EDITOR’S QUESTION
WHAT DO YOU FORESEE
AS THE MOST DISRUPTIVE
TECHNOLOGY TO IT ROLES
IN THE NEXT YEAR?
Excerpt taken from PWC’s report, Changing role of the CIO
R
egardless of industry, every
company is likely to grow ever
more dependent on a variety of
mature and cutting-edge information
technologies to connect with
customers, suppliers and employees;
to stay competitive; and to succeed.
Digitisation is a fundamental part of
the new business model, affecting
supply chains and operations,
marketing and sales, and interactions
with current and potential customers.
You don’t have to look far to see how
digital business and technology are
impacting the marketplace:
• At the intersection of the financial
services and technology sectors,
technology focused start-ups and
new market entrants are innovating
the products and services currently
provided by the traditional financial
services industry – a disruption, enabled
by technology, known as Fintech.
• With advances in big data, open-
source software, cloud computing
and processing speeds, more firms are
using cognitive computing and AI to
perform everyday tasks, predict events
and engage clients.
• 3D printing is becoming a
competitive advantage.
• Banks are favouring online
engagement over branches, utilising
biometric authentication to reduce
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fraud, selling products through apps
and ditching call centres for
service chatbots.
All this is happening at a faster pace
than ever before. Ignoring the rise of
digital business now carries the risk
of businesses becoming completely
irrelevant. IT’s role in maintaining and
delivering traditional IT priorities such
as cost efficiency, employee productivity
and legacy system support is not going
anywhere. As a result, IT’s ability to
respond to the change in business
expectations has come under pressure,
and the business is not going to wait for
IT to catch up before they start moving
on their own.
As the business’ expectations and
demand for new IT capabilities increase,
so the gap between business and IT
is growing wider. This is evidenced
by an increase in the amount of IT
spend falling outside the CIO’s budget
(47%) – a symptom of IT’s lack of
ability and flexibility to respond to the
requirements of the business.
To counter the divide between business
and IT and stem the creation of shadow
IT capabilities and platforms, the CIO
must adapt their operating model,
capabilities and IT architecture to be
responsive to the types of requests
coming from the business. Without this
vision and without adopting new ways of
working, IT runs the risk of being migrated
to the back office for the long-term.
The role of technology in business is
more critical than ever before. Key to
remaining competitive in the new digital
world will be the application of the right
technology in an agile and flexible way.
This will mean shifting the role of the
CIO from the back office into the very
heart of the business and executive
leadership, and ensuring that IT and
digital transformation is a collaborative
exercise between business and IT.
The CIO will be expected to take a seat
at the executive table and provide strong
vision and leadership around how the
business uses technology to compete
and succeed within their market. The
value side of IT, as opposed to keeping
costs down and ‘keeping the lights on’,
must become the focus for the CIO.
Strong business partnerships combined
with visionary leadership will be key
ingredients for the success of the role. An
appreciation for the role of technology,
and active support from the CEO and
executive leadership team will be key
to ensuring that the CIO is successful
in positioning the use of technology so
it can help the organisation grow and
remain competitive. n
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