2021 Survey & Predictions Roundup: CIOs, Salaries & Security

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Strategy  

2021 is here, and can’t say I am sorry to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. So what do the pundits tell us about what lies ahead in the world of IT? For 2021, those who seem to be in the know have much to say (far more than the scope of this article permits).

What will be covered are the results of surveys and other research related to:

• CIO priorities
• IT salaries
• IT security

(But never fear, the Digging Deeper section at the end of this article includes links to other categories like AI, 3D printing, cloud computing and IoT).

CIOs
For me, IDG’s 2021 State of the CIO report showed mostly business as usual for CIOs in terms of their top priorities, with security management topping the list. My take on these priorities is to keep the systems safe and secure, make improvements where you can, keep systems as current as you can, implement improvements to applications, and make sure that the impact of any changes is well managed. So, pretty much what CIOs have always been expected to do.

Here are some highlights from IDG’s annual survey of CIOs:

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