When should you hire your first CIO?
Indicators for this business development strategy
An IT manager can only take a midsize business so far. Though there are no rules for determining when the time has come for your first chief information officer (CIO), here are some classic indicators.
In Summary:
| • | A CIO's executive-level leadership skills are important to keep a growing IT department efficient. |
| • | CIOs have more experience than IT managers at developing strategic, long-term IT plans. |
| • | As a member of the executive team, CIOs are better able to overcome internal resistance to new technologies. |
Every midsize business knows it must have a business development strategy, which includes eventually hiring a CIO. The challenge is deciding when. "Usually they wait too long," observes Laurie Orlov, a vice president and principal analyst at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research. As a result, companies often end up outgrowing critical systems, spending IT dollars inefficiently, and even violating regulatory requirements.
 | "A true CIO is a business catalyst [who is] very proactive in helping, and even forcing, the organization to make better use of IT." |  | | Bruce Skaistis
Founder,
eGlobal CIO Advisors | |
|
Orlov and others point to these signs that it's time for a business development strategy with more senior IT leadership:
| • | Your IT department is falling behind. Most midsize businesses initially entrust their technology decision-making to an IT manager with strong technical knowledge but limited leadership skills. In time, a growing IT department might exceed their administrative abilities. CIOs, by contrast, usually have the training and experience to keep an expanding IT organization on track. |
| • | lack an IT business development strategy. Unlike most IT managers, effective CIOs are strategic thinkers. "IT managers are charged with managing resources and controlling costs. CIOs play a broader role in using IT to help the organization accomplish its big-picture objectives," says Bruce Skaistis, founder of eGlobal CIO Advisors, an IT consulting firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Drawing on his or her strategic planning skills, a CIO can develop a comprehensive, long-term IT roadmap for your organization. That can help you eliminate overlapping systems, identify opportunities for increased automation, and prevent outdated technologies from putting the brakes on growth. |
| • | IT isn't contributing to innovation. Maintaining uptime is usually an IT manager's top priority, but a good CIO will also look for ways to speed product development and boost market reach. "A true CIO is a business catalyst [who is] very proactive in helping, and even forcing, the organization to make better use of IT," Skaistis says. |
| • | You're struggling with internal resistance to change. Most IT managers are mid-level leaders who lack the clout to drive adoption. CIOs more often have the authority and high-level backing to bring bold plans to fruition, as they increasingly report directly to the CEO. |
Of course, a good CIO will cost more in compensation and benefits than an IT manager. Most CEOs are willing to make that investment, but a board of directors may need some convincing. "The argument to make in that case is that a strategic technology thinker is an enabler of growth, and the flipside is also true: The lack [of such a thinker] is an inhibitor of growth," Orlov says. Hesitant board members usually accept that argument even if they don't fully understand what a CIO does, she adds. Technology-savvy board members, meanwhile, already know just how valuable a first-rate CIO can be.
 | Rich Freeman is a Seattle, Washington-based freelance writer specializing in business and technology. He has more than 14 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the IT industry. |
