Gartner, the IT\u00a0research and advisory firm, believes that there is an IT leadership crisis due to a big gap between the IT demands of company chief executives and the execution by their\u00a0chief information officers.<\/p>\n
“We have a crisis in IT leadership,” said Peter Sondergaard,\u00a0Gartner global head of research, noting that\u00a050% of\u00a0CEOs as a result of the most recent financial crisis demand more of the IT function that what it is currently doing.<\/p>\n
In return, only 10% of CIOs believe they have an execution problem, Sondergaard said, highlighting the big gap between the two.<\/p>\n
Sondergaard, who was speaking at the Gartner Symposium in Cape Town, said that while\u00a0CEOs expect more than what CIOs and the IT department is currently delivering, the activities within those roles are set to triple under a\u00a0digital industrial economy.<\/p>\n
Within this new economy, the role of the IT department will change, encompassing more than\u00a0the traditional back-office managing IT.<\/p>\n
Leaders in the digital organisation will not be the CIOs, but rather a digital business unit leader\u00a0and chief digital officer (CDO), who will see IT through a\u00a0transitional period.<\/p>\n
By 2020 however, the chief digital office will be no more\u00a0\u2013 “they are change agents,” said Sondergaard.<\/p>\n
In 2020 they will have fulfilled their role.\u00a0“All leaders will be digital officers in 2020. Digital time is moving fast. Digital leadership skills become an integral part of management skills,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the CDO’s role is not well-defined in terms of corporate governance rights \u2013 there is no clear role for them and their function.<\/p>\n
“Post 2020, somebody needs to have complete oversight of security \u2013 someone will need to run the infrastructure ecosystem,” Sondergaard said.<\/p>\n
Gartner forecasts that by 2020,\u00a025% of global\u00a0enterprises will engage the\u00a0services of a \u201ccyberwar\u00a0mercenary\u201d organisation.<\/p>\n