Abstract

Letter to the Editor, MIS Australia

8 August 2006

In the August 2006 cover story from MIS Australia entitled, "Super CIO: How Can CIOs Grow Into the Role of Essential Business Superhero?" by Paul Smith, the role of the CIO, indeed the need for a CIO, is being seriously questioned in businesses around the world. More and more companies are demanding business acumen, expecting CIOs to provide the strategic leadership needed to run their department as a business. Therefore, CIOs must adopt the CEO way of thinking: grasp the business world in which they work and realistically balance the risk with the business’ need to change and grow.

In our response to Paul Smith's article and the related opinion article “Search for the Hero Inside,” we agree with the premise that the potential is there for CIOs (and CTOs for that matter) to become business superheroes, but in the context of them being the champions for sustainable business improvement.

Read more...