A recent CIO Survey says 7 percent enterprises employ chief digital officers as part of their overall IT strategy.
The survey indicates that the influence of CIOs will be impacted by the rapid growth of chief digital officers.
16 percent for companies with technology budgets of $100 million and over have a chief digital officer, said the survey done by Harvey Nash.
Two-thirds of companies report that a lack of access to the right technology talent is holding back their digital strategy.
CIOs are less likely to have a direct role in shaping the digital strategy, with 50 percent playing an active role in 2014, down from 56 percent last year. 40 percent of chief digital officers report to the CEO, 22 percent report to the CIO and 16 percent report to the CMO.
Harvey Nash President and CEO Bob Miano said the Chief Digital Officer will most certainly continue to impact the CIO as its influence grows.
The survey said technology budgets are growing as CEOs increasingly favor investing for growth over cost reduction and efficiencies.
46 percent of CIOs and technology leaders experienced budget growth in the last twelve months against 42 percent last year, and the highest level of budget growth since 2006 (where 47 percent of technology leaders experienced budget growth).
63 percent of CEOs prioritize projects that generate cash (such as digital marketing, customer oriented systems and innovation led projects) over projects designed to deliver cost savings or improve operational performance.
CEOs are shifting their attention away from cost savings (their top survey priority for five years between 2009 and 2013) to using technology to improve the effectiveness of their operations (top priority in 2014).
Concern about the skills shortage is up 15 percent from last year.
60 percent of technology leaders are experiencing a skills shortage within their teams preventing their company keeping up with its competitors against 45 percent last year.
In the U.S., 55 percent believe the skills shortage is impacting ability to deliver (5 percent lower than the global average).
US enterprise market
46 percent of U.S. enterprise market plans to increase IT headcount, 4 percent higher than the global average.
9 percent currently have a Chief Digital Officer, 2 percent more than the global average.
11 percent of respondents are female IT leaders, 4 percent higher than the global average.
24 percent have faced a major IT security attack in the last year, 2 percent higher than the global average.
44 percent expect to increase outsourcing, 5 percent lower than the global average.
55 percent believe the skills shortage will prevent their organizations from keeping up with the pace of change, 5 percent lower than the global average.
64 percent see the role of the CIO becoming more strategic, 2 percent below the global average.
The Harvey Nash CIO Survey represents the views of more than 3,200 CIOs and technology leaders from across more than 30 countries, with a combined technology spend of over $160 billion.
InfotechLead News Team