Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 30 | Page 38

CIO OPINION CIO opinion “ THE AIM OF THIS TEAM IS TO ‘JUMP START’ INNOVATION, AND THIS MIGHT BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ENGAGING IN HACKATHONS AND IDEATION. ////////////////// Derek Bose, Applications Country Leader, Oracle SA & SADC Leading through co-operation By better aligning the goals and strategies of business and technology, Derek Bose, Applications Country Leader, Oracle SA & SADC, says CIOs and their decision-making counterparts can realise the full value of IT innovation. O ver the past year, some of the technology news dominating the headlines in South Africa relates to the rise in adoption of cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robotics. We are clearly entering an era of hyper innovation in South Africa, in which organisations will be enabled to pursue new business models and improve operational efficiencies. Innovative technologies have a major impact on business processes and outcomes. Still, IT decision makers and their counterparts in various lines of business (LoBs) have different views as to what they wish to achieve from technology investments. In a study conducted by global IT advisory firm IDC, IT respondents 38 INTELLIGENTCIO highlighted that they wished to improve operations, gain a competitive advantage and pursue new lines of business. Lines of business prioritised improving customer experience, gaining a competitive edge, and creating new business models. While both IT decision makers and LoBs agree that they need to sustain a competitive position, they must also agree upon a strategy by which that can be achieved. The success or failure of an organisation’s Digital Transformation (DX) initiatives will depend heavily on the way business and IT engage. There are three different models that decision makers can consider, with the choice of model determined by the organisation’s technology and talent resources, as well as internal processes and culture. www.intelligentcio.com