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CIO vs IT Manager

By jbakaev ·
What is the difference between CIO and IT Manager?
Are they 2 different job titles for the same position (head of information technology group within an organization)? Does someone have a clear job description that can tell the difference?

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Size does matter

by Roger99a In reply to CIO vs IT Manager

You can't be an Admiral without a fleet and if you're managing a handful of Help Desk guys you aren't a CIO. It would probably also reflect your location on the pecking order. If you report directly to anyone other than the CEO you're probably not a CIO. Then there's the pay scale. A CIO would make much more than a Director or Manager.

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CEO is the key person for decison

by engrnazmul In reply to Size does matter

The main problem is if non IT background CEO than they are always try to cut IT budget.

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The One Thing

by Randall_D_Roth@whirlpool. In reply to Size does matter

While not IT-specific, Marcus Buckingham's book "One Thing You Need to Know" does a good job at distinguishing managers vs. leaders, including business's need for both. The book's a good read, but in short, managers play chess - they manipulate tasks & people (based on their strengths) to get optimal results. Leaders quench people's fears about the future by giving them a tangible vision of where the company is going.

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Org Structure & Size

by mnjenga In reply to Size does matter

I'm an IT/BT Director at an ICT SME/B and report directly to the CEO. I have seen setups where an IT manager reports directly to the CEO.....!! So I do agree that it does depend on where you fall on the pecking order which is dependent on how an Org is structured. This also does bring to light the issue of the nomenclature adapted by an Org for the various posts in the sense that the post of the IT Boss could be named CIO,Manager,Director etc and still play the same role. What I have personally found out is that when IT Leadership reports directly to the CEO and is included in executive/management planning and decision making then ICT/BT gets to have key input in the strategic direction of the Org which is pertinent in todays economy. Recently I have observed that Large enterprises seem to be more inclined to designating the IT Boss the CIO title and in most places this character will report to the CEO. I don't have an issue with titles per se ,to me what matters is how and whether IT Leadership is positioned to play a strategic role in business.

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Business Vs. Technology

by stephendelkelley In reply to CIO vs IT Manager

CIO's tend to focus on how technology can serve business strategy. CIOs focus on planning and controlling issues. IT Managers are basically middle managers that focus on performance issues. They take more of a leadership position. IT managers deal more with making sure the system is up and running and that the IT people such as network admins and help desk folks are doing there jobs. It's not the perfect answer. Hope this helps

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Well Stated...

by Todder In reply to Business Vs. Technology

I would add that CIO's also look to the future and the managers are more in the now. CIO's also interact with employees outside of the IT department and managers mostly deal internally. As was mentioned previously, size of the organization does factor into things as well.

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Strategy over Break Fix

by mmolinaro In reply to Business Vs. Technology

I've been in both positions. The differences are reactive vs. proactive and strategy vs. break fix. An IT Manager is only as good as the C person he/she reports to. If it is the CFO he'she is. for the most part, generally doomed to a break fix and reactive career. Reporting to a COO or CEO the IT manager may have leverage regarding Service level's and may be able to persuade them periodically in the "right" direction.

A CIO has a completely different set of marching orders. The CIO is on an equal or in some cases higher seat in the overall command structure. In this case technology has the ability to drive the business with a vision. With astrategy and a vision teh IT staff now have worthwhile tasks and sink their teethj into and will actually over deliver. Ultimately this allows the business to actually grow both in terms of profit and employee mind share.

The CIO will also have the ability to delegate the proper tasks to the properly educated and trained people. This is important as the the other C's in the group have to learn how to run technology operations on the fly. A CIO already comes equipped with the knowledge and tools.

Simple issues are solved easily or simply and don't become stumbling blocks for IT and business. The simple issues tend to give the CFO, COO or CEO a hard time when trying to make decisions as they simply con not wrap their arms around the issue visually or intellectually as they don't "really" get how entrenched the IT stuff is into their business. A mole hill becomes a mountain and the overall strategy and vision die with a whimper as everyone will be pushed into a reactive mode.

A CIO also understands how to speak different professional languages where as an IT manager may not and usually has not mastered these skills as yet. The CIO can assist uin growing the IT Manager to gain and grasp these traits.

Finally, a CIO understands how to incentivise each of the other C people to allow his needs to come to fruition.

These are my thoughts on the matter....

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Perfect!!!

by TK2005 In reply to Strategy over Break Fix

Need I say more?? This is perfect. Now the vision of how to get this whole concept into a company!!?? I am in a growing company and we are trying to work towards that goal. The C's that do exist (CIO doesn't at this point) simply do not understand the IT world and this often puts us in reactive mode. We are working very hard to steer our growth to putting IT in a more proactive position within the company. Any helpful hints on this is always greatly appreciated.

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Get this book, read it, then preach it

by JP_The_IT_Guy In reply to Perfect!!!

I have been casually investigating ITIL as I'm building the IT department for my company. I came across: "The Visible Ops Handbook: Implementing ITIL in 4 Practical and Auditable Steps" and it is the best short book on IT management that I have found.

For my organization, we switched from development mode to production mode last May and immediately stopped making changes outside of the scheduled maintenance periods. As a result we have an exceptionally stable environment and I spend at most 4 hours a month reacting to broken systems.

Over the past 8 months my focus has been building out the infrastructure for reporting metrics so that I can establish baselines and manage with measurable business requirements.

That book very well expresses the steps we've employed. Though I found it just a couple of months ago, I've given it to my business owner so that he will better know what I'm doing and why.

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Captain of the IT Dept

by vamsidhar_chekuri In reply to Business Vs. Technology

CIO will evaluate the technology with business needs and Managers will ensure the successful Implementation of technology and its performance.

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