Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 88 | Page 17

LATEST INTELLIGENCE

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE CISO

TODAY ’ S CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER ( CISO ) IS AN ARCHITECT AND BUSINESS LEADER

iIn this infobrief

IDC sought to understand the CISO ’ s role in today ’ s digitally transformed organizations .
• What are their top priorities when working with IT ?
• What are their key challenges ?
• How do they spend their time ?
• How has the role evolved ?
Research overview
• IDC conducted a survey of 847 decision makers in 17 countries on tech and cybersecurity products .
• Respondents were director level and above and worked at organizations with 500 or more employees .
• IDC focused on CIOs and CISOs .
• IDC also conducted several in-depth interviews to gather qualitative insights .
Key findings
• The CISO ’ s role is different to what most think .
• CISOs are concerned with both strategy and tactics .
• CIOs and CISOs aren ’ t always aligned .
• CISOs need to continuously evolve their skills to meet the strategic nature of their role .
The reality of a CISO ’ s role is different than most think
Everyone agrees that a CISO is more than just a cybersecurity person . The role also needs a mix of IT architecture , people , business , and communication skills . p
PRESENTED BY www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA 17