Cloud Computing: The evolving role of the federal CIO

Grazed from FCM.  Author: Mike Hettinger.

Given the growing importance of data, cybersecurity, cloud computing, mobile communications and more, the CIO has taken a more prominent role in nearly all businesses. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for government, where an increasingly crowded management structure often limits the CIO’s influence.

The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 established a CIO at each federal agency with the intent of giving that person access to the agency secretary and enough internal “juice” to drive effective IT management throughout the agency. Some 17 years later, it is clear there is a long way to go to fulfill that original intent…

The implementation of the act has been inconsistent at best, with CIOs’ successes and failures often more dependent on their personalities than on a structure that supports their access and influence. When the Government Accountability Office interviewed 30 CIOs at major agencies in 2011, only 56 percent said they had direct access to the agency secretary or administrator, down from 70 percent in 2004. Combine that downward trend with the proliferation of other chiefs and it’s easy to see that CIOs are struggling in a crowded management environment…

Read more from the source @ http://fcw.com/articles/2013/05/03/comment-hettinger-evolving-cio.aspx