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161 respondents, 42 criteria analyzed, 7 management pillars. This is the basis for Abraxio’s 2nd edition of its IT department steering maturity Barometer. Conducted between November 20, 2025 and January 2, 2026, the study is based on self-assessment by CIOs, who are invited to assess their level of maturity in all the structuring dimensions of their steering.
The results for 2026 show that CIOs are clear about their practices, and that their perceived maturity remains stable compared to 2025. IT department steering is seen by CIOs as an in-depth, long-term issue, rather than a declarative exercise. Demanding as they are, CIOs are firmly committed to this trajectory of maturity, although they are still unevenly equipped.
” The results of this second edition show that CIOs clearly know what they need to steer their business more effectively. The debate is no longer about the why of management, which is now widely shared, but about how to implement it in a way that is sustainable, collective and comprehensible throughout the company. This edition also highlights the value of structuring tools to ensure the reliability of data, clarify trade-offs and support decision-making. “says Samuel Revenu, CEO of Abraxio.
Contrasting dynamics reveal current tensions
CIOs are moving forward without any major break with 2025, but the 2026 edition reveals several significant evolutions according to the pillars of steering.
In a positive sign, the strategy and governance pillar has made significant progress, with an average score of 18 out of 30, i.e. +2 points compared to 2025.
58% of CIOs say they have formalized and aligned their short, medium and long-term IT strategy with the company’s overall strategy. This proportion rises to 67% in CIOs with more than 50 FTEs.
The supplier pillar has also seen an increase, particularly in CIOs with more than 50 FTEs, with the score rising from 13.8 to 15.8. This is a paradoxical result, however, because with the exception of the priority issue of Compliance, CIOs are taking a somewhat latent approach to this pillar, with clear expectations, but implementation often postponed. As a result, only 25% of CIOs claim to be actively steering their IT spending and the economic performance of their suppliers, despite the fact that the subject has become inescapable under the combined effect of compliance requirements, cost pressures and dependence on partners.
Conversely, the Budgets and financial management pillar is down 2 points on 2025, with an overall average of 16 out of 30. The downgrading of this pillar reflects less a disengagement than a hardening of the economic context and CIOs’ expectations of themselves.
43% of CIOs declare that they have a positive relationship with their financial stakeholders, in particular the CFO and management control, but the high proportion of neutral responses(28%) reflects a steering system still under construction.
Only 18% of CIOs claim to have tools, training and collaborative mechanisms in place to arbitrate Budgets. This rate drops to 12.5% in CIOs with more than 50 FTEs.
Between operational urgencies, transformation, budgetary constraints and organizational debt, CIOs have to deal with constant trade-offs, including in their own organization and management projects. As a result, management progresses in stages, according to priorities and contexts.
CIO size: a structuring factor, but not a determining one
As in the 2025 edition of the Barometer, CIO size remains a differentiating factor. The average overall maturity of CIOs with more than 50 FTEs is 16.8 out of 30, compared with 14.4 out of 30 for CIOs with fewer than 50 FTEs.
Significant differences appear logically on several criteria:
- Thus, 42% of CIOs with more than 50 FTEs declare that their Teams of Project Managers share common methods, tools and reference frameworks, compared with only 20% in CIOs with fewer than 50 FTEs. In the latter case, practices are often heterogeneous and dependent on the project managers in place, reflecting a lack of structure that slows down the collective maturity and security of Projects.
- In CIOs with fewer than 50 FTEs, only 30% claim to have initiated a process ofacculturation and adaptation of Skills to AI. Conversely, larger CIOs are more advanced, with 46% of positive responses.
It should be noted, however, that maturity does not depend solely on resources. Smaller CIOs are making significant progress in key areas (delegation, IT spending and supplier performance management), and their results are very similar to those of larger ones, proving that maturity also depends on method and tools.
Governance and business involvement: the main drivers of maturity
CIOs are well aware that the maturity of IT department steering depends more and more on the ability to arbitrate, dialogue and decide collectively.
On the battery side, relations with the CIO’s main partners – CFOs and senior management – are generally positive: those with senior management are judged positive by 54% of respondents, and by 60% of CIOs with 50 or more FTEs.
On the other side of the coin, the results of the Barometer reveal a still immature relationship with Business Units in many organizations: only 39% of CIOs feel that arbitration decisions are taken between the CIO and Business Units, and only 30% of CIOs < 50 FTEs.
Transversal by nature, the CIO comes up against organizations that are still compartmentalized and not very collaborative. As a result, governance remains largely IT-centric, with business involvement still unevenly distributed.
Structural obstacles to mature management
In the top 3 of obstacles spontaneously identified by respondents, lack of time is the CIO’s number 1 enemy, the source of a vicious circle since it is as much the consequence of a not yet mature management approach as an obstacle to its implementation. The2nd concern is the strain on Resources, whether human or financial, which limits room for manoeuvre, since the CIO’s ability to invest in its own maturity is often sacrificed in favour of more immediate business priorities. Finally, the lack of tools and reliable data completes the “podium of obstacles”, resulting in fragile management that is too often reactive and difficult to defend.
Methodology
Data collected from November 20, 2025 to January 2, 2026 from 161 respondents.
Abraxio has chosen to assess the maturity of its management based on 7 criteria: strategy and governance / budget and financial management / portfolio and project management / suppliers / teams and human resources / performance / leadership and position of the CIO. To measure the progress of each of these criteria, Abraxio identified 6 questions, or 42 items in all, on which each respondent was asked to position himself, by assessing the current situation of his CIO at the time of the survey.