Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 35 | Page 45

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// they just want it to work! Forging these strong working relationships is vital if CIOs are to get away from the commonly-held view of CXOs that the IT function impedes the business rather than empowers it. FEATURE: STATE OF THE CIO There is surprising rationale as to why CIOs still do not report to the CEO: IT is either seen as a cost-driver which needs to be ‘controlled’ by the CFO, or as a backend operations and systems group, that supports sales and marketing, run by the COO. The place of the CIO The CIO position was introduced over 30 years ago, and one might think that all hierarchical challenges were resolved during that time. www.intelligentcio.com Both perspectives are ‘old school’ given that, in this day and age, IT should be considered a key competitive differentiator completely independent of the industry and the size of the company. It doesn’t matter if you run Claude Schuck, Regional Manager, Middle East and Central Africa at Veeam INTELLIGENTCIO 45