The accelerated use of technology during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in redefining the role of CIOs in an organization. In the present scenario, organizations need a digitally driven workforce to not only run day-to-day operations but also stay ahead in the market. CIOs – Chief Information Officers are stepping up to create an omnichannel digital transformation of organizations to evolve business outcomes.
CIO’s have become outwardly focused on deeply understanding the business needs as per market trends and translating them into technology roadmap. As the world moves towards rapid digital transformation, organizations have redefined the role of CIOs in increasing IT spending. According to a recent survey finding – the country’s IT spending is expected to grow at 8 percent to $92.7 billion in 2021.
Considering the ruckus that COVID-19 has created in organizations, CIOs are changing their IT mission and adapting to dynamic business needs. Large-scale corporate organizations are adopting advanced technologies to reshape business operations and culture.
In the upcoming year, CIOs are ready to take a leap from technology / IT head to key business driver. Here’re the top 4 priorities CIOs can focus on in 2022.
Technology in customer experience
In the present world of business, competition has become fiercer. The market is turning saturated and organizations are competing to acquire customers. With many options available to them, customers do not even take a moment to shift to other brands. This drives the need to implement technology in leading online experiences for customers. When IT is closest to the customer, it becomes easier for an organization to understand customers’ needs and it succeeds in delivering that value.
Furthermore, technology is crucial for organizations in spotting customer needs just like the product teams. That’s where CIOs need to focus on making the IT team work closely with product managers as well as customers to deliver value.
Integration of Cloud
Embedding cloud in business operations is effective in improving business performance. However, to make a noticeable change in an organization’s growth, it has to be integrated as the center of technology strategy. The advantages of the cloud such as speed, flexibility and cost-effectiveness are crucial for organizations in optimizing their business. This requires CIO’s effort to fully realize its potential and align software, infrastructure and services for the cloud to help enterprises accomplish their fundamental goals.
The key priority for CIOs in 2022 will be to master cloud economics. This will help them target business areas with a precise focus on new businesses, innovative practices and new sources of revenue enabled by the cloud.
Making tech team a part of talent strategy
Great technology talent is crucial for any business to generate value, especially in a digitally-driven world. Investing time and resources in aligning technology and talent strategy is amongst the highest value moves for organizations. When the corporate world moved to remote work culture, it became a crisis situation for organizations to manage their talent. In that case, technology played an integral role in keeping the workforce engaged, motivated and feel safe in raising issues quickly.
In 2021, CIO’s embraced new-age technologies at the workplace. In 2022, CIOs are expected to leverage the potential of these technologies and be role models to support specific behaviour of teams in order to provide world-class tools to make their lives convenient.
Promoting learning to adapt to changes
The post-covid world has changed the way organizations work to succeed. It has become more about learning, adapting to new market needs and integrating technology to meet new business goals. The present world requires CIOs to develop a culture of learning that goes beyond attaining certifications and training. For instance, CIOs can develop regular skill projections based on need and roll out a reskilling program for their people.
Since non-tech people make the majority of the workforce for the organization, it becomes imperative for CIO to make tech literacy a priority for the business. CIOs can chalk out a plan to educate non-tech leaders and expand tech literacy for better business performance.
Takeaway
Every business in today’s age needs to have a robust technology infrastructure. With this digital move, CIOs have now got the opportunity to be a forerunner in driving business performance and accomplishing goals. In the upcoming year, the CIOs role will mainly be centered on putting technology at the forefront of business.
(Yogita Tulsiani, MD & Co-founder, iXceed Solutions (Global Tech-Recruiter Provider)
