Chief Information Officer

What Does Chief Information Officer Mean?

The chief information officer (CIO) has an information technology (IT) background and manages an organization’s technology and IT interdepartmental manager communications. The CIO is also responsible for strategizing and facilitating improvement within the organization.

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Techopedia Explains Chief Information Officer

The CIO manages and oversees multiple responsibilities, which are critical to the smooth business operations, including:

  • Monitoring necessary IT purchases and their timeliness
  • Using strategy to improve and streamline all business IT processes, such as implementing a project management software system
  • Improving client relationships via the Internet, such as establishing the organization’s Web presence to sell products (The CIO continually searches for methods of increasing and enabling company revenue and growth through technology.)
  • Establishing an organization’s IT policies and overseeing IT security (This area is usually managed by a computer information security officer (CISO).)
  • Enabling and strategizing interdepartmental information sharing between departments, executive management and interested parties
  • Automating office processes, implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems
  • Managing IT projects through specific program management (Sometimes it is necessary to circumvent a project’s potential to both exceed budget and still never materialize.)

Technology is the primary component of the modern business world. Thus, the CIO must be able to strategize and manage IT projects, ensuring successful business operations.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…