Recruitment firm Harvey Nash has conducted its 10th annual CIO survey and released the findings.

The London based firm conducted the survey in cooperation with management and technology consulting firm PA Consulting in February and March this year.

360 information and senior technology executives were included in the poll. The results show that chief information officers who innovate and achieve efficiency on smaller budgets will gain the strategic influence they desire.

Bryan McDonald, director of the CIO practice at Harvey Nash, says that the results also indicate that CIOs are concentrating their efforts on collaborative innovation. The survey shows that collaboration projects produce the highest return on investment.

The consultancy defines innovation as the “key to maintaining competitive advantage through the current economic downturn.”

76 percent of the respondents said that the board was searching for technology that would help boost operational efficiency and that this was the single most important issue for them as information execs and for the business.

65 percent felt that efficiency from improved internal processes was the primary innovation.

83 percent of the CIOs said that achieving a competitive advantage through innovation was the demand their organization had placed on them.

55 percent saw innovations produce a return on investment of at least five percent.

75 percent of the CIOs generally invest up to eight percent of the budget in innovation and 33 percent invest more than eight percent in development. Consequently, the latter are getting higher returns, more than 10 percent on average.  

On the whole, the findings point to the fact that information executives who invest in development and finding innovative business solutions get a solid return on investment for their efforts, as well as a healthy dose of influence in their companies.  

PA Consulting is hosting a career event for IT consultants who are considering joining the PA Consulting Group. On May 22, the consultancy will organize a recruitment evening and open the doors of its London office to talented IT consultants who are looking for their next career opportunity.

“We view IT as a strategic asset, a critical contributor to an organisation that helps drive superior results and create business value,” the invitation reads. 

“Our breadth and depth of understanding in information technology, combined with our commercial expertise, allows us to operate in the critical juncture where IT and the business meet and deliver creative, business oriented solutions across IT systems, software and infrastructure strategy, architecture, design, implementation, service management and sourcing.”

The Recruitment Open Evening will take place at the PA Head Office, 123 Buckingham Palace Road on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

Attendance is invitation only due to limited spaces so if you would like to be there for the career event, you need to fill out a registration form which you can find on the  Top-Consultant Events page. 

In the meantime, you can browse the latest job opportunities with PA Consulting on our IT consulting job board.