This year’s column will examine the ever changing role of today’s CIO. Last year we touched upon the CIO’s new responsibilities in column five titled, “The Cloud Has Walls: The CIO’s New Responsibilities.” Why has the role of the CIO changed in recent years? About a month ago, I did a presentation with Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) Matt Carolan and his group on Today’s Data Center Real Estate Market. Below are a few facts that JLL generated that I believe help answer this question.

As this data shows, the increase in processing has jumped dramatically within the last few years, and the CIO is challenged with constantly deploying new technologies. Their role (five years ago) was typically managing the IT department; it was often driven by the CFO and budget restraints. Today, the CIO is continuously looking at ways to drive technology to make a profit, gain market share, maintain a competitive advantage, and create operating efficiencies.