Many management structures are still antiquated
Most still report up through a CFO, BAD.
Some of the biggest companies may still do good business only because of their influence, positions, product in the market, but many are going out of date and way of the dinosaur with that model. If a business today can shut their data centers down and still do business for a while then maybe that will work. Otherwise IT is the new business and any business that does not recognize the importance and value the role that IT has in business and respect that at the leadership position is all doomed eventually.
A company that is technology driven by its IT department, relies very heavily on its IT, needs to have a clear role in the executive leadership, and never via the Finance department, is not longer an adjunct part of any SG&A of a company but the way a company does its business now. Either A CIO role equally on par in the executive level, or at least directly reporting to the CEO, but never the CFO
Now as for the experience levels, I have seen good and bad both with good amount of IT experience or not. So hard to judge any rule of thumb here, but if CIO's are going to be respected they have to be very business savvy. But many times I see CIO's that want to make all the technology decisions also and never trusting their people that need to be doing that, some think they know more than their people since they are the boss, Not always but that is where many fail. They need to drive process, projects, direction as leaders are supposed to do, hire good people and trust them to provide the information and technology directions the CIO needs and let their people do their jobs how they know how to do it best.
Most do not realize, is the people in the trenches that really know how to run the business, C-execs are clueless many times, they only count the numbers, provide direction and vision. But shop off the exec head, and the rest of the company will continue on autopilot with day-to-day operations for a long time just fine
