APAC CIOs set sights on business profitability

CIOs in the Asia-Pacific region are seeing a fundamental switch in responsibilities and increasingly focusing on projects aimed at boosting revenue, according to a new survey by IDC.

Released Tuesday, preliminary findings from the survey revealed that more CIOs today are given KPIs (key performance indicators) linked to business priorities such as cashflow management and product innovation, as their role become more closely aligned to business drivers. To address this shift, IT heads in the region are using a bigger portion of their ICT budget to develop and fund projects with greater profitability and improve customer service.

"This reaffirms the changing role of CIOs today," said Patrick Chan, chief technology adviser for emerging technologies, IDC's Asia-Pacific practice group. "The new breed of CIOs is expected to drive revenue growth instead of merely keeping their business running."

Interest in cloud, self-service
The study, which surveyed more than 400 CIOs in the region, also revealed that 44 percent of respondents indicated interest in initiating cloud computing projects within the next year.

Some 46 percent of respondents were planning to increase self-service IT in their businesses, thereby freeing up resources for more profitable initiatives.

The survey also revealed that Asia-Pacific companies were actively reviewing methodologies to optimize core IT processes and resources in security and regulatory compliance. Respondents indicated that such efforts would enable them to react faster to market changes and launch new services.

Social networks, such as Linkedn, Facebook and Twitter, were also being becoming part of official communication tools, with 55 percent of respondents noting that they currently use social media networks to help with their decision-making process. Some 64 percent indicated increased reliance on Web-based networks and online communities within their organization over the past year.

IDC noted that businesses in the region are increasingly leveraging social networks to support activities such as for beta-testing of services and products, and focus group research. The research firm added that innovative enterprises are also using Twitter for internal relations, resulting in improved communication and employee engagement.