to achieve the promise of those good intentions. Although 70 percent of respondents say their organization has maturity in delivering business outcomes, only 55 percent prioritize this goal. Likewise in the next dimensions, enhancing customer experience and building a more agile IT delivery model.

In summary, these factors indicate that IT may possess an over-inflated sense of confidence when in being responsive to business needs. We see these challenges reflected in relationships with marketing ,research pointing to dissatisfaction with IT performance, and the rise of shadow IT .

CIO relationships. The data shows that CIO relationships are fraught with some difficulty. Here is a graph of the data:

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Research: CIO relationships and priorities remain conflicted