Why do most CIO's don't have technical background and how to become one?

Top CIOs take home seven-figure pay packages

The above link shows the slideshow of CIO's who are making 600k - 8.6m USD. I did some google search and learned that this guys don't have any degree in IT/CS but have in different fields.

what makes someone the CIO of the company if he/she does not know how things go technically? or we just need business skills and the communication skills to impress the Cxx guys.

Your response would be much appreciated.

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Comments

networker050184

They have people on staff to do the technical stuff. It's all about business at that level.

Mishra

I think there are too many variables to make this kind of generalized statement...

CIOs could get paid money in the possible following scenarios

1. CIO brings a large customer into the new business he joins on arrival and deserves his salary due to the net gain for the new company
2. CIO brings experience in reducing cost by XX% which new company wants to deploy so CIO is paid well for his past experience
3. CIO is very knowledgeable in the technical side and can increase customer satisfaction (a newly stated goal by said company) by employing an efficent environment
4. CIO works at competitor company with no NDA... CIO leaves for other competitor company which company pays a lot for inside knowledge
5. CIO is friends with Senior Staff
6. Many many more scenarios

The article shows only a tiny sample size of all very well paid executives out there.

I think the better statement/take away in this scenario is "It's not what you know, it's who you know". Make sure you are making friends, doing good work, meeting your goals, and doing the best work possible.

But believe me, I would much gather be hired as a CIO for my performance, credentials, and leadership skills in most scenarios... I would hate to deal with the 'insider' drama that you sometimes hear in popular news.

emerald_octane

Supernerds, those who work behind the scenes , make everything run smoothly but have troubles communicating and are maybe shy/don't advocate don't really make for good CIOs. The rare CIO beast knows their business and how IT has a contribution to it AND the technical mojo to get down to the nitty gritty. At that level as mentioned it's all about the business. The CIO does need to be aware of trends, again interact with all the various business units and understand what role IT plays in their organization . I wouldn't fault my CIO for not being able to configure an IPS or provision a server (although some would and that's silly). However I would expect my CIO to set the expectations of the CEO and CFO and come back to us and say "this is what the business needs, this is how much cash we have to do it, this is how much time", delegate the tasks and see the process to execution.

They get paid alot because of the amount of risk inherent in the process. Migrating a CRM from some inhouse app to some brandname shrink wrap software? Enhancing security? Rolling out new internal applications? if this stuff goes well, great! If something doesn't work, SHTF. Maybe some intern somewhere will be in hot water, but I would bet that the CIO would get a nice bashing from the CEO because IT failed the business (for whatever reason).

SteveLord

Nearly all of those are the CIO plus Senior Vice President/similar role.

GAngel

A CIO and every other Csuite job manages managers and does budgetting based on recommendations from them and the board. The typical IT manager or Director in no way shape or form is qualified to do the kind of budgetting we're talking about and that's why you find CIO's rarely come from the tech stream unless they've spent years being groomed.

As for pay they can make deals saving or losing millions in one go. They also have personal liability attached in certain circumstances so risk vs reward has to be high enough. Add in a dose of nepotism and old boys club for good measure.

discount81

Finance/MBA is better suited for CIO than a CS degree, day to day they rarely deal with technology, they pay technical minded people to help them.

N2IT

To piggyback off of discount

Regardless of what bachelors they have I agree you usually seem them with an MBA or some masters degree. Most of the time they are gifted / extremely smart and have no problem dropping 5000 heads to lower SG&A to increase margins. Their focus is on the business and if that means dropping a business unit or division to remain agile or competitive they will do so.

Instead of MTTR, ASA, TSF, or ABA.

They focus on TCO, Utilization, Financial Risk Management.

From my experience (limited like most of us) the CIO is one of the most junior of the C's. I've seen several CIO's eventually promote up to COO or CEO.

MiikeB

I am currently working towards my MBA, then MS-IA. Along with my CISSP and PMP I hope to move in to Project Management in the next 2 years and hopefully be a candidate for CIO/CTO positions within the next 8 years.

I think it takes a combinations of Business sense and being likeable. I think personality plays a huge role in getting up to that level.