A survey of 308 marketing and technology management leaders showed that only half (51 percent) of CMO and CIOs collaborate on selection and deployment of technologies within their organisation. At the same time, 57 percent of technology leaders believe their CIO and CMO develop joint technology strategies, while 47 percent of marketing leaders agree.
"Half of CMOs and CIOs deploy projects jointly - these are the companies that will establish competitive advantage. The other half will get left behind," said Forrester's chief research officer, Cliff Condon.
However there are signs that these C-level executives are open to working more closely, with mutual trust between CIOs and CMOs cited by technology (68 percent) and marketing managers (62 percent).
One area where the two roles can complement each other is in increasing customer focus, the report contends. Currently around half of technology (51 percent) and marketing leaders (46 percent) believe that staff have a single view of their customer.
"2015 will be a year of unprecedented customer power, worldwide, through mobile, social, and digital channels," said Condon.
"Companies can expect competition to arrive from any angle. The only cure is an obsession with customers, driven from the top by the CIO and CMO. These two executives, by their relationship with each other and with the technologies they roll out to connect with customers, will determine the future of business."
Image credit iStock/Webphotographeer