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Talk up, not down, to CIOs

Some fascinating tidbits of data from ITWorldCanada this week on the innermost thoughts of CIOs, based on its recent CIO survey.

·         Seventy-two per cent say they spend most of their time “interacting” with other CXOs. That’s well ahead of strategic planning (56%) and making strategic decisions (55%). Not surprisingly, three-quarters of CIOs say an ability to communicate is most pivotal to their success

·         They spend the least amount of their managing IT crises (6%) and budgeting/learning about IT (6%)

·         What skills are NOT key to becoming a stellar CIO? IT proficiency ranked “first” at 3 per cent, followed by a through knowledge of IT (7%)

Two lessons here. One, if you have plans to include a CIO title next to your name one day, better polish your sales and networking skills. Two, what we always suspected to be true has been confirmed once again. Clients looking to get a deep technology message across are far better talking to IT managers. Most CIOs simply don’t live in that world.

By Michael MacMillan on Jun 20, 2008
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