CIO Reporting

During my MBA last semester we discussed the reporting structure for the Chief Information Officer (CIO). This topic of reporting structure typically emergeges during our IT alignment discussions where I argue the importance of reporting structure on alignment. In this discussion I posit that the CIO should report to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) rather than the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), or another C-suite executive. When I make this case I am often asked how frequently CIOs report to the CEO and I'm unable to give estimates. However, after today, I am now able to respond to this question.

During the third quarter of 2014 CIO Magazine conducted a survey and one of the questions posed related to the executive reporting structure of the CIO. The results published this month indicated that 44% of CIO report directly to the CEO. The results also indicated rather than reporting directly to the CEO, 20% of CIOs report to the CFO, 13% report to the COO, and 23% reported to some other position. The results indicate that the most common structure is the CIO reporting directly to the CEO.

Now, back to structure and alignment. A direct reporting relationship between the CIO and the CEO encourages participation of the CIO in strategic planning. Involvement of CIO in the strategic planning ensures proper IT support of business strategies as well as developing new business strategies based on IT opportunities. The alignment of business and IT allows the organization to realize new opportunities provided by corporate information and information systems and to ensure the information and corresponding systems are available to support any new strategic initiatives.

It is good to see so many CIOs reporting directly to the CEO. The reporting structure supports alignment. Now can let's hope CEOs are listening to the CIO describe new opportunities IT can provide.