[3] In recent years it has become increasingly understood that knowledge limited to just business or just IT is not sufficient for success in this role.
Computer Weekly magazine highlights that "53% of IT leaders report a shortage of [IT managers] with a high-level of personal skills, such as communication and leadership" in the workplace.
[7] CIOs are needed to bridge the gap between IT and non-IT professional roles to support effective working relationships.
The CIO faces a rather high risk of error and failures, as a result of the challenging nature of the role, along with a large number of responsibilities – such as the provision of finance, recruitment of professionals, establishing data protection and development of policy and strategy.
However, regulations such as GDPR have also been advantageous to CIOs, enabling them to have the budget and authority in the organization to make significant changes to the way information is managed.
Sabah Khan-Carter of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp described GDPR as "a really big opportunity for most organizations".
[13] More recently, CIOs' leadership capabilities, business acumen, and strategic perspectives have taken precedence over technical skills.
CIOs are often tasked with either driving or heading up crucial IT projects that are essential to the strategic and operational objectives of an organization.
A good example of this would be the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which typically has wide-ranging implications for most organizations.
[17] As SaaS, IaaS, BPO and other flexible delivery techniques are brought into organizations the CIO usually manages these 3rd party services.
[18] More specifically, CIOs oversee a business's IT systems and functions, create and deliver strategies and policies, and focus on internal customers.
These awards are commonly dictated by the significance of their contribution to the industry and generally occur in local markets only.