Chief Information Officer - CIO

CIO

Information technology and its systems have become so important that the CIO has come to be viewed in many organizations as the key contributor in formulating strategic goals for an organization. The CIO manages the implementation of the useful technology to increase information accessibility and integrated systems management. As a comparison, where the CIO adapts systems through the use of existing technologies, chief technology officer develops new technologies to expand corporate technological capabilities. When both positions are present in an organization, the CIO is generally responsible for processes and practices supporting the flow of information, whereas the CTO is generally responsible for technology infrastructure.

CIO magazine's "State of the CIO 2008" survey asked 558 IT leaders who they report to. The results were: CEO (41%), CFO (23%), COO (16%), Corporate CIO (7%) and Other (13%).