The Strategic CEO

PA Consulting Group’s IT strategy expert Hsiu Mei Wong was interviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek for a “Special Report: CEO Guide for the new CIO” on how the role of the chief information officer is changing, and what that means for companies. 

An audio podcast “The Strategic CEO” accompanied the Special Report that featured an interview with Hsiu Mei and Bloomberg Businessweek journalist Rachael King.

Hsiu Mei discussed why the role of the CIO is changing within companies and becoming more strategic. “The business environment is changing, and the market for technology services has evolved quite significantly and really changed the CIO role within the company, providing the CIO with an incredible opportunity to impact performance,” she said.

Hsiu Mei discussed the CIO’s need to be business savvy as well as tech savvy, and the importance of striking the right balance between innovation and utility. Referencing statistics from the 2011 PA / Harvey Nash international Survey of 2500 CIOs, she shared that the top three skills CIOs found to be most important were leadership skills, communication and influencing skills, and strategy and planning skills – not the deep technology expertise skills one might expect CIOs to indicate but business-focused skills. “This really backs the thinking of an innovative CIO, looking broader than just the company itself,” she said.

Calling CIOs “diamonds in the rough,” Hsiu Mei noted that “the ability to manage business change is becoming increasingly important year in year and stands CIOs in a good position to partner with the business to make an impact to accelerate performance and provide companies with a strategic competitive advantage.” 

Observed Hsiu Mei, “This is the age of the CIO.”

To download the interview as a free iTunes podcast from the Bloomberg BusinessWeek channel, please click here.

To listen to the interview online as an Mp3, please click here.

For more information on PA’s expertise in IT consulting and CIO strategy, please click here or contact us now.