The 2020 State of the CIO report highlights the increasing strategic role of CIOs, with 89% prioritizing digital transformation initiatives. It notes a growing collaboration between CIOs and business counterparts, as well as challenges in finding skilled professionals in technology areas like cybersecurity and data science. The report emphasizes the importance of communication with business departments and the allocation of budgets for digital business initiatives.

1. 2020 State of the CIO

2. 2
45% 46%
53%
56%
47%
52%
45%
50%
48%
45%
42%
32%34% 43%
23%
19% 19%
22%
27%
20%
27%
21%
18%
10%
21%
11% 23%
25%
34%
27% 27%
31%
25%
34%
40%
58%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
CIOs Continue to Move Towards a Strategic Role
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q: Which of the following activities best characterize your focus and how you spend your time in your current role?
TRANSFORMATIONAL
FUNCTIONAL
STRATEGIC
WHERE THEY WANT
THEIR FOCUS TO
BE IN 3 YEARS

3. 3Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements (NET of strongly agree/agree somewhat)
56% of LOB counterparts agree – Up from 47% in 2019
of CIOs say that they are more involved in leading digital
transformation initiatives compared to their business counterparts
89%

4. 4
Leading Digital Initiatives is Top Priority
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q: What are the CEO's top three priorities for you in the coming year?
14%
16%
16%
17%
21%
24%
27%
28%
29%
31%
39%
Lead merger integration or due diligence on a potential acquisition
Lead a product innovation effort
Digitize the employee experience
Enable new plan for customer acquisition & retention
Reduce or rationalize IT spending
Identify new data-driven business opportunities
Collaborate with business departments on major customer initiative
Help reach specific goal for corporate revenue growth
Strengthen IT and business collaboration skills
Upgrade IT and data security to boost corporate resiliency
Lead digital business/digital transformation initiatives

5. 5
Digital Business Budgets Handled Within IT
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q. Over the next 12 months, how will your organization handle the budget for digital business initiatives? (LOB response)
Enterprise SMB
49% 42%
19% 13%
15% 12%
17% 33%24%
14%
16%
45%
Don't know
Separate budget that lives
outside of IT
Separate budget, part of IT
Part of existing IT budget

6. 6
Consistent Communication with Line of Business
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements (NET of strongly agree/agree somewhat)
of heads of IT say that they are communicating
with the Board of Directors more than ever before
Differences
by CIO type:
78%
83% 78% 72%
TransformationalStrategic Functional

7. 7
Relying on Strategic Vendors & Peers
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q. Who do you rely on the most to help you evaluate tools and solutions during the technology purchase process?
20%
21%
24%
24%
28%
32%
33%
42%
52%
Application developers
Systems integrators
Security team
Analytics team
Engineering team
Consultants
Channel partners
Peers
Strategic vendors
Enterprise: 32%
SMB: 15%

8. 8
16%
16%
17%
17%
18%
18%
31%
35%
39%
Design thinking/UX
Cloud architecture
Internet of Things
DevOps/DevSecOps/Agile processes
Legacy technologies
Cloud services/integration
AI/ML/RPA
Data science/analytics
Cybersecurity
Difficulty Finding Security & Data Science Skillsets
Source: State of the CIO, 2020
Q: In which technology-related areas do you anticipate your organization will have the most difficulty in finding appropriate skillsets?

9. 9
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