The success of digital transformation not only relies on CEOs of enterprises anymore. Latest reports indicate that CIOs play a critical role in the strategic discussions and successful implementation of digital transformation (DX).
Why enterprise CEOs must involve CIOs when it comes to investing in digital solutions for their business? What role IT plays in DX success?
If you’re someone seeking answers for the above questions, well, this post is exclusively for you.
Understanding the impact IT on digital transformation
As digital transformation is all about reinventing a business’ model, people, technology through advanced digital solutions, this will have a massive impact on your vendor and customer relationships too.
The only difference between the digital transformation then and now is the way you capture data. While the digital technologies in the past helped us garner data discretely, we are able to extract collective data from different channels without any discomfort. This data-driven advantage is what digital transformation is all about.
SEE ALSO: “3 Points to Choose a Digital Transformation Partner“
Most digital transformations fail because of high-level decisions of C-level executives who don’t consider the technology scalability, infrastructure, employee adoption challenges while preparing the company for the digital push.
Why IT matters for successful business transformation
Since the merger of IT with enterprises, enterprise success has improved significantly. However, most digital transformation programs were performed by companies with limited or zero involvement of CIOs. What this could mean to your business is that you might be facing practical challenges during implementation, the program may not be supported by your workforce.
Currently, IT help companies with
- Adding innovative value to the business for improved market competitiveness
- Differentiating value to the business
- Accelerating time-consuming business operations with innovative technologies
- Preventing business from failures and outage technologies, techniques
On the other hand, if the enterprise CEOs can utilize IT properly, the results will be surprisingly better.
IT as your corporate visionaries
Here are some of the practical benefits CIOs of enterprise can provide to your business.
- They understand your present business infrastructure better and will help you with something better than what you’ve currently.
- They have a better grasp of the technology, tools innovation required to boost your business
- They will play a vital role in the new technology adoption of employees during and post transitions
- They will help your business with better directives on budget and infrastructure challenges when it comes to picking the right vendor
- Finding a simple, flexible way to manage software investments for your business is extremely difficult without the help of IT as they your business model better than anyone in the company.
Here are the new roles that IT will play in the current business landscape by joining hands with the CEOs of enterprises.
- Achieve organizational technical respect for IT through flawless execution (Forbes)
- Gain IT business respect through business understanding and non-technical engagement (Forbes)
- Increase CEO/C-Suite willingness to listen to and consider business-oriented innovative coming from the CIO personally and/or those with IT as a whole (Forbes)
- Enhance IT’s creative and innovative nature and ability (Forbes)
- Internally “market” IT’s competence, creativity and innovative nature (Forbes)
- Move IT’s reputation from “Technology Subject Matter Expert” to “Business Thought Leader and Internal Change Agent” (Forbes)
Simply put, CIOs have to work hand-in-hand with the corporate heads to strategize, plan, and implement a digital transformation program that benefits their employees, customers, vendors in the long run.
