With the expanding role of Chief Information Officers in corporations I have set out to answer one question. "What are the possible disadvantages of giving the CIO an expanded role in corporations?" My intention will be to highlight some of the disadvantages as they are today. The topic I will discuss is The Human Resource Challenge: Performance and Wage expectations, and Qualifications and Training.
Now let's look at the Human Resource Challenge that corporations now face. Corporations must now focus more on training and qualifications in Business Management skills. The current skill set of Information Technology seems to be that of an entry level professional. With the changing roles, corporations will have a new use for a CIO. Some of the key factors a CIO should have is best stated in an article written by Gartner, posted at http://techrepublic.com/5100-6296-5034787.htm. They are as follows:
*The CIO must understand the business issues of the enterprise.
English: Perry Rotella, the senior vice president ...
English: Gartner headquarters in Stamford.
Executive Vice President and Chief Information Off...*The CIO must translate between business needs and technology solution.
*The CIO must offer strong leadership in the areas of business and technology.
Now recruiting Chief Information Officers with these qualities will not be easy, and may prove to be a challenge of its own. However, all three characteristics can be taught. Therefore, after recruiting new Chief Information Officers, they should be trained. The good thing about this is that CEOs will be able to mold them into exactly what they want. This also seems to be a disadvantage that needs to be addressed.
Training and qualifications are a huge part of what makes a CIO what he or she is. They must be proficient in both the technical and engineering aspects as well as the business aspects i.e. finance, marketing, and strategic planning. Now how will this happen? College graduates with a degree in Business only...