FEATURE : CIO

Fresh off the pandemic wave of digital innovation and elevated status , CIOs are swinging back to the fundamentals , with a heightened focus on security and improving IT operations . Now , CIOs across MEA are not only rebalancing the act done over the last challenging two years , but they are operationalising pandemic-era innovation made during this period . Industry pundits look at the state of the CIO and the challenges IT leaders face in 2022 as they chart a post-pandemic future . By Manda Banda

Now , however one looks at it , staying razor-focused on business benefits and communicating in a language everyone understands is central and paramount to successful IT initiatives , whether the project involves state-of-the-art technology like robotic process automation ( RPA ), Digital Transformation or is a bit more mundane , like upgrading an aging data centre or storage infrastructure . Now , fresh off a pandemic-fuelled cycle of accelerated innovation , CIOs are being encouraged to channel their vaunted sales skills to drive an upcoming IT agenda centred on foundational areas like optimisation , security , agility and enterprise resiliency .

According to analyst firm Gartner , while CIOs were the surprise pandemic hero and the force behind digital innovation , IT leaders spent the better part of the last year focused on the fundamentals , from modernising enterprise architecture to ensuring operations are agile , resilient , and secure .

Gartner stated that the global pandemic sent companies scrambling to recalibrate operations in support of remote work and new contact-less digital customer and employee experiences . In doing so , technology and IT leadership stood front and centre – the driving force behind transformation and orchestration of new digital strategies .

Now , the research firm has said that with companies settled into new business models and ways of working , IT organisations have moved into a governance phase . They are actively making operational excellence a priority and working to ensure the fast-paced cycle of digital investments made over the course of the pandemic is delivering for the intended business outcomes .

The 2022 State of the CIO , which surveyed 985 IT leaders and 250 line of business ( LOB ) participants , confirmed the shift in IT priorities . Eighty-five percent of IT leaders responding to the research are currently spending time on transformational activities , most significantly , modernising infrastructure and applications ( 40 %) followed by aligning IT initiatives with business goals ( 38 %) and cultivating the IT / business partnership ( 30 %).

Sumeeth Singh , Cloud Provider Business Head , VMware Sub-Saharan Africa , said it ’ s not surprising that CIOs spending time on transformational activities , most significantly , modernising infrastructure and applications according to Gartner research findings : “ The state of the CIO in 2022 is one of re-evaluation . CIOs are currently re-evaluating the decisions taken over the past two years and , as a result , face varied challenges . The COVID era prompted a multitude of decisions regarding IT being taken on the fly . This

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