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Press release
CIO marketing is essential to the success of digital transformation, and CIOs understand this: the results of the Abraxio survey.
- The CIO’s position in the organization has undoubtedly improved over the past 18 months, thanks in particular to the “Covid” effect.
- Despite this growing legitimacy, the image of CIOs is still not in line with reality, and their contribution is still poorly perceived.
- CIOs are determined to change this situation, because they know that it is a prerequisite for the success of digital transformation initiatives.
- Willing but often alone on these issues, they lack time and methods, and reach out to the Communication functions for support.
Lyon, February 21, 2022 – Abraxio, the reference platform for CIOs to manage their business, unveils the results of its survey on CIO marketing and communication, carried out last December among more than 80 IT Managers[1].
This study provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of a subject that is now unavoidable, but still perceived as a “necessary evil”. It provides an opportunity to assess the marketing and communication maturity of IT departments, and to outline a concrete action plan.
For CIOs, the upturn is undeniable: 78% of CIOs consider that the position of the IT function within the organization has improved in recent years, and the same number consider that the health crisis has positively shaken things up over the last 18 months. As a result, CIOs have gained ground in the face of new responsibilities.
The image of CIOs is still struggling
However, this positive assessment is qualified by two factors: some doubt the long-term effect of this improvement. Above all, the vision of the CIO’s role and relations within the organization is still very fractured: 46% of CIOs see themselves as a strategic and essential partner in transformation, but only 9% feel perceived as such by their business contacts. Conversely, 62% of CIOs see themselves as an obligatory partner who is sometimes bypassed, or as a support function delivering a service.
“CIOs bring immense value to the organizations in which they operate, but this is still not said enough, and prejudices die hard,” explains Samuel Revenu, CEO of Abraxio and himself a former CIO, who founded Abraxio precisely to enable CIOs to better value the performance of their activity and its impact. CIO marketing is imperative to the success of digital transformation, both in terms of posture, the challenge of collaborating hand in hand with business lines, and of better conveying the fundamental issues linked to digital.“
Key figures
- 78% of CIOs consider that the position of the IT function within the organization has improved in recent years.
- 46% of CIOs see themselves as an essential strategic partner in the transformation process, but only 9% feel perceived as such by their business contacts.
- 62% feel that they are perceived as an obligatory partner that we sometimes try to bypass, or as a support function that delivers a service.
Getting IT issues across more effectively: CIOs’ priority for successful Digital transformation
CIOs are very clear about the lack of understanding their management suffers from: 50% of them feel that their contacts have a poor grasp of their challenges, their scope and their Roadmap, and 63% of their structural and cyclical difficulties.
The overwhelming majority (59%) identified the need to better communicate the challenges of IT and Digital transformation. This was followed by the need to be better perceived as a business partner (42%), and to support the change in attitude of their Teams (from executor to solution provider) (38%).
To gain influence, the challenge for CIOs is to move from the era of Reporting to that of Communication,” explains Samuel Revenu. Their Program can be broken down into 3 points: getting their Teams on board, spreading the word about this new posture to key contacts such as CEOs, CFOs and management committees. And finally, communicate with all the company’s stakeholders, adopting their point of view.
Key figures
- 59% of CIOs want to better communicate the challenges of IT and Digital transformation.
- 42% want to be seen more as a business partner
CIOs reach out to communications teams
71% of CIOs are the only ones in charge of their department’s marketing and communications. Work on positioning, value proposition… The fundamentals that would structure and deploy the CIO’s discourse and messages have barely been sketched out. Only 20% of CIOs, for example, have a communications plan.
Lack of method and lack of time are the two main reasons given for this. “Several CIOs spontaneously told us that the very fact of taking part in the study had the merit of triggering a self-assessment of practices and opening up the field of possibilities. There’s a very strong desire for methods, tips and practical advice, because they’ve clearly understood the benefits of working on their CIO’s marketing and communications. “says Samuel Revenu of Abraxio. More unexpectedly, the CIO also appears to be looking for allies, with 23% of CIOs who would like to communicate more but regret that “the communications department is not interested in their issues”.
The consequences for the systems deployed reveal a marketing and communications maturity that is still in the making:
- The influence of CIOs is limited because they remain too inward-looking, with infrequent communication within the company and virtually non-existent outside it, a phenomenon accentuated by CIOs’ reluctance to use professional social networks.
- The range of topics on which CIOs could speak is largely under-exploited. Content is mostly topical, with little end-user focus.
- Communication channels remain traditional and not very innovative, with a preference for top-down information over dialogue and exchange.
Key figures
- 71% of CIOs handle their own management communications
- Only 20% work from a communication plan
[1]Online survey administered from December1 to 31, 2021 to 81 French CIOs.
Press contact
Émilie Chanussot | +33 6 52 55 73 81