Celebrating ‘CIO Day’

"The concept of the CIO Day is an amazing thought in itself. I think it will be a great morale boost for the CIOs who have helped all of us in reducing our obstacles"

-Anirudha Modak

vice president, national sales, Omnitech

April 25th is being celebrated as the ‘CIO Day', dedicated to the cause of CIOs and their increasing significance across business organizations.

The 5th anniversary of the CIO Klub also falls on the same day, so it would be a special occasion for the entire community.

"The CIO community has benefited tremendously from the exchange of insights, ideas, and experiences through the CIO Klub. Not only it is helping forge alliances but is also offering great value in terms of increased communication and best practice sharing among professionals within and outside the organization. We hope the first ever CIO Day in India will be able to do that and also strengthen the link between the CIO and the business," says George Varghese, senior director, applications, Oracle India.

"The concept of the CIO Day is an amazing thought in itself. I think it will be a great morale boost for the CIOs who have helped all of us in reducing our obstacles," says Anirudha Modak, vice president, national sales, Omnitech.

"World over we celebrate the Rose Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Father's Day, and various other days, so why can't we have a day for the CIOs?" says Raghunatha Reddy, vice president, National Executive Council, CIO Klub.

"Our objective in promoting an international CIO Day is to increase the awareness about the contribution of CIOs and to attract more IT professionals to the CIO career option," he adds.

The CIO Day can be celebrated by any group or association working with the CIO community or is anyway connected with IT. This day recognizes the contribution of CIOs, the way they have used technology to transform their organizations and the way they have added value to the business.

"Hope the first ever ‘CIO Day' in India strengthens the link between the CIO and the business"

-George Varghese

senior director, applications, Oracle India.

CIO: A Key Contributor

The CIO has come to be viewed in many organizations as the key contributor in formulating strategic goals for an organization. He manages the implementation of the useful technology to increase information accessibility and integrated systems management. The CIO is a critical link between technology and business. Also in terms of vision and responsibilities, the role is important and a CIO participates in the strategic decisions within organizations.

Pertisth Mankotia, head, IT, Sheela Foam (Sleepwell) says, "A CIO needs to become a change management leader. There are plenty of problems to be solved in an organization and this means a lot of opportunities. He needs to look around and find the problems that may look big or will become big. Just don't copy and paste the solution, open the mind to the problems that exist around you."

Today IT has become an imperative part of an organization and the significance of a CIO's position has also increased significantly. The CIOs drive the enterprise's efforts to integrate IT into both its long-term strategy and its immediate business plans. All-in-all, the role of the CIO is evolving where he is creating and monitoring business value from IT assets.

"World over we celebrate the Rose Day, Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Father's Day, and various other days, so why can't we have a day for the CIOs"

-Raghunatha Reddy

vice president, National Executive Council, CIO Klub.

CIO Klub and its Mission

CIO Association (CIO Klub) is a non-profit organization, run and managed by the chief information officers of Indian enterprises. The CIO Klub is governed by a governing body and a National Executive Council and each chapter has a managing committee to drive the CIO Klub's objectives at a national level.

The CIO Klub has grown truly national with 6 working chapters in India's most strategic cities-Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, and Coimbatore. From a humble beginning in Mumbai on April 25, 2008, with less than 30 members, it has now grown to 950 members across India.

"The CIO Klub is unique in the sense that it provides an interactive platform for vendors, media, and the CIOs for exchange of best practices, ideas, and formulates strategy to address common IT issues. Knowledge sharing is one of the key objectives of the CIO Klub," says Shirish Gariba, president, governing body, CIO Klub.