For CIOs, it’s a critical time to deliver value on IT investments The majority of CIOs view the current economic environment as positive overall and are more focused than ever on delivering value through their technology investments. That’s according to the study, CIO Insight Survey 2014: CIO’s Perspective in Today’s Changing World, by Spiceworks, which surveyed 400 IT professionals globally about their expectations for technology trends, budgets, skills and more across the next 12 months.
The demand on IT executives to choose wisely among technological investments is considerable and will only grow in the years to come. Chief information officers are expected to provide digital dividends, and CEOs and boards want to see these digitally-driven gains reflected in firm financials because they believe investments in digital assets, channels, and business skills will accelerate development.
The importance of CIOs and other IT leaders figuring out how to maximise top- and bottom-line development from their numerous digital investments was highlighted in a study published last month by the research firm Gartner.
According to a poll conducted by Gartner of 2,203 CIOs across all major industries and 81 countries, they anticipate an average 5% growth in IT expenditures in 2023, which is less than the predicted 6.5% worldwide inflation rate.
According to Daniel Sanchez-Reina, vice president and analyst at Gartner, the need for technology expenditures to pay off is increasing due to a “triple squeeze” of economic pressure, pricey and in-demand technological skills, and continuous supply issues.
Four options for CIOs to provide digital dividends and show how technology investments have a positive financial impact were discovered by a study of the survey data.
The first is to give the correct digital efforts priority. The top two aims for CEOs investing in digital technology during the last two years, according to survey respondents’ rankings, were to increase operational excellence and enhance the customer or citizen experience.
According to Kathy Kay, executive vice president and chief information officer of financial services and insurance company Principal Financial Group, “Demonstrating the financial effect of technology investments across the enterprise is key to enabling strategy.” She said that Principal has given digital investments top priority in order to maximise client value and foster efficiency and development.
A vision for digital change
By developing a metrics hierarchy, digital dividends may also be delivered. According to the report, 95% of firms have difficulty creating a vision for digital change, frequently as a result of conflicting demands from many stakeholders. According to the research, CIOs must leverage metrics that can be readily applied to and shared among multiple digital initiatives throughout the company in order to deliver financial outcomes.
Contributing IT skills to a “business-led fusion team” is a third option. The poll, according to Gartner, revealed an IT attitude of “go it alone” regarding the delivery of solutions, even though strategic collaboration with business unit executives is required to speed digital projects. An excessive reliance on IT employees for digital delivery displays a conventional attitude, which might impede agility, according to Sanchez-Reina.
According to Kay at Principal, the business has prioritised empowering its non-developer staff members via training in both automation and data analytics. We have concentrated on making training accessible to everyone in order to fill in the capacities where we had found shortages, she added.
The company gives its staff a thorough cloud development and certification programme. As a result, Kay said, “we have improved our company’s digital capabilities. It has also helped our employees advance in their positions and even take on new responsibilities.”
Finally, CIOs might use unorthodox resources to close the talent gap. According to the survey, many CIOs still have difficulty finding and keeping IT talent to support digital projects. However, the poll also uncovered a large number of underutilised sources of technical talent, including students (via internships and connections with academic institutions) and gig workers.
In order to advance our digital strategy, Kay added, “We’re highly focused on reducing the tech skills gap, which continues to be top-of-mind.”
The pressure on technology executives to maximise the return on IT expenditures, training, and other areas will continue strong due to the growing reliance on digital services to keep organisations competitive.
According to Brandon Jones, CIO of nonprofit life insurance and financial services provider Worldwide Assurance for Employees of Public Agencies, “the society in which we live now involves an almost continual dependence on technology.” In particular, from the standpoint of top- and bottom-line development, “decisions concerning technological tools, systems, and strategies have a clear and apparent influence on firms. A CIO may have a significant influence on a business.
