New Role Needed: Business Information Officer
by Peter High, published on InformationWeek
09-29-2014
We’ve been hearing for decades that IT must “align with the business,” that CIOs must form true partnerships with their peers in marketing, finance, HR, and other disciplines. So why do we continue to see new roles and titles emerging (chief digital officer, chief innovation officer, chief data officer, etc.) that co-opt part of the CIO’s strategic responsibilities?
Here’s the challenge for CIOs: While the average marketing or finance executive doesn’t have to become an expert in a range of disciplines, the CIO is expected to develop a fluency in all of them. And this is too daunting a responsibility for any single individual.
Rather than take strategic responsibilities away from the CIO, companies should consider creating a new position — or new class of positions — that helps the CIO establish and cement a more strategic relationship with other divisional leaders. That position is business information officer, or BIO.
In my new book, Implementing World Class IT Strategy: How IT Can Drive Organizational Innovation, I profile a number of top CIOs who have done just that, typically appointing several BIOs who operate in concert. Among them are the CIOs of Best Buy, BJ’s, Capital One, Kaiser Permanente, New York Life, PNC, SAP, Siemens, and World Fuel Services. Although each company has incorporated unique nuances into the role, there are common characteristics.
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