CIO opinion
CIO OPINION
“
THERE IS A LOT
OF NOISE IN THE
INDUSTRY ABOUT
BEING ‘CLOUD-
FIRST’ AND FOR
MANY, THE IDEA
IS TO PLAN FOR
EVERYTHING
EVENTUALLY
BEING IN THE
CLOUD.
Consider your technology options
Often IT departments don’t have the
skillset or time to develop a comprehensive
roadmap for change and transformation.
Add to this the bewildering choice of
technology providers out there pushing
the Digital Transformation message
and the resulting complexity of a Digital
Transformation project ‘can be a killer’.
Before you start making technology
choices, consider your current IT estate
carefully and map out both current and
ideal future states for core infrastructure
and applications. There are important
decisions to be made about legacy business
applications and this map will help you to
research the options for modernisation.
There is a lot of noise in the industry about
being ‘cloud-first’ and for many, the idea is
to plan for everything eventually being in the
cloud. However, it’s worth noting that it’s not
the only option for legacy applications and
some of the first movers into the cloud have
not seen the cost and performance benefits
they planned for.
Set performance measures
KPIs offer IT leaders the chance to
set a shared understanding of Digital
46
INTELLIGENTCIO
Transformation within the business and
maintain an on-going dialogue. The
temptation is to evolve existing IT focused
metrics, but with an objective as broad as
business transformation there is a good case
for starting again.
Consider what it means to your organisation
to be a digital business; can you demonstrate
and measure the impact on customers,
speed of operations, data exploitation and
the rate of innovation?
There are many Digital Transformation
KPI lists available on the Internet, but this
is another temptation best avoided. Your
KPIs need to be both industry specific and
organisation specific. International Data
Corporation (IDC) has created a helpful
digital scorecard for CIOs thinking about
how to best fashion their KPIs.
With shared understanding as a goal,
your metrics need to interest and engage
your organisation’s leadership team. They
also need to reflect the fact that Digital
Transformation is a long-term programme.
Find the right partners
Few, if any, organisations will be able to
make the Digital Transformation journey
alone, so tech partnerships can ensure
your approach is future-proof and
flexible to adapt with changing
demand and technology. Look for
partners who, in Forrester’s words, can
‘define Digital Transformation’.
The right partners should be able to
demonstrate an understanding of your
business, markets, competitive pressures
and opportunities. When you’ve started
narrowing down your options, ask for
evidence that they can successfully
apply technology to deliver genuine
transformative change.
Otherwise, you risk missing the target by
simply moving from one set of technology
vendors and service providers to another,
without addressing your wider objectives.
Digital Transformation brings with it a broad
spectrum of risk and reward. Wherever you
are on the journey, if you’re establishing and
evaluating objectives, progress, challenges
and benefits, it can pay huge dividends. n
“
FEW, IF ANY,
ORGANISATIONS
WILL BE ABLE
TO MAKE
THE DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
JOURNEY ALONE.
www.intelligentcio.com