The future of the modern enterprise rests on the shoulders of the CIO. According to a recent survey of Fortune 500 CEOs, 63% said that the COVID-19 crisis would accelerate their digital transformation. Now more than ever, CIOs are being tapped to lead the organization through this change — amid challenges related to business continuity, reopening, and growth in the long term. Organizations look to their CIO to drive innovation, provide insight,
COVID-19 has challenged leaders across organizations to move at an unprecedented pace, as they go from stabilizing operations to reopening the workplace to growing in the next normal. Startups have crumbled and more than 100,000 small businesses closed permanently in the new economic reality. Ninety-four percent of the Fortune 1000 have seen supply chain disruptions, forcing companies to quickly find new ways to reduce supply chain risk and the likelihood of any future disruptions.
CIOs play a central role in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. From managing recent crisis responses to planning ahead for the next budget cycle, every CIO is balancing short-term and long-term business priorities during a time of great change.
Digital transformation is a major initiative already underway or kicking off this year for 92% of organizations. This transformation is critical to the company’s bottom line, as 72% of IT leaders predict their organization will lose revenue if they don’t digitally transform in the next 12 months.
To successfully digitally transform, integration is necessary. Functional teams drive innovative ideas, and hand-off their technical needs to IT. This leads to a backlog of integration tasks — as 94% of IT leaders reporting that the need for integration spans across the entire organization.
According to the Connectivity Benchmark Report, nearly every CIO is actively involved in digital transformation projects. It’s a top priority for business leaders, which is why it is a key theme at this year’s Dreamforce conference where there will be more than 1,000 sessions.
Here are the top seven sessions every business leader attending Dreamforce to learn:
The role of the chief information officer is becoming ever more important as they drive organizations toward success with both business and technology in mind. We’ve rounded up some of the best CIO podcasts that talk about everything from digital transformation to cloud security to measuring the impact of IT.
MuleSoft CONNECT San Francisco wrapped last week and was a huge success with 31 speakers and over 1,000 attendees. Topics ranged from how technology makes innovation more democratic to the impacts of digital transformation on both employees and customers.
Seventy four percent of companies are going through some form of digital transformation. With percentages that high, there must be value buried somewhere in these initiatives, right? From my perspective, having worked as a strategic advisor and Global CIO for over 20 years, the value comes to those pursuing transformation.
I began my career in retail technology in 1992, a few years before Amazon began selling books online and would, as we all know, go on to forever redefine retail and consumer behavior. In all that time, data about customers, inventory, service, and marketing simmered below the surface of retail organizations — never rising to the level of prioritization that would have empowered us to leverage it to full effect.
To survive today, companies need tech-savvy leaders. The convergence of cloud, SaaS, mobile, big data and more is turning every company into a technology company. As a result, CIOs need to step up and partner closely with business leaders to drive strategic initiatives and growth opportunities. In some cases, CIOs are even stepping up into the CEO role itself.
