????很少有人將首席信息官視為執掌公司大權的高管。畢竟，所謂首席信息官盡管名頭顯赫，實際上只是些科技怪胎，負責采購服務器和軟件，保證計算機系統正常運行即可，除此以外，其他的事情輪不到他們說話。既然如此，何必鄭重其事。

????原因如下：在目前的經濟形勢下，技術日益成為推動生產力的主要因素，許多公司逐漸認識到，選擇一個思路開闊、同時具有商業頭腦的人選負責購買最適合的設備能給公司帶來戰略優勢，而且還不止如此。星巴克公司（Starbucks）首席信息官史蒂夫?吉列如是說：“首席信息官的職責是不斷挑戰和整合員工的能力和才干。”

????吉列的決策就是一個恰當的例子。他從2008年起擔任星巴克的IT總監。此外，他還負責星巴克公司的數字網絡項目。他率先決定在星巴克所有門店提供免費無線上網服務。此外，消費者還可通過星巴克門戶網站免費訪問付費內容，如《華爾街日報》（the Wall Street Journal）。

????吉列非常關注消費者使用技術的趨勢，從而引導星巴克向更親民的方向發展，同時創造新的商機。吉列說：“我們在可控的范圍內不斷嘗試，并逐漸掌握這些趨勢。”這番話讓他看來更像一個業務發展高管，而不僅僅是個技術人員。

????不僅如此，就連首席信息官的傳統職責——購買設備——也在不斷發生變化。聰明的最高管理層深知，一個深諳資本和技術的首席信息官能夠通過購買技術來削減成本，激勵創新，并提高效率。吉列表示，在金融危機期間，公司的發展速度放緩，沒有了開新店的壓力，便借機重新設計其專屬支付系統，從而降低了成本，提升了為客戶服務的速度。

????有鑒于此，《財富》雜志（Fortune）在甄選高管夢之隊成員——即企業全明星陣容——的時候，將搜尋從戰略角度利用技術的首席信息官：細想聯邦快遞（FedEx）如何在首席信息官羅博?卡特的帶領下，利用無線技術，通過公司龐大的網絡運送包裹，從而成為業界領袖。再如，思科（Cisco）的IT總監麗貝卡?雅各比通過要求員工使用自己的筆記本電腦，降低了成本，增加了員工的責任感。擔任首席信息官也許從來不是成為通向企業最高管理層的最佳途徑，但是，過不了多久，IT總監將進入高管第二梯隊。

????（翻譯 喬樹靜）

????Chief information officers wouldn't make anyone's short list of the most important executives running a company. After all, why single out the top purchaser of servers and software, a glorified geek if ever there was one, as anything other than a role player whose job it is to keep things running and otherwise stay mum?

????Here's why: As technology increasingly has become the driver of productivity gains in the economy, corporations have come to recognize the strategic advantage of putting a big thinker with business chops in charge of picking the right gizmos -- and more. Or, in the words of Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett, "The role of the CIO is to really challenge and harness the talent and capabilities of the people you lead."

????Gillett's decision-making is a case in point. The coffee purveyor's IT chief since 2008, Gillett also runs digital initiatives for Starbucks (SBUX). He spearheaded its move to free Wi-Fi in all its stores coupled with a portal that includes free access to normally paid content, like the Wall Street Journal.

????By paying attention to how consumers were already using technology, Gillett was able to steer Starbucks in a customer-friendly direction that comes with fresh revenue opportunities. "We become a controlled window for trial and awareness for these properties," says Gillett, sounding more like a business-development exec than a bits-and-bytes man.

????Even the traditional role of the CIO -- buying equipment -- has evolved. Smart chief executives know that a CIO who understands money and technology can use tech purchases to cut costs, stimulate innovation, and improve efficiency. Gillett says Starbucks used the financial downturn -- a time when the company's slowing growth took the pressure off opening new stores -- to redesign its proprietary point-of-sale payment system from top to bottom, cutting costs and improving customer service speed in the process.

????And so as Fortune selects the executives who will make up our Executive Dream Team -- our equivalent of corporate all-stars -- we'll be looking for CIOs who have deployed technology in strategically savvy ways: Consider how FedEx (FDX), under CIO Rob Carter, has been a pioneer at utilizing wireless technology to move parcels through the company's massive network. Or how Cisco (CSCO) IT chief Rebecca Jacoby has lowered costs and increased employee accountability by letting employees choose their own laptops. Being CIO may never be the most obvious path to a corporation's top job. But no longer will the IT chief be relegated to the second string of folks in charge.