CIOs’ struggle for true digital transformation

As the pace of dig­i­tal dis­rup­tion and its impact on numer­ous indus­tries accel­er­ates, so does the need for IT lead­ers to har­ness the oppor­tu­ni­ties to dri­ve busi­ness growth. How­ev­er, imple­ment­ing tech­nol­o­gy-dri­ven change in the enter­prise is a chal­lenge chief infor­ma­tion offi­cers (CIOs) have long grap­pled with, often com­ing up against bar­ri­ers and ten­sions.

Dig­i­tal is now under­stood as the great enabler of change, com­pet­i­tive­ness, mod­erni­sa­tion and an enhanced con­sumer expe­ri­ence. This rel­a­tive­ly sud­den and dra­mat­ic shift has sig­nif­i­cant impli­ca­tions for the CIOs whose role and influ­ence has been extend­ed by the dig­i­tal agen­da, plac­ing them at the heart of busi­ness deci­sions.

They not only have to ensure their organ­i­sa­tion is opti­mised and func­tion­ing from day to day, but also invest at the right time in emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies that put the busi­ness in a posi­tion to lever­age mar­ket oppor­tu­ni­ties. But doing so requires buy-in from the top of the organ­i­sa­tion, and the nec­es­sary tools and skills to enact such change.

“Con­sumers expect a first-class dig­i­tal expe­ri­ence, whether we’re book­ing taxis or chang­ing the heat­ing set­tings at home,” says Dar­ren Fields, region­al vice pres­i­dent, UK and Ire­land, at Cit­rix. “We expect that same ease and sim­plic­i­ty when using tech­nol­o­gy at work, and the CIO is large­ly respon­si­ble for mak­ing this hap­pen.”

In a recent study of 400 UK CIOs by Cit­rix and OnePoll, just two in five said they ful­filled their visions in their last role. One in four said they were held back by “sacred cows” –  ways of work­ing that are seem­ing­ly immune to crit­i­cism – while 22 per cent cit­ed bud­getary restraints and C‑suite expec­ta­tions for an imme­di­ate return on invest­ment.

Adding to their dif­fi­cul­ties, just 6 per cent of CIOs described the tech­nol­o­gy in their organ­i­sa­tion as agile and inher­ent to the busi­ness, with two-fifths say­ing it works but isn’t used well. When infra­struc­ture, tech invest­ment and IT skills aren’t sat­is­fac­to­ry, half of CIOs said it reduces pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and 45 per cent believed it restricts growth.

Sarah Flan­ni­gan is one CIO who did achieve her vision. Dur­ing six years at the Nation­al Trust, she saw first-hand the chal­lenges to end-to-end dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion at what is Europe’s largest con­ser­va­tion organ­i­sa­tion. While trans­for­ma­tive tech­nolo­gies were deployed, it was her peo­ple-led approach that shaped and defined the nec­es­sary change.

“Many CIOs have con­fi­dence in their own abil­i­ties, but express frus­tra­tion at the capa­bil­i­ties and dig­i­tal matu­ri­ty of the organ­i­sa­tions they are sup­port­ing,” says Ms Flan­ni­gan. “To bridge that gap, CIOs can­not allow them­selves to sit on the side­lines com­plain­ing, but must find ways to make an impact and a dif­fer­ence.”

To dri­ve dig­i­tal change, CIOs should first iden­ti­fy poten­tial advo­cates on the board. Every CIO has a feel for the agen­da of a com­pa­ny in rela­tion to tech­nol­o­gy invest­ment and dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion. Tak­ing the time to work with those on the board who embrace and under­stand what’s at stake will ensure the nec­es­sary buy-in from the top.

Find­ing a men­tor is equal­ly impor­tant. Trans­for­ma­tion is nev­er easy, par­tic­u­lar­ly in large organ­i­sa­tions with mul­ti­ple stake­hold­ers, so hav­ing oth­ers to turn to for advice and insight, or even just moral sup­port, will be invalu­able when the chal­lenges come.

Final­ly, dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion needs a vision that oth­ers can believe in. The CIO is unique­ly qual­i­fied to dri­ve change, but this needs to be com­mu­ni­cat­ed well for oth­ers to under­stand and embrace. The best CIOs can trans­late the val­ue of trans­for­ma­tion to every per­son in the organ­i­sa­tion, from chief exec­u­tive to intern.

“CIOs need patience, back­ing and auton­o­my from the board,” says Mr Fields. “Many feel ham­strung by the infra­struc­ture they inher­it­ed, and report being denied the time and organ­i­sa­tion­al struc­ture to put it right. This results in them exit­ing their roles with­out hav­ing achieved what they’d set out to do, which can leave busi­ness­es uncer­tain on their dig­i­tal strat­e­gy and puts them under increas­ing threat from com­peti­tors.”

For more infor­ma­tion please vis­it citrix.co.uk