1、/strategic-cio-2022INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY24/04/2022#0800RACONTEUR.NETof their businesses,gaining a rare breadth of commercial understanding from a unique vantage point,”he says.As the role becomes less about leading a function and more about developing strategy,there will be an inevita

2、ble shift in the kinds of skills required of a successful CIO,Levantis pre-dicts,adding:“Being more stra-tegic means that restricting yourself to supporting the busi-ness with technology is no longer an option.The CIO needs to be an imaginative generator of commercial ideas who can collaborate or le

3、ad on the creation of new business models and revenue streams.”As a multinational manufac-turing,logistics and advisory company,Unipart Group has a 200-strong IT team in the UK and India that serves several blue-chip clients.Levantis has the task of expanding the groups offering in IT ser-vices beyo

4、nd the bounds of logistics to cre-ate a standalone business.“CIOs of the future or,rather,the very present should operate as business execu-tives with a technology angle.This requires them to have qualities focused on business creation and growth.For instance,financial planning skills and a working

5、knowledge of contract law will become increasingly cen-tral to the role of a strategic CIO.”Stuart Whittle,CIO of law firm Weight-mans,believes that the role is also becoming much more concerned with relationships.“The CIO must prioritise building part-nerships inside the business and with their ser

6、vice suppliers instead of focusing on a gaining deeper understanding of machine code,”he argues.Whittle has played a leading role in his firms most recent strategic review.He has guided it towards being a data-driven busi-ness and,he says,the advantages have been evident.“As part of the new strategy