Become a Strategic CIO

As a CIO, you are currently operating in a stable and trusted IT environment, but you would like to advance your role to strategic business partner.
CIOs are often overlooked as a strategic partner by their peers, and therefore face the challenge of proving they deserve a seat at the table.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

To become a strategic business partner, you must think and act as a business person that works in IT, rather than an IT person that works for the business.
Career advancement is not a solo effort. Building relationships with your executive business stakeholders will be critical to becoming a respected business partner.

Impact and Result

Create a personal development plan and stakeholder management strategy to accelerate your career and become a strategic business partner. For a CIO to be considered a strategic business partner, he or she must be able to:
- Act as a business person that works in IT, rather than an IT person that works for the business. This involves meeting executive stakeholder expectations, facilitating innovation, and managing stakeholder relationships.
- Align IT with the customer. This involves providing business stakeholders with information to support stronger decision making, keeping up with disruptive technologies, and constantly adapting to the ever-changing end-customer needs.
- Manage talent and change. This involves performing strategic workforce planning, and being actively engaged in identifying opportunities to introduce change in your organization, suggesting ways to improve, and then acting on them.

Become a Strategic CIO Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should become a strategic CIO, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Become a Strategic CIO – Executive Brief

1. Launch

Analyze strategic CIO competencies and assess business stakeholder satisfaction with IT using Info-Tech's CIO Business Vision Diagnostic and CXO-CIO Alignment Program.

2. Assess

Evaluate strategic CIO competencies and business stakeholder relationships.

3. Plan

Create a personal development plan and stakeholder management strategy.

4. Execute

Develop a scorecard to track personal development initiatives.

Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

9.8/10

Overall Impact

$9,110

Average $ Saved

Average Days Saved

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Testimonial

Bob Barker Company, Inc.

Guided Implementation

10/10

$13,700

Brian did an excellent job of outlining the materials and activities that I need to consider completing on my path to being a Strategic CIO.

Pegasus Logistics Group, Inc.

Guided Implementation

10/10

$2,740

Best: Clear concise feedback with guidance and suggestions on next steps and pitfalls. Brian was able to articulate potential blind spots/action... Read More

Ground Transportation Systems Canada Inc

Guided Implementation

9/10

$10,000

analysis of areas of improvement and then having a tailored planned created to address them.

Nieuport Aviation

Guided Implementation

10/10

$10,000

Load More Testimonials

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.