3 Impacts of Digital Transformation for CIOs

As a CIO, you face increasing pressures to digitally transform the enterprise, while juggling a full list of responsibilities. According to a CIO census survey done in late 2017, some of the key drivers of digital transformation include things like;

• The need to respond to customer expectations;
• The need to demonstrate innovative capabilities;
• The need to continually reduce operating costs;
• Disrupt the industry with a competitive advantage.

There is high demand for businesses to start digitally transforming to meet these competitive requirements. In order to address these needs, and to kick-start digital transformation in your business, you’ll need to first address some challenges associated with it. While digital transformation can create new opportunities and better overall performance, there are a few things that could potentially get in the way, making the process a bumpy one.

Cybersecurity

With the ever-growing need to digitally transform quickly and effectively, comes a more important concern that is essential for you to keep at the top of mind in order to work effectively on projects as CIO. That key component is security. While firewalls and passwords used to be enough of a lock and key on your data, this is no longer the case. Extra work has to be done in order to protect important and sensitive data in the company. While more and more is being done to invest in security systems and solutions, a good step to take is to implement best practices among departments to avoid cyber security threats. For example, developers should be educated on secure coding practices, and should regularly audit code in order to maintain proper security practices and keep the sensitive data where it’s supposed to be.

Facing Resistance

A common challenge for businesses in the planning phase of digital transformation is getting everyone on board. This challenge comes in many forms, whether different parts of the company don’t see the value in  digital transformation, or might struggle to integrate with the newest high tech. Organizational resistance can prove to be a major obstacle, and can even segway into reluctance. In order to combat this problem, you should focus on keeping everyone involved, and avoid keeping the digital transformation efforts quiet. All C-levels must educate the entire company on the potential benefits, and the potential risks, as you pursue digital transformation efforts.

Giving everyone a voice will not only get more people on board and make everyone feel included, but this is also a great way to motivate departments in the company that may have started off as resistant. By getting everyone interested in innovating the company, you’ll have a much easier time making decisions to supplement the transformation process. On that same note, collaborating with other departments is a great way to get the suggestions and opinions of others, who may have ideas that you would not have come up with on your own.

Smoothing out the digital transformation

As digital transformation initiatives begin to look forward, with 59% of IT leaders expecting to see results in the next 2 to 5 years. For those that are currently experiencing changes, about 34% of them say the efforts are beginning to pay off. In order to get the most out of your efforts as CIO, you’ll need to take the time to smooth out the transition. Things will run best with everyone in agreement and contributing to the idea pool. Getting and keeping everyone involved and interested is a great way to start.

Investing in the right tools will be another requirement for this process. Figure out what software and what services will best complement your business as you digitally transform. In order to succeed, you’ll need to supplement the process, by investing in the best possible tools out there that your business is realistically capable of implementing. As a CIO, you must focus on remaining proactive, continually working towards upgrades and improvements. By keeping this mindset in place, the digital transformation will reap greater rewards.

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