FEATURE : STATE OF THE CIO
Jos Beernink , Sales Director EMEA ,
Milestone Systems said not having this in place can prove to bring in stumbling blocks along the way . “ Digital Transformation is all about collecting and analysing data that can be leveraged to provide value to the customer across all aspects of business operations ,” he said . “ Should this data be collected and used ineffectively , it can have severe consequences on the Digital Transformation strategies . Focusing on security as an afterthought can prove to be dire for the business . This is even more relevant in the current day scenario .”
Gartner ’ s Rao added that a majority of the time is spent on keeping the lights on . “ Ensuring that the application and underlying infrastructure addresses service level requirements leaves little bandwidth for transformational activities ,” he noted .
of IT , wherein line-of-business heads are empowered to play an active role in the digitisation of processes for their department . This will enable CIOs and IT teams to focus on the IT-centric tasks , while entrusting appdevelopment to ‘ citizen developers ’.”
As CIOs and IT teams continue to face challenges when implementing their Digital Transformation strategies , industry pundits believe that this should not discourage them from leading their organisation so that they meet the needs and demands of the modern customer .
Ranjith Kaippada , Managing Director , Cloud Box Technologies , said one of the key ingredients while drawing up a Digital Transformation strategy is having a clear vision of an organisations ’ transformation journey and what they want to achieve . Kaippada
Given that CIOs are expanding management and revenue-generation responsibilities and cementing their roles as business leaders , they need to develop the best ways to deliver on these strategies .
Stephen Gill , Academic Head , School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences , Heriot-Watt University Dubai , said there are several ways by which CIOs can cement their roles as business leaders . Gill said the pandemic has shown the industry that the world can change beyond all recognition , but also that the industry as a whole has the resilience and creativity to stay on top of things . “ This is a key leadership attribute that all CIOs must work towards building . One of the key things that employees look for in leaders is where they see the business going , what are the goals to aspire towards and what the future looks like . It should be no different for CIOs . Being forward-looking – envisioning exciting possibilities and getting others on board in a shared view of the future – is an attribute that can help cement CIOs as business leaders ,” he said .
BEING FORWARD- LOOKING – ENVISIONING EXCITING POSSIBILITIES AND GETTING OTHERS ON BOARD IN A SHARED VIEW OF THE FUTURE – IS AN ATTRIBUTE THAT CAN HELP CEMENT CIOS AS BUSINESS LEADERS .
Gill explained that for CIOs to be looked upon as business leaders , it is essential to demonstrate how IT can generate value and enable key business strategies . “ When projects begin to yield value , CIOs are automatically seen as delivering business value . Additionally , executives who otherwise believe that anything to do with IT falls outside of their domain will start taking an interest in how this aspect can add value to their business ,” he noted .
With the disruptions and lockdown restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic , prioritisation has become key for CIOs .
Jos Beernink , Sales Director EMEA , Milestone Systems , said technology developments in Artificial Intelligence , image processing , cloud computing and sensors are rapidly expanding organisations ’
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