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2020 underscored the critical role that Chief Information Officers (CIOs) play. Many companies depended on technology to remain up and running. Without it, some may not be left standing today.

As a result of this reality, 61 percent of CIOs reported feeling more influential than they did before the pandemic due to their valiant efforts to protect their businesses from the fallout. (1)

With many employees transitioning to remote work and the trend not showing any signs of slowing down, many organizations were forced to implement new technology they may not have planned to adopt for years. They had to step up their information technology (IT) strategy, along with security measures, to survive.

This pressure ended up being a good thing for companies that embraced the opportunity to foster digital transformation within their organization. It gave them a distinct advantage over competitors who floundered in their attempts or refused altogether to innovate.

Now, CIOs find themselves viewing a markedly altered business landscape for 2021 in terms of their priorities. The following priorities should be at the top of their list.

Minimize and/or Contain Costs

One of the benefits offered by technology is that, although it requires a financial investment upfront, the right technology implemented well can minimize or contain costs in the long run.

Keeping costs down is more important than ever during a time when economic uncertainty is a genuine factor. Cloud computing is one avenue for organizations to keep their costs down by providing a virtual place to store and back up data.

Improve User Experience

With technological systems acting as the primary point of contact and communications for many organizations, ease-of-use is a characteristic that CIOs must not overlook.

Machine learning makes programs more intuitive and better overall through computer algorithms that improve automatically through user interaction. It uncovers patterns by analyzing massive amounts of data and tailors each user’s experience according to these findings.

CIOs should invest heavily in their company’s machine learning capabilities to ensure the organization’s programs make doing business easier, not harder.

Leverage Technology to Increase Revenue

 Instead of presenting technology as a line item that the business should “fit into” the budget, CIOs should flip their argument to reflect what a powerful money maker IT represents. Advanced technology gives companies the ability to enhance their core business capabilities, which positions them to achieve business goals and ultimately generate more revenue.

Giving leadership and employees valuable tools allows them to adapt more quickly to changes and work both in the real and virtual worlds. Technology fuels companies’ drive to become and remain profitable.

Ensure Organization-Wide Redundancy

 2020 took the “bring your own device” (BYOD) concept to an entirely new level by requiring that many teams work remotely. This shift drove a rise in employees working on their own devices and multiple devices.

Naturally, the need to secure business data rose in tandem with the acceleration of the BYOD trend. Safeguarding critical, valuable data across multiple devices is challenging, especially those that do not belong to the company.

A critical part of protecting data is instituting redundancy by formulating a series of back-up plans – not one, but several – to prevent data loss and compromise. Doing so will ensure business continuity across the organization.

This is essential in an age when data security has become increasingly elusive due to the warp speed at which cybercriminals come up with new tactics. The good news? CIOs possess the knowledge to think 10 steps ahead of cybercriminals to devise effective security tactics. But if there is a breach, redundancy will guard companies against data loss.

2020 demonstrated how much organizations rely on the expertise and guidance of CIOs to help them continuously evolve. 2021 represents a golden opportunity for CIOs to take the insight they gained during this unprecedented time and use it to give their business a winning advantage. Prioritizing the initiatives listed above will put CIOs in the perfect position to do so.

Uncertain times call for creative thinking. Contact Gavel International to be inspired with solutions that connect and engage your people.
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SOURCES:

1 https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2020/10/harvey-nash-kpmg-cio-survey-2020.pdf

 

Kris Maynard
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