| 21 Oct 2009 |
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Cost-cutting not key goal for many CIOs in the region
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Cost-cutting was not on top of the agenda for at least 50 CIOs in the Gulf as they focused on building skills within the organisation, IT security and investing in innovative solutions to increase business performance, according to an IBM CIO study conducted this year.
Jeanine Cotter, Vice-President, Systems Services, Global Technology Services at IBM, told Emirates Business that the top three areas of focus for chief information officers in the Middle East and North Africa was on return of investment in IT, collaboration of IT solutions and impact on business.
"If you only look at the Middle East there was a high amount of innovative solutions taken up this year mainly because of the business environment and focus on high growth. In the area of skills, there was a higher usage of IT and business services and also a lot of outsourced services. This was to align with strategy and business of the organisation."
The role of the CIO in the Middle East has also changed, said Cotter, mainly because at least 80 per cent of them are now directly reporting to the CEO or the CFO.
Technologies such as virtualisation, business intelligence and business collaboration were top on the agenda. "In the Middle East particularly there was focus on skills building, IT security due to the popularity of ecommerce and focus on lot of legislation and compliances. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia was a good example as they have built the 14th largest computer in the world and focus on the nanotechnology."
CIOs in the middle east are now part of the senior leadership team as now there is a large focus on business and corporate initiatives.
"The rate of growth and infusion of investment into the region puts pressure on IT to meet challenges of the organisation. CIOs are expected to be insightful visionaries," said Cotter.
IBM study focused on 2,500 CIOs covering 78 countries and 19 industries in the Mena region.
By Nancy Sudheer
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