IBM Global CIO Study: Smart Makes Small Get Big

IBM released today a new global study of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) at high-growth midsize organizations.

The study revealed that the top technologies for enhancing competitiveness over the next five years are in the areas of business intelligence and self service portals.

Specifically, 86% of midmarket CIOs identified business intelligence and analytics, the ability to see patterns in vast amounts of data and extract actionable insights, as a critical area of focus for their businesses moving forward.

This was the largest face-to-face survey ever conducted, with over 2,500 CIOs interviewed worldwide for IBM’s 2009 Global Chief Information Officer Study, and with 158 of those from 31 countries employed at midsize organizations with fewer than 1,000 employees.

As part of the research effort, IBM looked at the difference between the responses of CIOs from organizations with high growth in profits before tax, and CIOs from organizations with low growth.

Both must typically juggle complementary but sometimes conflicting roles, but CIOs at high-growth midsize organizations are especially proactive about championing innovation and co-creating business strategy.

Other key findings:

• Midmarket CIOs are braced for continued volatility — more than half (55%) anticipate changing their business models over the next three years
• More than half of midmarket CIOs are active in developing business strategy, a number that drops to 33% when midsize and larger organizations are combined
• 58% of high-growth companies are focused on turning mountains of information into insight and actionable information, versus 43% of low-growth companies
• The most successful CIOs at midsize organizations spend close to two-thirds of their time on activities that spur innovation.

IBM global midmarket general manager Marc Dupaquier summarized the results of the study and its import to midsize organizations:

“Today’s economy is driving a period of unprecedented change, which the most successful CIOs at midsize organizations are embracing. They view technology as an enabler for solving problems in today’s smaller, flatter and smarter world. Today it’s not about how big you are, but about how smart you operate.”

The 2009 CIO Study is part of the IBM C-Suite Study Series, published by the IBM Institute for Business Value.

You can learn more and download the full study here.

Note: IBM’s Teresa Golden will be presenting results from the Global CIO Study at the upcoming IBM Information on Demand Conference (2:45 PM, October 26th, Mandalay Bay South Convention Center, South Seas C), in a session entitled “IBM Global CIO Study” (1470A).

You can get more information about the Information on Demand conference here.