Linney: Today's techies will be tomorrow's CEOs

Outsourcery boss claims it is just a matter of time before CIOs are promoted to chief executives

IT departments are becoming so crucial to businesses today that it is just a matter of time before CIOs are promoted to the top job, according to Outsourcery's chief executive Piers Linney (pictured).

He said that in the past, CIOs have been charged simply with "keeping the lights on" within companies and often earned a bad reputation for not understanding wider business issues.

But, he added, the IT department is no longer considered simply a support function and is now being consulted on business-critical issues.

"Companies rely heavily on their ICT infrastructure to manage business functions, which can often be a substantial expenditure to the budget of an organisation," he said.

"Through the intelligent use of the IT budget, CIOs can seize the opportunity to introduce innovative IT resources – often supplied by new partners – that have the potential to achieve greater business productivity and security, all the while decreasing resource expenditure."

He added that such skills are essential for all businesses leaders and said it would not be long before companies recognise this.

"I firmly believe that it is only a matter of time until we regularly see the CIO taking the top spot," he said. "With the increasing reliance on ICT and technology in the workplace, experience in delivering innovative solutions that directly impact the bottom line is now an essential attribute for any CEO to have."