Two thirds of CIOs see their jobs at risk

The CIOs were from over 30 countries, and Gartner claims that the report - The 2005 CIO Agenda, is the most comprehensive study available.

According to Marcus Blosch, group VP and research director at Gartner: "CIOs must deliver more value and become a contributor rather than a commodity. They must do this without large up front investments".

The report outlines the CIOs' top 10 business and technological priorities during 2005.

Technology Priorities
1. Security enhancement tools, 2. Business Intelligence applications, 3. Mobile workforce enabling, 4. Workflow management deployment/integration, 5. Enterprise resource planning upgrades, 6. Storage management, 7. Voice and data integration over IP, 8. Customer relationship management, 9. Business process integration tools, and 10. Server virtualisation.

Business Priorities
1. Business process improvement, 2. Security breaches and disruptions, 3. Enterprise operating costs, 4. Support competitive advantage, 5. Data protection and privacy, 6. Revenue growth, 7. Using intelligence in products and services, 8. Focusing on internal controls, 9. Shortage of business skills and 10. Faster cycle times.

Two thirds of CIOs are quaking at their chief executive's view of IT and performance, and see their jobs at risk. So they need to clearly show the quality of IT services in business terms that he or she understands. And only 39 per cent of the CIOs think they have the right people to meet current and future business needs.

Over 50 per cent of the CIOs surveyed were worried about the aging workforce they have, because they have difficulty attracting the right people with the right skills. µ