Risk management: a core competency for CIOs.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: Up front: news, trends & analysis - Brief Article

In the post-September 11 era, risk management is rapidly becoming a significant area of concern for chief information officers (CIOs). According to Meta Group, by 2006, risk management will become a core competency for the CIO position. Depending on an organization's industry and culture, between 5 and 20 percent of the information technology (IT) budget should be devoted to risk management, including IT security, business continuity, and other risk-related issues. Starting in 2003, spending that money wisely has become a major concern of CIOs.

Meta says the key aspects of establishing a full risk management program are

* making support of business continuity through disaster recovery a core IT discipline, working in conjunction with other key business areas such as human resources and facilities management, to deliver true business resilience

* creating a comprehensive, enterprise-wide security program that covers all aspects of...