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How Digital Growth Drives Enterprise Architect Demand

According to the latest 2017 CIO Survey from Harvey Nash and KPMG, 89 percent of respondents are maintaining or increasing their investment in IT innovation. Moreover, 52 percent are investing in more nimble business technology platforms to help their organization innovate and grow.

Digital growth strategies are now fueling businesses across the globe at an entirely new level. The proportion of organizations surveyed that have enterprise-wide digital growth strategies increased 52 percent in just two years, and organizations with a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) have increased 39 percent over last year.

To deliver these complex digital growth strategies, organizations also report a big demand for Enterprise Architects -- the fastest growing technology skill this year -- that's up 26 percent compared to 2016.


Cyber security vulnerability is at an all-time high, with 32 percent of IT leaders reporting their organization had been subject to a major cyber-attack in the past 24 months – that's a 45 percent increase from 2013.

Yet, only 21 percent say they're 'very well' prepared to respond to these attacks -- that's down from 29 percent in 2014. Furthermore, the biggest increase in threats comes from 'insider' attacks, growing to 47 percent over last year.

Additional findings from the survey include:

  • Eighteen percent of CIOs report their organizations have 'very effective' digital strategies.
  • CIOs at these digitally-enabled organizations are almost twice as likely to be leading innovation across the business (41 percent versus 23 percent), and are investing at four times the rate of non-leaders in cognitive automation (25 percent versus 7 percent).
  • Overall, the survey found almost 61 percent of CIOs from larger organizations are already investing or planning to invest in hiring more digital talent.
  • 61 percent of CIOs say IT projects are more complex than they were five years ago, and weak ownership (46 percent), an overly optimistic approach (40 percent), and unclear objectives (40 percent) are the main reasons their IT projects fail.
  • 27 percent of CIOs say that a lack of project talent is the cause of project failure, but project management skills are absent from the top list of technology skills needed in 2017, dropping a staggering 19 percent in just one year.
  • CIOs who are 'very fulfilled' in their role is at a three-year high -- rising from 33 percent in 2015 to 39 percent this year.
  • For the first time in a decade, more than 71 percent of CIOs believe their role is becoming more strategic. And, 92 percent of CIOs joined a Board meeting in the past 12 months.
  • However, the typical CIO employment tenure is just five years or less (59 percent), although many want to stay longer (if they had a choice).

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