Cloud enables Singapore CIOs to spend more time on strategy and innovation

By eGov Innovation Editors | Dec 2, 2011

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Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in Singapore believe cloud computing empowers them to make a greater strategic contribution to business.

This was among the findings of the new global report entitled "‘Future Role of the CIO 2011’ published recently by CA Technologies.

Of the Singapore CIOs who were surveyed for the report, 60 percent believe that cloud computing has enabled them to spend more time on business strategy and innovation. Ninety-four percent of the CIOs who are already embracing cloud  reported that they have more time to spend on innovation and strategy compared to just 21 percent of the non-cloud adopters.

More than half (67 percent) of the CIOs surveyed also see that their role is a gateway to other roles, demonstrating the positive impact cloud is having on the role of technology. 

Eighty percent of the CIOs agreed that they need new skills to remain effective in this dynamic cloud environment. The skills required range from regulatory and compliance, understanding risk, negotiation and sales skills and commercial procurement skills. Interestingly, 64 percent of those CIOs who have adopted cloud computing felt that regulatory and governance skills were vital, compared to 40 percent of non-cloud adopting CIOs.

This suggests that the purchasing of external cloud services is driving CIOs to acquire more business centric skills rather than to remain pure technologists, CA said.

“We already know that cloud computing is ‘revolutionary’ in terms of what it can do for business, but it is also breeding a new type of technology leader, one who clearly understands what adopting cloud computing can do for the organization, and one who believes that cloud can empower them to become a more complete technology leader of tomorrow,” said Victor Cheng, Vice President, Asia South, CA Technologies.
 
CA Technologies commissioned independent specialist technology market research company Vanson Bourne to undertake the research. Some 615 telephone interviews were conducted during summer 2011 among  CIOs in organizations of 500 or more employees in the telecoms, retail, financial and manufacturing sectors.