CIOs across EMEA report that digitisation is increasing the effectiveness of key business lines, including customer service, HR, finance, IT and legal, yet a large proportion face challenges in continuing that impact because of weaknesses in their organisations. That\u2019s according to research from ServiceNow, a leading digital workflow company making work, work better for people. In light of this, industry experts discuss the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ian<\/strong> Jansen van Rensburg, Senior Systems Engineer at VMware SSA<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In today\u2019s world, companies are looking to CIO\u2019s to be the digital leaders that are trailblazing the way forward. The CIO of yesterday was merely an infrastructure provider that kept the lights on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the\nother hand, the super CIO of the future is a business leader who understands\nhow to maximise the business value of technology throughout the organisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The only\nconstant in life is change. The CIO of today needs to innovate, be even closer\nto the pulse of their business than before and challenge themselves to\nconstantly evolve and keep up with the ever-changing digital world. Those who\nare willing to accept and step into this world of change will remain\nsuccessful. They need to carefully balance the goal of being a tech visionary\nbut also making sure the Wi-Fi is always on and running as it should be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n VMware\u2019s\nCIO, Bask Lyer stated that be believes that CIO\u2019s should advocate producing\nearly wins, setting specific goals with sensible timelines, and delivering on\nthose goals whether the CIO plans to be at a company for the long term or\nexpect to move on after having passed the typical four-year mark. One step is not more important\nthan another, but a CIO need to start with building trust in his or her team\nfirst. There is always something more and new to learn and coming in only to revolutionise the natural order of things before\nunderstanding how a company\u2019s DNA and what makes them tick, could prove fatal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsuccessful CIO need to take adequate time to understand the IT team, what\ninspires them and think strategically about staffing changes. Gaps in the team\nneed to be filled with remaining staff to be mentored and coached toward\ntransformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust in one\u2019s team is generally earned by being a good communicator, meeting and talking to colleagues, spending time with them and being authentic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Clinton Scott, Managing Director at TechSoft International <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Collaborate with business\nleaders and Expand your audience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from reviewing the impact of\nIT on key enterprise projects and determining how the IT department can best be\ndeployed to support the organisation\u2019s future goals, IT leaders need to go\nbeyond the comfort of engaging with their internal customers alone. In order to\nrealise the full potential of digitisation, they have to expand their audience externally\nand devote time to addressing the needs of an enterprise\u2019s external customers\ntoo. Further, CIO\u2019s must challenge their team\u2019s understanding and assumptions\nof how well they are supporting business leaders, meeting product and\/or\nservice priorities and goals. This will help them better define how to get the\nmost out of digital strategies and enablement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prepare your team to cope with\nchange<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n IT teams are already struggling\nto keep pace with next-generation technologies and other emerging trends. Added\nto this are numerous variables, including the outcomes attained from\ncollaborating with business leaders and expanding an audience, that introduce\neven more change into the processes needed to be undertaken by IT departments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this environment, IT leaders\nmust be sure to enable their teams to better map and understand the rapid\ntechnological changes that are re-forming their learning spaces. They must instil\na culture of learning that embraces change and that can adapt to an\never-changing environment. Change must become a cultural norm and your teams\nmust have the tools to cope with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adopt a data driven strategy and centralise data analytics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As technology and business\nactivities continue to align, and as our ability to collect and mine data\ncontinues to grow, it will become increasingly important for IT leaders to\ndouble-down on performance metrics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More and more CIOs are embracing\nthe emerging trend toward moving to a more centralised data analytics approach.\nEspecially in light of the fact that analytics is increasingly performed on a\nmuch larger scale, and in real time. IT engineers, data scientists, and\nindividual business units, will have to work together more closely to ensure\nthat business investments are delivering insightful, actionable insights that propel\nthe business forward. Data is the key to unlocking digital success. It is in a\nCIO\u2019s best interests to make sure his teams are addressing and facilitating its\nuse in business. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CIOs across EMEA report that digitisation is increasing the effectiveness of key business lines, including customer service, HR, finance, IT and legal, yet a large proportion face challenges in continuing that impact because of weaknesses in their organisations. That\u2019s according to research from ServiceNow, a leading digital workflow company making work, work better for people. 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