The Myth of Low CIO Tenure

In the business world, the letters “CIO” ostensibly stand for “Chief Information Officer,” but there is a common misconception that they more realistically mean one’s “career is over.” At one time the CIO may have indeed faced a short lifespan within a company, but the fact is today’s CIOs are holding-on to their jobs much longer. This is largely due to the relationship between the CIO and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). So, why the misconception?

The notion of low CIO tenure seems to have its roots in the 1990’s. Allan Alter, writing for CIO Insight, explains that the early CIOs had a difficult time making the transition from “technology manager [to] something far more visible and strategic.” It was generally believed that the average tenure for a CIO during that time period was only 18 months. However, Alter questions the accuracy of the 18-month CIO:

“Critiques of CIO effectiveness, such as the February 26, 1990, Business Week article, “CIO is Starting to Stand for ‘Career is Over,’” popped up regularly in the IT, business and scholarly press. These articles claimed that CIOs had an usually short tenure, and the writers often relied on executive recruiters to provide job turnover data–although the methodologies used by these recruiters weren’t necessarily rigorous.”

Regardless of the accuracy of the reporting, many still believe achieving the position of CIO is the kiss of death, but that simply isn’t the case.

Today’s CIO has been on the job for about 5.7 years, this is an 83 percent increase compared to tenure in 2005. In fact, it appears that the CIO is actually holding his job longer than the average CEO. Allen Bernard, writing for CIO Update, believes the improved tenure resulted from IT being run “like any other operating department” and CIOs are providing some return on investment. Another reason for improved tenure is that today’s CIOs have become IT-business hybrids, rather than placing their reliance in a singular IT background. This is good news for the CEO.

Although some CEOs do not have an accurate view of the important roles CIOs play, this is likely the exception to the rule. The terrific growth in e-commerce has actually led to closer relationships between CIOs and CEOs. The CEO understands that today’s business is inseparable from IT and it is to his advantage to team-up with the CIO to respond to change and build the infrastructure necessary to ensure business success. This results in the CEO understanding more about IT and the CIO understanding more about business.

To effectively compete in today’s e-commerce marketplace requires a heavy reliance on IT. This reliance has led CEOs to partner with CIOs in building an IT infrastructure to support business goals and objectives. This relationship has resulted in increased tenure for CIOs in business organizations. The notion that “CIO” means “career is over” has had its day.