CIOs will be under immense pressure in 2012: Ovum

The role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) will continue to evolve next year as it faces strong pressure to develop operational and investment models that embrace technology-led innovation from all functional units within the organization, according to research firm Ovum.

“The adoption of new smart devices and sophisticated web services in the consumer market is accelerating, extending the gap between user expectations and the services being delivered by corporate IT,” said Tim Jennings, Ovum’s Chief Analyst for Enterprise IT.

“To minimize this disconnect the CIO will need to act as an enabler of innovation for the business, and this creates the opportunity to play a central role in both operational and commercial strategy,” he says.

The research firm also said that big data analytics, security and cloud computing will be three of the most significant drivers of technological change in 2012.

The predictions for the coming year also include the growing impact of social networking platforms on enterprise collaboration strategies, convergence of selected software-as-a-service (SaaS) CRM and marketing services, and the consumerization of IT, which looks likely to accelerate the adoption of self-selected SaaS by line-of-business owners and the deployment of mobile device management solutions to support bring-your-own-device strategies.

With an increase in the number of employee-owned devices being used in the workplace, data security and best practice will remain a top concern for CIOs next year, the study said.

Organizations will need to protect and secure corporate information, whilst also providing access to corporate data on self-provisioned devices. However, selecting the right mobile device management or mobile desktop virtualization solution must be accompanied by consideration of both country-specific employee data privacy and industry-specific compliance requirements.

“We expect these overarching themes to be pivotal to the success of business strategy next year. Only businesses considering the opportunities that each trend presents, and the challenges that may exist, will ensure that they remain at the forefront of their respective industries,” said Jennings.