IT Management Tool KitCIO Shifting Priorities- Focus of IT Efforts

CIO priorities are constantly changing but the focus is always centered around three factors: technology, infrastructure and people

CIO priority Management where the focus is - CIO's Management focus is centered around the challenges of the major issues of the day. Security and protection against hacking top the list of focus areas. That is followed by the need to address blockchain applications and cloud accesses, protection, and application processing.

The toolkit that address all of those need. CIOs and CTOs are in a constantly evolving field, however world class CIOs and CTOs focus on three areas to help them manage more effectively. They are:

  • Technology
  • People
  • Infrastructure

Janco has found that the top 10 priorities and concerns have been the same for several years. The only difference is the ranking in importance has varied. In the most recent analysis Janco sees that security and protection from hacking has moved to the top spot.

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CIO Management and Planning Priorities had a seismic shift

We conducted a survey of 213 IT functions across multiple industries and from mega corporations to companies with as few as 50 IT professionals. In 2024 the top 10 priorities are:

    1. Security - Internal and external threats are on the increase and CIOs continue to be focused on this.
    2. Compliance - With the expansion of the infrastructure to address eCommerce, the possibility of a downturn, and a shortage of compliance talent moved this up.
    3. Cost Control – When the economy was booming last year, many CIOs were not that concerned. Today that is not the case.
    4. Budget Management - Important as inflation continues to be an issue and the recovery falters adjust the optimistic budgets that were created last year need to be adjusted.
    5. Access Management - Network management and control now have an even greater role than before. In 2022, 69% of the individuals interviewed placed that in the top ten. Now it is a priority for 58%.
    6. Privacy / Identity Protection - With the rise of WFH, GDPR, and CCPA data privacy is a top ten priority.
    7. IT Productivity – Many IT functions are top-heavy with too many layers of management and non-essential staff who add to IT overhead impacting overall productivity. This had the greatest shift in importance as both CIOs and CFOs looked to eliminate “non-essential” staff. CIOs are looking towards the use of AI to eliminate “routine” functions.
    8. AI Skills - Was barely on the radar in 2022 and now 52% of all CIOs and CFOs are looking to train, acquire, or recruit AI skills. Salaries for individuals with these skills are among the highest-paid IT Pros.
    9. Mobile Computing - Mobile and end-user computing requires applications to be outward-facing, functional on a myriad of devices, and user-friendly. Most of this work was completed last year. Now it has a priority for 49% of the interviewees versus 69% in 2022.
    10. Internet Application – There is still a high demand for applications that are internet-based and outward-facing to clients and customers. These are important. We found no initiatives in this arena that have been canceled. Rather we have not seen as many of these “new” projects initiated for e-commerce, blockchain, ERP, cloud, and support.

Top 10 CIO Concerns

Updated with the latest CIO priorities

Top 10 CIO Priorities - during the pandemic

The top 10 list was compiled by Janco Associates in concert with its on-going IT Salary Survey interviews. The top 10 priorities and concerns are the areas of focus for CIOs and enterprise priorities based on Janco's surveys:

  1. Staffing - Recruiting new staff is the highest priority as companies re-open. Limited new development aside from WFH support and mobile computing is taking place.
  2. Security and Hacking - as more instances of cyberattacks are identified CIOs are well aware that their jobs are at risk if this occurs under their watch
  3. Identity Protection - With the availability of more information on individuals and enterprises there are more opportunities for bad actors to capture enough information that they can build profiles with can then be used to the detriment of both individuals and enterprises.
  4. Access Management - With the increase in access points to data and confidential enterprise assets there is a need for more enciphering and access protection.
  5. Mobile Computing - BYOD and mobile applications are where users are looking for support in order to improve their bottom-line results.
  6. Work From Home Support - WFH is a viable option for many organizations and WFH support now is the top priority for over 90% of CIOs surveyed
  7. Budget Management - There are two ways to control budgets. First spending can be limited. Second productivity can be improved both within IT and the operational units of an enterprise.
  8. Compliance - With WFH and compliance requirements like GDPR for the EU more rules will have to be implemented with businesses that operate outside of the US.
  9. Skills for new Technology including Blockchain, ERP, and Cloud Computing - This is the new hidden IT that is driving many new applications and is not under the complete control of the CIO and IT organization.
  10. Data Privacy via Standardization and Integration Infrastructure - No longer are those interacting with the data and systems in a single location utilizing standard hardware and software. Records management, retention, and destruction as well as version control are just a few of the areas that CIOs need to manage and control.

There also are a number of secondary issues that CIOs focus on as they are concerns of other C-Level executives and the Board of Directors.

  1. Consolidation - Islands of data and computing continue to exist as new technologies are implemented. Redundancy leads to disparate information and needs to be resolved.
  2. Big Data - As data is consolidated it needs to be analyzed more quickly so that decision making within the enterprise is improved.
  3. Automation - Traditional functions are now being eliminated and automation needs to take place which meet the strategic objectives of the enterprise.
  4. Social Networks - This is the wave of the future and needs to be managed more effectively.
  5. Succession Planning - Not only for the CIO role but for all of the other key roles within the IT functions. Job family definition is now a priority.

Managing the CIO and CTO Concerns

Janco has created a kit that contains tools which help an enterprise more easily manage each of the CIO concerns. The IT Management Tool Kit is provided in MS WORD and PDF formats and includes the following:

  • Security Manual Template
  • How to Guide for Cloud Processing and Outsourcing
  • IT Job Family Classification HandiGuide
  • Over 326 Job Descriptions
  • Interview and Hiring Guide
  • Latest IT Salary Survey
  • CIO IT Infrastructure Policy Bundle plus Electronic Forms
  • Business and IT Impact Questionnaire
  • Vulnerability and Threat Assessment Tool

The kit can be ordered with or with out Janco's subscription update service or any of the kit components can be ordered individually.

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