Explained: How CIOs are leading data strategy at their companies

The survey covers responses of 250 chief information officers (CIOs) representing businesses with over Rs 5-billion revenue, across 10 sectors and six major cities in India.
 
Findings

• One in every two CIOs plans to invest more in technologies to overcome challenges in data management
• Data security for overall business is top priority for 52% CIOs, followed by enabling remote workforce for 48% CIOs
• Serving customers digitally was the focus area for 46% CIOs during the first wave of the Covid pandemic

 
Measures taken to navigate Covid disruptions

• Nearly 60% of the responding CIOs said at least 10% of the total revenue was allocated towards their business unit; 33% of the CIOs stated that more than 20% of the total revenue was allocated towards their business units
• 59% of the CIOs anticipate their department’s budget to remain constant even after Covid-19, while 10% of CIOs foresee an increase; 31% of the CIOs expect their department’s budget to decrease after Covid-19
• The crisis-driven impetus towards value creation even supersedes more traditional goals of CIOs, such as driving operational efficiency and reducing cost. 55% of the responding CIOs said they spend their time on value creation for their business compared to 40% of CIOs spending their time on cost savings