With the almost incredible strides that technology has made over the past two decades, IT leaders are quickly becoming critical players in fueling business transformation. But with the nearly overwhelming amount of technology introduced daily, it's even hard for CIOs to know where to invest their attention.
Even though the tech market is expected to slow from 4.5% in 2019 to 3.8% in 2020, due to economic uncertainty, the growth gap between business and back-office tech is expected to narrow. This trend is, in large part, to many companies' efforts to reduce operating costs and preserve profit margins.
Also, the driving forces behind increased tech spending still exist. These include things like the adoption of cloud, artificial intelligence, improved analytics tools, back-office tech, as well as CX-oriented technologies.
If you haven't invested already, here is how IT creates business value for your organization.
Many companies today can capture and analyze data, but very few have the necessary infrastructure to deploy and manage IoT applications based on that data. As edge computing becomes more sophisticated, businesses require efficient storage and processing capabilities that can collect, analyze, and act on that data. A priority of every IT team is to develop the right platform that can do this and maximize the business value of IoT.
A lot of organizations still operate on siloed data, the ever-present spreadsheets, and multiple versions of the same data. By defining and using a data analytics platform that can deliver actionable and data-driven intelligence across the business, companies can retire half, if not more, of its legacy reports.
AI and machine learning are vital aspects of digital transformation. A comprehensive and integrated data environment is an essential component for robotics, AI, and IoT, that can get all the information out of dissipated documents and into a single source that's always up-to-date. Such an environment makes it possible to get real-time information on schedules and budgets, as well as to make the company more flexible and resilient to future economic uncertainties.
Customers today judge a company based on the experiences they offer. CX is more important than the price or the product itself. IT teams should focus their attention using data to create an easy-to-read customer profile, which will then be used to generate a unified customer experience for every individual. It will provide them with a consistent and contextualized customer experience across all channels and touchpoints. Such CX will be able to deliver higher rates of trust, customer satisfaction, retention, and higher profitability down the line.
Customers, partners, and employees all expect anytime-anywhere access to information. Although very few businesses are prepared enough to embrace the proliferation of wireless devices in the modern workplace. Telecommuting and cross-departmental collaboration are at an all-time high and are only expected to get larger. It demands more flexibility in terms of when, where, and from which devices; employees do their work. Unfortunately, many companies do not have the necessary wireless infrastructure to cater to this mobile workforce. The IT department will be vital in keeping up with this demand.
Data breaches and other forms of cybercrime have never been more prevalent. Then, there's the matter of compliance to various governmental regulations such as the EU's GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), etc. IT leaders and departments can implement solutions and leverage technologies that tackle security threats and manage regulatory compliance issues, saving companies on costs.
It can also help manage to spend across the organization by deploying the right technologies. One of the most significant issues in this regard are the costs associated with added services when businesses buy their own SaaS tools. IT can determine what's needed and what's not, to mitigate unnecessary spending.
Today, it’s both a challenging and exciting time for CIOs. The role of the CIO previously was to lead the information systems and data processing departments. Today, however, the responsibilities and skill sets of a CIO are drastically different. CIOs are not there to worry about how to keep all those systems connected while saving money by moving to the cloud. Today, they have a more prominent place in a business’ strategic decision-making and are in a position to do a lot more.
CIOs are there to drive the thinking and resulting strategies regarding what to do with all the compiled data. They find ways to take the business forward by getting maximum value from the data on hand.
What do CIOs bring to the table in today’s highly-competitive and tech-focused business environment?
A CIO is in the executive position that deals with the IT needs of an enterprise. The role can’t portray with an exact description. Today’s CIOs are distancing from operational responsibilities, and their part includes:
Collaboration platforms, big data analytics, cloud computing, mobile computing, IoT, and AI are new challenges that CIOs now face. Their focus has shifted to data security, service analysis, and market reach.
Typically, CIOs have degrees in information systems, software engineering, and computer science. Besides an IT background, an essential factor for landing a CIO role is - experience. Employers seek people with a minimum of 5-year experience in IT management as well as business acumen. The essential skills for the CIO position are – leadership, strategic planning, project management, software development management, change management, relationship and network building, and financial and business acumen.
With outside consultants, cloud-based tools, and gumption, a small business with basic tech needs can survive. However, that’s only temporary, as every company comes to a point when somebody other than the CEO needs to make IT decisions. This point is at a unique moment in your growth, and you’ll need to answer questions like:
To ensure that your IT lead has an equal and active role in deciding what’s best for your enterprise, you need a CIO that has worked outside of a digital environment, who has navigated a corporate environment, and who can help bring the clout of the C-level title.
With new technological advancements, the CIO position continues to evolve; fueled by several significant trends that are coming our way and are mutually reinforcing each other. These trends are IoT, DevOps, and Big Data (paired with analytics and machine learning). The CIOs are the ones who should be driving these areas forward, knowing both tech and business trends. Certain key areas, such as agriculture, insurance, law, biotech, and healthcare are much affected by technology. There, CIOs are left concerned with the increasing expectations placed upon them.
When looking to hire a CIO, be sure to check whether they are qualified, skilled, and experienced enough for the position. On the other hand, your enterprise may benefit from fractional CIO services. These services deliver a flexible tech solution that evolves and adapts to meet your evolving needs. Contact Managed Solution to help you evaluate your business needs.
Our fast-paced society is moving at such a high rate; it’s almost impossible to keep up with all the future trends that may pop-up around the corner. That is, of course, if you do not have specialists and trend analysts inside your company that study anything that could be the next big thing in IT in 2019, and in the years to come.
Trends, when it comes to the fashion industry, can appear at the beginning of a year, and by the second quarter, they can already be yesterday’s news. And they usually are. But that’s what happens in the fashion world. When it comes to industries like healthcare, biotech, financial services, and a few others, trends can be identified in time. They are usually analyzed well in advance, and the predictions tend to be spot on if the right people are handling the data.
2019 is a very promising year for IT trends, and here are some that should be included in your company’s budget:
We cannot talk about a company undergoing a digital transformation process without cloud platforms. These two services come hand in hand, and they can bring any company plenty of benefits when it comes to being more productive, more efficient and more cost-effective.
As part of your business’ digital transformation process, switching over to cloud will allow your company to be more agile when it comes to handling data, messaging, and business portfolios from anywhere in the world you, your employees, or clients may be.
Cloud-based infrastructure is essential to bringing your company into the world of the future, and it’s vital in delivering flexible and on-demand access to resources worldwide, to both your employees and clients.
Want to learn more about IT trends to look out for in 2019? Sign up to watch our webinar to hear from our Founder Sean Ferrel and Solutions Architect Richard Swaisgood on what you can expect in 2019.
The age of automation is upon us, and some companies, like Google, Apple and Tesla are at the forefront of this new industrial revolution. With driverless cars and self-serving supermarkets, automation is only around the corner as a large scale phenomenon.
Machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) are necessary fields at the forefront of developing the new way companies will work in the future. Most businesses will undergo complex automation processes to become more productive, and this will be done mainly through machine learning and AI.
Although this will mean that plenty of people will lose their jobs, it also means that it will create value in other areas of our day to day lives. Automation is not only a trend for 2019; it will become a day to day thing from now on.
While most people are familiar with the idea of AI (artificial intelligence) from sci-fi movies, not everyone is acquainted with the role machine learning plays as part of AI. Machine learning is a field of AI that interprets and uses statistics to help computers better understand behaviors, thus allowing them to learn and replicate.
Machine learning will lead to the improvement of daily processes which take place in any company, small, medium or big, because it helps cut costs exponentially and it eliminates the random factor out of many equations, leaving less (close to zero) room for errors.
The EU has already gone through the process of the GDPR (Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation), as of August 2018, and around a third of companies could not continue their activities in the European Union without making severe changes.
The same will happen with most companies in the US after the California Consumer Privacy Act comes into play. The “CCPA” will be taking effect as of January 1, 2020, so there’s still time to prepare your company to become compliant with the new set of regulations, especially when it comes to managing data.
If your company undergoes any security breaches, this could lead to severe financial losses because based on this new act, any eligible client can demand up to $750 for each violation. It means that if your company is in charge of handling private data and suffers a cyber-attack or any security breach, you are will be held accountable and have to endure the losses.
When companies work with professional data management companies, the entire responsibility will be shifted towards them, making it easier for you to focus on your core business, without the threat of losing significant amounts of money in newly-filed lawsuits based on the new CCPA act.
What's an IT Roadmap? A technology roadmap, also known as an IT roadmap, is a visual document that presents and communicates an organization's plan for technology initiatives. In other words, an IT roadmap will highlight what, when, and why the technology solutions offered will be implemented. Often, roadmaps are designed to fix what's broken, but they can also be used to uncover opportunities and the potential of your business. In a perfect scenario, it's used for both.
Your IT roadmap should serve as a flexible planning technique with the aim of supporting a long-range strategy, though it supports both long and short-term goals. As we approach the end of the year, your business plan is likely well underway, if not yet completed. Do you have a technology roadmap that supports all aspects of your business?
In today's modern workplace, with technology being so ingrained in everyone's daily lives, it's important that the CEO of a company is working closely with its CTO, CIO, and other technology leaders to ensure the right technology is installed in their systems and network to empower their employees. Every company has specific business goals that they want to drive throughout the organization so the leaders of that organization need to be asking themselves 'what kind of technology can support these goals?' as well as 'do my employees have the technologies they need to be productive and successful?'
Overall, the technology roadmap needs to be supporting the overall business roadmap. These need to be strategically aligned to ensure business growth and success. Here, we will go into what every technology roadmap needs and how you can get started.
Not sure where to get started with your roadmap? Request a Network Assessment for one of our tech experts comes on-site to do a full analysis of your network and infrastructure so that you can start planning today.
The Strategy - Like everything else, an IT roadmap starts with a well-designed strategy. You will first have to determine what are your priorities and what you hope to generate. Many IT roadmaps are used to reduce waste, but they can also be utilized to help determine what tools can benefit your teams, how to deliver a better customer experience, or even to streamline overall operations, among others.
Needs, Priorities & Timeline - When creating and implementing one such roadmap, it's important to remember that you can't always do it all. A roadmap should not be overwhelming - it should be the opposite. It is necessary for you to get visibility as it relates to the who, how, when, and where of each project. In addition, make sure that you are looking at mitigating risk versus leveraging technology with each project. This can help your prioritize what's needed versus what's wanted.
You also need to review your business processes to highlight inefficiencies, identify all technology gaps, as well as functional capabilities. Then prepare an itemized and prioritized checklist of the necessary steps that need to be taken.
Lastly, realistic timelines are crucial in creating a successful IT roadmap. These schedules and deadlines should be for each project and based on the order of priority as well as the duration of each project plus the available resources. One way of relieving some of the stress and workload is by leveraging external resources, such as consultants. They can also contribute with added value and experience, and help you avoid some of the common pitfalls encountered by others.
Balancing Risks - A roadmap wouldn't be complete without considering the uncertainty of things, especially when it comes to mitigating risk with your technology and infrastructure. Security should always be a priority in today's world. With a stable infrastructure, you'll be able to leverage the technology you need and not hinder productivity amongst employees, but increase it. Consider what is a 'nice-to-have' versus a 'must-have' to help you prioritize and minimize risk. It's all about balance and making sure you're communicating these things across all departments. While security is a huge concern for IT, it affects the entire organization.
Cost Measurement - The investment required for a technology should be well thought out and intentional. It's important to consider not only cost but time and internal resources. It's advisable that you research the prices available on the market and that you create a realistic cost estimate for each project on your roadmap. In addition to the cost, take a look at how many people you will need to dedicate to each item and the time it will require to complete each project. Don't forget to also include other costs such as subscription fees, maintenance, support, or new infrastructure costs. In the end, this technology roadmap should help to facilitate investment in different departments better and improve overall planning.
Always Look Ahead - Many business leaders do not take full advantage of the many disruptive technologies that appear on a continually and which can, otherwise, improve their competitive edge. When developing your own IT roadmap, keep an eye out for what type of technology will help you stay competitive over the next three to five years. Look for technology that's flexible and scalable enough to fit in with your long-term needs.
Conclusion
There are numerous benefits in designing your own IT roadmap. It will help you keep moving forward without losing sight of the end goal. Make sure you're having these technology conversations with not only IT leaders but C-Level executives as well. When done right, technology should support the entire organization and not just the IT department.
If you want to learn more about implementing your plan, contact us for consulting today.
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Digital transformation is being driven by Indian companies such as Flipkart (the country’s leading marketplace) and Tata Motors, as well as Korean companies such as LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Asan Medical Center, through the leveraging of Microsoft cloud.
Azure is available from two new cloud regions in Korea, part of 38 Azure regions around the globe which is more regions than any other cloud provider. 13 of those regions are in Asia which gives customers across the region the opportunity to leverage the Azure cloud platform’s ability.
Across industries, including finance and health care, Korean companies are putting local Azure services to use in their organizations. LG Electronics is sending real-time data and using the scalability of virtual machines in order to better serve their customers and Asan Medical Center is able to collaborate with the industry & academia in order to supply anonymous clinical notes through Microsoft's hybrid cloud.
Other Korean companies, such as Samsung Electronics, are leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT). Using its remote energy reduction solutions (S-Net Cloud), Samsung is able to monitor energy use and deliver efficiencies to customers in order to save them money on energy costs.
Data center regions in India opened in September 2015 have provided the immense computing power of Microsoft cloud for the purposes of growth and innovation. Flipkart has adopted Azure as its exclusive public cloud platform to do just this, grow and innovate. The collaboration between Microsoft and Flipkart has marked the process towards providing customers with the best online shopping experience possible, aided in addition by Flipkart's use of Azure Artificial Intelligence (AI) and analytics to optimize the areas of merchandising, marketing, and customer service. This partnership comes on the heels of Microsoft's cloud collaboration with Tata Motors – India’s leading auto manufacturer – to provide connected driving experiences with Azure.
People and organizations across the globe are embracing the cloud to solve unique challenges. You can follow these links to learn more about the new regions in Korea, how Flipkart is using Azure, case studies of how people and organizations are using the cloud for innovation, and to learn more about Azure services and solutions.
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