SmartSuite for the Chief Information Officer
The Chief Information Officer owns technology strategy, the IT operating model and the services the business depends on. They govern the technology portfolio, cost and risk, sponsor service management and asset programs and report IT performance, investment and risk to the executive team and board.
What you own
The Chief Information Officer owns technology strategy, the IT operating model and the services the business depends on.
- Set technology strategy and the IT operating model
- Govern the technology portfolio, investment and total cost
- Own IT service performance, availability and customer satisfaction
- Sponsor service management, asset management and operations programs
- Oversee technology risk, security and compliance with the CISO
- Report IT performance, investment and risk to executives and the board
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
How SmartSuite supports this role
Lead
Portfolio and strategy. Gives the CIO one view of IT services, assets, projects and spend so investment decisions use live data.
Service levels. Shows service performance against SLAs, major incidents and customer satisfaction across the service catalog.
Assets and configuration. Reports asset lifecycle, license compliance and total cost of ownership from the asset register.
Security. Links technology risk and control status from the GRC suites to the IT portfolio view.
Reporting. Produces executive and board IT performance, investment and risk reports from source records.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
ITIL 4's strategy and portfolio management practices and COBIT 2019's governance objectives (EDM01 to EDM05) frame the CIO's accountability for value, risk and resources; ISO/IEC 20000-1 defines the service management system beneath it. Regulated sectors add board-level duties: the FFIEC IT Handbook's management booklet for banks, DORA's management-body accountability for EU financial entities, FISMA's CIO responsibilities in US federal agencies and HIPAA's security obligations in healthcare.
Related roles
Explore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Chief Information Officer accountable for?
The Chief Information Officer owns technology strategy and the IT operating model, governs the technology portfolio, investment and total cost, owns IT service performance, availability and customer satisfaction, sponsors the service management, asset management and operations programs, oversees technology risk, security and compliance with the CISO, and reports IT performance, investment and risk to the executive team and board. In SmartSuite those views are drawn from the IT operations, service, asset and risk records.
How does SmartSuite give a Chief Information Officer one view of the IT portfolio?
SmartSuite gives the CIO one view of IT services, assets, projects and spend in IT Operations Planning & Analytics, so investment decisions use live data rather than figures assembled for a review. Portfolio Management holds the technology projects and their status, and because services, assets and projects are connected, the CIO can see what a project will change, what it will cost to run and which services depend on it.
How does the CIO see service performance against SLAs?
Service Level Management (SLAs) shows service performance against agreed levels, major incidents and customer satisfaction across the service catalog, so the CIO can see which services are meeting their commitments and which are not. The IT Service Manager and IT Operations Director run those services from the same records, which means a question about a failing service goes to the people and the incidents behind it without a separate report.
How does the CIO report on assets, licenses and total cost of ownership?
IT Asset Management reports asset lifecycle, license compliance and total cost of ownership from the asset register the IT Asset Manager maintains. The CIO can see which assets are due for refresh, where license use exceeds entitlement and what each service costs to run, which is the basis for the total cost governance the role owns and for the investment case put to the Chief Financial Officer.
How is technology risk connected to the IT portfolio view?
Technology risk and control status from the GRC suites are linked to the IT portfolio view, with Cyber Threat Management holding the threat and vulnerability picture the Chief Information Security Officer owns. The CIO sees risk against the services and assets it affects rather than in a separate register, which is how oversight of security and compliance with the CISO and the Chief Risk Officer works from one picture.
How does the Chief Information Officer report to the executive team and board?
SmartSuite produces executive and board IT performance, investment and risk reports from source records, so the CIO reports to the Chief Executive Officer and board from the same data the IT leadership team runs on. Service performance, asset cost, project status and technology risk are presented together, and because the Chief Technology Officer and Head of PMO work from related records, the engineering and project pictures reconcile with the IT one.
How quickly can an IT organization get a working view in SmartSuite?
New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows. For a CIO the first is the service and asset view: load the service catalog, the asset register and the current project portfolio, and the dashboards read from them as the service, asset and operations teams update their records. The CIO's direct reports, from the IT Service Manager to the Shared Services Director, each operate their own part, and the view widens as more of IT's work moves into the system.
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