Learning to Love Data Science

Chapter 6. Big Data and the Evolving Role of the CIO

Topline Summary

Fifteen years ago, the primary job of the chief information officer (CIO) was helping the chief financial officer (CFO) reconcile accounts and close the books. On rare occasions, the CIO would interact directly with the chief executive officer (CEO), and on even rarer occasions, the CIO might interact directly with the company’s board of directors. The CIO was perceived by senior management as an elevated techie, someone who knew how to fix the printer when it jammed.

The astonishingly rapid growth of consumer technology, e-commerce, social networkings, and cloud technology changed all of that. Today, the CIO has a seat at the table. The modern CIO works alongside other C-level executives, helping the company grow its revenue, delight its customers, develop new products, break into new markets, comply with complex government regulations, and keep the printers running.

The rise of big data and advanced analytics makes the CIO’s job even more complicated, since many of the legacy systems built and acquired when the CIO was still in high school simply can’t handle the volume, velocity, and variety of data generated by the company’s operations.

This report, written in the autumn of 2013, examines how the role of the CIO is evolving quickly from an order taker with a fancy business title to a business innovator with unprecedented access to the highest levels of corporate management.

A Radical Shift in Focus and ...