Challenges Faced by Cios in Tech Leadership

According to the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐎 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 by Foundry, 𝟕𝟓% of CIOs find it challenging to strike the right balance between these two critical areas. This difficulty is notably higher in sectors such as education (𝟖𝟐%) and manufacturing (𝟕𝟖%), and less so in retail (𝟓𝟒%). (Source: https://lnkd.in/ebsed9i7) 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬: The increasing emphasis on digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) is driving the need for innovation. In 2024, 28% of CIOs reported that their primary CEO-driven objective was to lead digital business initiatives, a significant increase from the previous year. This push towards innovation often competes with the imperative to maintain operational excellence, including upgrading IT and data security and enhancing IT-business collaboration. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: The tension between innovation and operational excellence can lead to a misallocation of resources if not managed correctly. It can result in either stifling innovation due to overemphasis on day-to-day operations or risking operational integrity by over-prioritizing disruptive technological advancements. For instance, sectors with a high focus on operational challenges, such as education and healthcare, particularly emphasize IT security and business alignment over aggressive innovation. 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐬: • 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚: Get used to it! CIOs should advocate for an IT strategy that equally prioritizes operational excellence and innovation. This involves not only leading digital transformation projects, but also ensuring that these innovations deliver tangible business outcomes without compromising the operational integrity of the organization. • 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Strengthening the collaboration between IT and other business units remains a top priority. CIOs should work closely with business leaders to ensure that technological initiatives are well-aligned with business goals, thereby enhancing the overall strategic impact of IT. • 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥: To manage the dynamic demands of both innovation and operational tasks effectively, CIOs should adopt a flexible resource allocation model. This model would allow the IT department to shift resources quickly between innovation-driven projects and core IT functions, depending on the business priorities at any given time. ******************************************* • Visit www.jeffwinterinsights.com for access to all my content and to stay current on Industry 4.0 and other cool tech trends • Ring the 🔔 for notifications!

CIOs have a challenge managing enterprise technology. Here's the tea: IT has changed. A lot. Agile took over on the promise that IT could adapt faster to be a better partner to the business. And guess what?! It worked! But like any good plot twist, it came with its own set of drama: 1. Cloud workloads are now mainstream Multi-cloud is the new black, but it comes with its own set of headaches. New tools, processes, policies, you get the idea. Companies like Capital One are multi-cloud and use both AWS and Google Cloud, but integrating these clouds seamlessly? That’s no walk in the park. 2. On-prem isn't dead, it's just...different Take JP Morgan's data centers. They're not moving everything to the cloud because mission-critical, high-availability systems still need the control and reliability of traditional data centers. 3. Customer intimacy is driving some workloads closer to the customer Why? It reduces the latency which of course improves customer experience. When the entire world moved to Zoom during Covid, they optimized their servers because they knew a few milliseconds could make or break a customer interaction. 4. Edge computing is having its moment It's great for site-specific workloads (like manufacturing). Just look at Tesla, which uses edge computing in its cars for real-time data processing, pushing workloads to remote sites, and ensuring data sovereignty and regional privacy are respected. 5. Work from anywhere Everyone loves a flexible workplace…except IT. Endpoint allocation, network access, app provisioning...it's enough to make your head spin! But the problem isn’t just which IT asset management (ITAM) solution to pick (Oomnitza, obviously). It’s also: ➝ Getting an integrated, bird’s eye view and ensuring your data is accurate, current, and not struggling to manage data in some forgotten spreadsheet. ➝ Create automated, continuously optimized processes that cut through tech silos. The future of IT isn't just about managing assets—it's about wrangling this entire digital circus while actually getting some sleep at night. So ditch the manual headaches and embrace the tools that'll make you the superhero of your company. Cape optional, but highly recommended.

A CIO recently shared with me that the biggest challenge their organization faces is identifying and quantifying the value captured from the investments made in technology in the organization. As companies strive to create value from their investments in rapidly evolving technologies, they need to make fundamental shifts in the way they operate. My colleagues Aamer Baig, Jeffrey Lewis, Klemens Hjartar, Rob Cain, and Sven Blumberg met with board members, CEOs, and tech leaders about several key shifts that tech leaders can make to meet the demands of business leaders. In particular, I like how they framed four key roles that tech leaders need to play: - Orchestrator: Tech officers need to move from supporting business leaders to shaping how their companies generate value, directing business and tech teams, and taking on real P&L accountability for business outcomes. - Builder: Producing tech-driven revenue requires a shift from enabling business partners to building new products and businesses that create new value. - Protector: The scale and complexity of tech has made cyber-threats and resilience threats greater challenges than ever. Tech officers need to move from securing software and reacting to regulatory requirements to actively combating the widening array of risks to business continuity. - Operator: Automation and tech increasingly provide the primary opportunities to improve service operations and other corporate functions. As a result, tech leaders are expanding their mandate into areas outside IT, including customer experience, innovation, operations, procurement, and strategy. This combination aims to eliminate silos and accelerate the rewiring of functions. I hope you will check out the link to the new McKinsey Quarterly article, “A New Dawn for the Technology Officer,” in the comments and let me know what you think!

Tech debt associated with automation is an open secret that doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention.    As a former leader of enterprise automation and process excellence for large corporations like Bank of America and LexisNexis, I can relate strongly to how it happens and the problems it creates.    According to McKinsey, 70% of CIOs are paying out over 10% of their new project spend resolving technology debt - and sometimes the number is far higher.    The order and magnitude of tech debt is creating a nightmare for CIOs. In the world of automation, we see differing priorities. Some parties are driven to reduce costs, others to innovate, whilst some are worried by the pace of change and are concerned about security and compliance.    When there is unresolved conflict about the strategic direction and reason for introducing new technology, it’s no surprise that bad choices are made.    In practice, this often means introducing automations too quickly, what I call ‘band aid automation’. This leads to:   1️⃣ Misalignment with technology roadmap - e.g. putting automation on top of tech which is about to be sunsetted    2️⃣ Automation of inefficient process - which is often caused by not having a full understand of processes and their context in the first place   3️⃣ Misalignment of automation patterns - often created by the abundance of tools used and certain favorites deployed with a ‘hammer and nail’ approach   Let us not make the assumption that in the age of gen AI, this problem is going to go away. In fact, it could get worse.    It doesn’t have to be like this! Not only do we need to get a clear real-time view of the enterprise and think strategically about the people, processes and technology, we have to break down the internal barriers that cause so many challenges that lead to tech debt.   ---   💡 This is clearly a much bigger topic than I’ve summarized here, so if you want to learn more, you can watch a Skan AI webinar I recently recorded with our guest speaker Forrester’s Dr. Bernhard Schaffrik and Skan AI’s Xuan Liao. It is available on our webinar series download page >> https://lnkd.in/ecVTzYXB