From the driven to the driven

CIOs face the far-reaching challenge of not only optimally supporting ongoing processes, but also addressing the new potential and challenges across the entire company. What factors make for success? What background do CIOs have and how do they address the challenge?

These questions were examined in a study conducted by Koblenz University of Applied Sciences under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ayelt Komus from the Department of Economics in cooperation with Voice, the German Federal Association of IT Users. The study analyzed 14 different theses. Are typical CIOs male, old and weak in communication? Do they drive innovation or are they too caught up in day-to-day business? Do they have to have studied computer science. While some preconceptions were confirmed, some were refuted in the course of the study.

Overall, the study shows CIOs who confidently see their field of activity in the entire company and no longer so centrally in the IT department. A special feature of the study is that it looks at both the CIO and the company side in order to highlight important success factors in the CVs of IT managers in top management.

The central findings of the study are based on a comparison of these two perspectives: CIOs consider leadership qualities and people skills to be more critical to success than an understanding of technology, business administration and the industry. However, job postings and recruiters often still tend to look for technically trained and oriented CIOs.

At the same time, the study makes it clear that CIOs do indeed fit the stereotype - i.e., they are mainly male and tend to be more technical, mathematical or scientific in their educational background.