accelerate your ambition

Courage is currency

for the digital CIOMarch 2016

One of the top

competitive issues facing

organisations today is the

need to become an agile,

digital business. Yet,

recent research indicates

that most are failing to

make the transformation.

In this piece, our experts share

their views on why businesses are

struggling… and consider the place

of courageous IT leadership in

bridging the digital divide.

Executives want their CIOs to lead the

charge and find ways to exploit

information technology so that the business

can better compete in the digital era.

That’s why recent research undertaken

by the BPI Network in partnership with

Dimension Data indicates that in many

cases, efforts are falling short of

expectations.

Bringing Dexterity to IT Complexity,

the research has initiated some debate and,

we believe, warrants further discussion.

Digitisation is a

disruption that no business

can afford to ignore… and

survival depends on having

a responsive IT function.

The presence of bold and

courageous IT leadership

will play a significant role in

separating the leaders from

the laggards.

Boldly go

CIOs need to rethink their

roles in order to deliver the

new approaches to innovation

wanted by the business and

to become the drivers of

digital transformation within

their organisations

Read more …

In what areas do

CIOs need to take

bold and courageous

steps to accelerate

the transformation

of their businesses?

Read more …

Responses suggested that instead

of ushering their companies into

a new age of highly agile innovation,

IT workers are hindered by a

growing list of maintenance tasks,

staff cutbacks, and ageing

infrastructures.

Reimagine traditional

roles to foster a culture

of innovation

Read more …

#1

A common IT complaint is that business

stakeholders wait too long to invite

them to planning discussions, while 47%

of workers said long-term planning was

the weakest element of their overall IT

programme. Only 18% said there are

active cross-functional teams in their

companies today, and another 16%

said they rarely speak with business

managers or speak only out of necessity.

Read more …

Call in the C-suite

#2

Rise above the

‘speed and feeds’

As CIOs plan their immediate and

longer-term goals with their C-suite

and other business stakeholders, they

need to consider how they’ll build an

infrastructure to support these plans

and determine what changes will

be required.

Caution against ‘getting caught up in

speeds and feeds: ‘While technology

remains a critical element of every

organisation’s transformation, today,

its true value lies in its ability to provide

real business outcomes.

Read more …

#3

Don’t be intimidated

by big data

The long-running tension between

business managers and IT that’s

explored in depth in the BPI Report,

has widened in recent years as the

need for rapid innovation increases

with the growth of big data.

These developments provide massive

opportunities for businesses. In turn,

CIOs are under increasing pressure

to provide the necessary tools and

processes to enable a big data strategy

for their businesses, which will allow

the capture of new insights and market

opportunities.

Read more …

#4

Change your

perspective

on cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is high on the agenda of

any CIO looking to drive digital business

transformation. Given the proliferation of

cyberattacks and the grave implications

of loss of confidential company data,

piecemeal and reactive approaches to

security will no longer do. CIOs are

challenged to change their perspective:

To keep your organisation secure, you

can’t view cybersecurity as a “lock and key”,

focused only on keeping threats out.

Inevitably, over time, every organisation

will experience security incidents. Have

the courage to accept these facts and

plan accordingly.

Read more …

#4

accelerate your ambition

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