Cloud, SaaS Growth Means Changing Role for CIOs

Some have concluded that outsourcing IT services, such as email archiving or email management, to cloud vendors would diminish the role of CIOs. However, Silicon.com contributor Mark Samuels recently reported the role for the CIO will become as important as ever even as it undergoes a series of changes as the cloud becomes the preferred computing method.

Many believe IT could be decentralized, with the task of managing the systems left to the individual workers and departments that use them. However, Samuels believes the CIO will still be a key authority in enterprise IT, as the position will be charged with making decisions on new technologies and integration.

One area making the role of the CIO especially important is compliance. As the data stored by companies becomes subject to more regulations, it’s imperative that CIOs implement cloud solutions capable of protecting information from breach.

A report from market research firm Gartner found CIOs consider cloud computing to be among their top priorities this year. While some believe the technology spells doom for CIOs, it’s clear CIOs believe it can revolutionize their companies.