The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
June - 2009 - issue > Management
Corporate Governance and the role of IT
Stephanie Moore
Where does the CIO report?
Going forward, CIOs and IT executives must have a seat at the CEOs table.
CIOs have been asking for this kind of access and influence for years, with varying degrees of success. CIOs reporting to the CFO often do not fully understand the importance of ITs role in the business, but instead view IT as a utility. This typically means that ITs mission is to keep the lights on at the lowest possible cost to the business and make certain laptops and email are up and running.
In contrast, CIOs who report to the chief business executive are often responsible for not only ‘keeping the lights on,’ but also have an important role in moving the business forward as the force behind driving innovation. In such companies there is an acknowledgement that IT underpins everything a company does … and that not properly governing IT imposes dire risk. That risk could include both short and long-term survival of the business.
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