Published: 02 January 2026
CIOs and business leaders struggle with decisions to centralize or decentralize IT to support strategic outcomes. To find their optimum operating structure, CIOs should evaluate seven leadership and design factors, and take actions to drive increased enterprise value contribution. CIOs can use seven factors to assess whether IT is optimally structured on the continuum of centralized to decentralized to support the enterprise strategy and desired outcomes. Those with a suboptimal operating structure should follow our guidance to balance structure and outcomes.
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