When it's time to hire, you likely seek business skills in prospective IT employees, and your own company's senior executives are no different. If you want to rise in the IT leadership ranks, it's best to have business unit experience outside of IT. This is one of the findings in a report from research firm Gartner.

The report, “Meet Your Next CIO,” details the changing nature of the position. “CIO candidates are not required to have formal technology-oriented backgrounds, but they must be able to show that they have managed a non-IT business unit,” says Ken McGee, distinguished analyst and Gartner fellow. “Professional qualifications and competence are still necessary for those wanting to become CIOs, but these qualities will not be sufficient in coming years.”

If you’re looking to land a CIO job, there are two important trends to be aware of, according to Gartner:

* New CIOs, need non-IT, business unit executive experience if they wish to get a new CIO job.
* New, non-IT duties are being given to more and more “new” CIOs.

Though the need for business skills is not new, what’s different is that it’s increasingly an actual requirement for the position. One consultant interviewed for the study said, “the best overall experience today is to have come up through the ranks in technology and spent some time outside in one of the businesses.”

According to Gartner, ERP rollouts provide IT leaders with good knowledge across the range of the business. This is an example of experience that equips people to take on broader business responsibilities.

Amy Schurr is the former managing features editor of Network World.