Many, many moons ago, in my younger days as a Chief Information Officer, I reported directly to the Chief Financial Officer of my company. For me, the reporting structure did not matter as I was just happy to have my first CIO role. In fact, during the late 90’s the majority of CIOs reported in that fashion, and it was the norm.
Over the next 20 years or so, the reporting structure of the CIO was, and remains, an active topic of conversation as how to best influence change within an organization and gain that proverbial “seat at the table.”
The National CIO Review polled our exclusive CIO Professional Network* to obtain the state of the CIO reporting structure.
To whom, in fact, should a CIO report?
The data shows that the current structure for most CIOs or Technology Leaders has them reporting directly to the CEO or President of the company. As this is an increase as reported in other industry studies, we expect that this trend will continue.
*The CIO Professional Network is an active, invitation-only network where technology leaders share best practices and insight on common issues. The network provides a forum for ongoing and mutually beneficial interactions. Vendor-free membership is by invitation only and is restricted to the top IT, security, or digital professional for their respective organization. To request membership navigate to the CIO Professional Network.
