Energy and utilities CIOs face priorities like environmental issues that differ from other industries. However, they align with other CIOs in adapting to rapid technological change. The predominant mandate for energy and utilities CIOs is "expand," focusing on growth and collaboration. Top visionary plans include mobility solutions, virtualization, and self-service portals. CIOs will focus on insight, customer intimacy, and people skills to support strategies over five years.

1. Energy and Utilities industry highlights
The
Essential
CIO
Insights from the
Global Chief Information
Officer Study
Energy and Utilities CIOs are faced with a number of significantly
“The question is: ‘How do we leverage different corporate priorities than their counterparts in other
what we’ve done to develop new revenue industries. For example, they have a much stronger focus on
streams to differentiate us?’ How do we environmental issues and expect far less impact from
become the utility company that people globalization. Despite these differences, Energy and Utilities
look at and say, ‘Wow - they’re changing technology leaders are in many ways aligned with leaders in
the game?’ ” other industries.
Energy and Utilities CIO, United States
This is especially true regarding their approach to helping their
organizations adapt to the accelerating change and complexity that
result from rapid technological change, shifting regulatory and legislative
environments, and new levels of consumer engagement. To find out
how they are doing this – and how their efforts compare to similar
organizations in other industries – we spoke in person with 3,018 CIOs
in 71 countries, with 138 of these representing Energy and Utilities
companies.
CIOs everywhere spend at least part of their time on IT fundamentals.
Our research identified four distinct “CIO Mandates,” based on how each
organization views the role of IT. For CIOs we spoke to in the Energy and
Utilities industry, the predominant mandate was the Expand mandate.
Figure 1 Expand Leverage
The CIO Mandate Effective CIOs know Global sample Global sample
and deliver on a mandate that is defined by
the predominant goals of the enterprise.
50% 14%
Energy and Utilities CIOs Energy and Utilities CIOs
57% 14%
Transform Pioneer
Global sample Global sample
23% 13%
Energy and Utilities CIOs Energy and Utilities CIOs
18% 11%

2. Energy and Utilities insights
The Expand mandate currently predominates the industry. Expand © Copyright IBM Corporation 2011
mandate CIOs are focused on cross-enterprise growth and continuously IBM Global Services
tune business processes and internal collaboration to gain tighter Route 100, Somers
NY 10589 U.S.A.
integration. Energy and Utilities CIOs will need to help re-engineer their
organizations, making them faster, more flexible and better equipped to Produced in the United States of America
May 2011
turn data into insights. But there may be a shift in the industry toward the All Rights Reserved
Transform and Pioneer mandates as business models evolve in the next
IBM, the IBM logo and ibm.com are trademarks or
decade.
registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation in the United States, other
What are their top visionary plans? Energy and Utilities CIOs as a whole countries, or both. If these and other IBM
have a greater focus than the global sample on three types of visionary trademarked terms are marked on their first
occurrence in this information with a trademark
plans in the next three to five years: mobility solutions (82 percent versus
symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S.
74 percent), virtualization (74 percent versus 68 percent) and self-service registered or common law trademarks owned by
portals (69 percent versus 57 percent). IBM at the time this information was published.
Such trademarks may also be registered or common
Where are IT efforts focused? To support their organizational strategies law trademarks in other countries. A current list of
IBM trademarks is available on the Web at
over the next five years, Energy and Utilities CIOs agreed with the global “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.
sample, citing insight and intelligence, customer intimacy and people skills com/legal/copytrade.shtml
as three of their top focus areas. These CIOs are also prioritizing risk Other company, product and service names may be
management slightly more than the global sample. trademarks or service marks of others.
References in this publication to IBM products and
How will they manage data? This group aligns with the global sample on
services do not imply that IBM intends to make
the most effective ways to turn data into intelligence over the next five them available in all countries in which IBM
years, such as master data management, customer analytics, data operates.
warehousing and visual dashboards. Note: Due to rounding, the percentage breakdown of
CIOs by CIO Mandate may not equal 100 percent.
How will they support organizational strategy? Across all industries,
product and service profitability analysis is the most often-mentioned focus.
Energy and Utilities CIOs, however, view support of their companies’
pursuit of new sources of revenue as much more likely than other forms of
revenue-enhancing activities. This is consistent with our view that business
model innovation – and the host of new products and services that such
innovation will enable – will be a key source of growth for Energy and
Utilities companies in the future.
Whether an organization requires an emphasis on delivery of essential IT
services or challenges the CIO to pioneer new opportunities, CIOs need to
innovate. Ongoing technological shifts, the coming deluge of new data from
smart meter and smart grid technologies, and the increasingly frenetic pace
of changes in customer demands and business models underscore the
ever-more vital role of CIOs in every industry and region.
For further information or to reach an IBM industry expert, please contact
iibv@us.ibm.com.
CIE03097-USEN-00