The institute's message to IT is that there is more information to be analyzed than senior management knows about now.

"IT people are gatekeepers and aren't [necessarily] aware of what can be done with data; they often say it's too messy," Van Rooyen said. "By doing more analytics they will promote their political importance in the organization [and] it will be easier for IT to convince management to spend money on projects."

IDC Australia senior IT management analyst Peter Hind said although he likes the idea of a CAO "as it highlights the problem solving and re-engineering capabilities of IT", he doubts that it will supersede the "moniker of CIO" as the favored title for the head of IT.

"Analytics implies a process, albeit one that helps with problem solving. As such, chief analytics officer sounds a bit nebulous," Hind said. "Perhaps we might see the emergence of the title CPSO: chief problem solving officer."