The strategic CIO is business leader who leverages IT to add value and gain a competitive. The strategist's focus is on how a company creates shareholder value and serves its customers.Rather than being focused primarily on internal operation,the strategic CIO looks at the company from the outside-in by asking how the company is perceived by customers and how competitors apply IT to compete.The role of strategic CIO is focused on business strategy and strategy focus is the direction for the CIO role.
Building a resilient enterprise is (or should be) a strategic initiative for CIOs. Reducing vulnerability means reducing the probability of a disruption and increasing the ability to recover (resilience) from a disruption. CIOs achieve resilience through redundancy and flexibility in IT infrastructure and support systems, which can be done through outsourcing arrangements.