The Looming CIO Shortage

A shortage of qualified chief information officers looms in the next few years. Growing demand for CIOs is not being offset by an increasing supply of talented, well-prepared executives, according to a just-released report, “Grooming the 2010 CIO,” written for the Society for Information Management Advance Practices Council. The report looks at ways that companies can start addressing the coming CIO shortage today by grooming future leaders from within.

Authors Ritu Agarwal, professor of information systems at the University of Maryland, and Cynthia Beath, professor emeritus of information management at the University of Texas at Austin, interviewed IT and human resources executives from companies known for leadership development, along with partners at search firms involved in recruiting senior technology leaders. They found that the CIO role is changing, with an increasing focus on business knowledge and skills, the ability to manage relationships, and overall leadership capability.

Slideshow: The Seven Roles of Highly Effective CIOs

Agarwal and Beath also identified a wide range of strategies for developing the next generation of technology leaders. Common themes across successful companies include making a concerted effort to develop talent from within, and making sure the current CIO is involved in the process. The report carries some sense of urgency; after all, senior executives take time to grow into their jobs, and 2010 is just around the corner. Following are excerpts from the SIM report.