CIO stands for Chief Information Officer.It seems to us that there is no precise definition or direct translation of this role in the Bulgarian classification system. Head of Information Technology, Head of Department, Director of Digital Information, or simply Director of the Information Technology Directorate. It could be any of these. In most cases, it means: “the most senior employee in an organisation who works with information technology and computer systems in support of achieving the organisation’s objectives”.
In earlier years, the title was expressed more simply: IT Director or Chief Computer Technology Engineer. In any case, this person carries responsibility; they are expected to bring both routine discipline and extensive experience, as well as the ability to solve non-standard problems. In industrial enterprises, when this person is having coffee with their team or chatting somewhere informally, everything is usually OK. It is a sign that the information infrastructure is functioning as expected.
At the same time, CIOs are expected to deliver innovation and optimise operations. In the era of digital and cultural transformation, this quality stands above all others.
From a purely technical role, the CIO has evolved into part of the strategic planning team. They are expected to be more than just IT professionals. They are expected to be innovators. They will need to make a qualitative – perhaps even cultural – leap from information technology to innovation, identifying unconventional ways to apply established IT capabilities.
CIOs are returning on a white horse to the team of „decision-makers“. Until a year or two ago, they had in some way fallen out of „management“. It was assumed that even secretaries were computer specialists. What we are now seeing is that IT professionals are once again taking on a key role. This became especially clear when digital transformation began to be discussed intensively. In that phrase, the leading word is not “digital”, but “transformation”. (I am paraphrasing a friend who wrote several books on e-government.)
Their role will grow not only in the selection of technologies, but also in optimising organisational structure and defining requirements for job candidates. Until now, HR stood somewhat apart from the CIO’s sphere of responsibility.
For years, IT professionals were viewed as outsiders, almost like aliens. What they said and proposed was often seen as empty talk and an unnecessary complication of everyone else’s lives. Now everything is being turned upside down.
True IT professionals are, in fact, conservative. They want everything to be done step by step. They do not want stages to be skipped, because that can create problems and cause major delays. This „conservative“ approach requires focus, policy clarification and the algorithmic mapping of processes „on paper“. To the people around them, all of this can look like delay and unnecessary fuss. Later, however, it becomes clear that the approach is a winning one.
Everything said so far applies to small, medium-sized and large businesses alike. We will speak further about large enterprises later on.
One piece of advice: turn to the head of your IT department and think of that person as the one leading the process of digital transformation. And listen carefully – to hear what they are saying. Today, everyone is involved in information technology in one way or another, but that does not make everyone an IT professional.