• by Ray Schultz , January 21, 2022

Chief information officers (CIOs) expect to be busy dealing with cybersecurity this year, judging by State of the CIO Report, a study released Friday by IDG Communications Inc. 

Of the CIOs polled, 76% expect to be more involved with cybersecurity in 2022.  

Thanks to the pandemic and growing cyber threats, security is “no longer just a technology issue,” says Stacey Raap, marketing & research manager, IDG Communications, Inc.. “Instead, security is a fundamental business issue that requires CIOs to closely collaborate withs organizational leaders across their company.”

In line with that, 57% of CIOs see the need for security improvements as a top reason for increasing the tech budget this year.  

In a related finding, 71% of CIOs expect their role in data privacy and compliance to increase.  

Email teams should expect to hear more of their CIOs this year. And if they do, they will probably be facing serious issues.  

Meanwhile, budgets are growing — 59% of CIOs expect an increase in theirs this year, versus 49% in 2021. That reflects 63% of enterprise firms and 55% of SMBs. Only 10% overall expect a decrease. 

Other budgetary priorities include upgrading outdated IT infrastructure (48%) and investing in new skills and talent (48%).

The study adds that CIOs are now spending time on: 

• Security management — 51% 
• Improving IT operations and systems performance — 43%
• Modernizing infrastructure and applications — 40%

Asked what companies should invest in, CIOs say:

• Increasing cybersecurity protections — 49% 
• Increasing operational efficiency — 46%
• Improving customer experience — 42%

Meanwhile, CIOs see these goals as the top technological priorities for remote work:

• Improving cybersecurity — 46%
• Ensuring they have the right collaboration platform for their organization — 32%
• Improving network reliability and performance — 27%

CIOS feel more important — 74% say their role was elevated and given more visibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 78% of business respondents agree. 

Indeed, CIOs are largely thought of as strategic advisors within an organization, tasked with identifying business needs and opportunities (58%). Last year, only 28% of lines of business thought this. 

And 86% of CIOs feel their role is more digital and focused on innovation.

IDG surveyed 985 IT professionals and 250 LOB (lines of business) respondents across North America (68%), EMEA (22%) and APAC (8%).