A controversy of sorts has popped up over the role of chief information officers and how that is reflected in organizational reporting structures.
According to an InformationWeek blog by Chris Murphy, there is a concern among technology executives that an increase in the numbers of CIOs reporting to chief financial officers (CFO) rather than chief executive officers (CEO) or presidents represents a diminution in the importance of the function within companies.
The argument, according to Mr. Murphy, is that reporting to a CEO indicates the CIO is seen as an innovation driver within a company while a line to the CFO puts the emphasis on information technology as a cost center.
A study by the Society for Information Management (SIM), reported on by InformationWeek's John Soat, found that there has been a dramatic decrease in the percentage of top IT execs reporting to the heads of companies.
According to the SIM research, 31 percent of tech execs currently report to the CEO compared to 45 percent last year. The numbers reporting to CFOs increased to 29 percent versus 25 percent in the previous survey.
"If the CEO number is going down, clearly [CIOs are] losing traction," Jerry Luftman, associate dean of the Graduate Information Systems Programs at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, told Mr. Soat. "I'm hoping it's a blip."
Separately, InformationWeek's own research paints a different picture. According to its CIO Effectiveness study, 41 percent said the role of CIO is gaining in influence within companies while only 19 percent saw it in decline.
InformationWeek's numbers show 46 percent of CIOs report directly to a CEO or president, 24 percent to the CFO and 13 percent to the chief operating officer.
Kevin Rosenberg, managing partner with executive search firm BridgeGate, said he sees "fewer CIOs reporting to CFOs than ever before."
Individual CIOs say the question of their role and effectiveness within an organization has more to do with to whom they report than the title of the person.
One CIO, according to Mr. Sloat, was quite pleased reporting to the CFO because his company's CEO "doesn't have a clue."
Of course, another CIO described reporting to the CFO as "a nightmare."
Discussion Question: To whom do you think the CIO should report? Does the reporting line of a CIO have an effect on the role of information technology as an innovation driver?