How CIOs Can Drive Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is a goal for many organizations because it increases productivity, reduces costs, and creates opportunities for innovation. The benefits of digital transformation are significant for any organization that wants to become agile and resilient to business disruption. However, organizations striving for digital transformation require dedicated leadership to achieve success.
CIOs have been recognized for accelerating the implementation of digital solutions that have enabled organizations to adapt to the constantly evolving business environment created by the pandemic. For this reason, CIOs are best suited to take on a strategic role and lead the drive for digital transformation.
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The new role of CIOs
Since the pandemic started, CIOs have been helping organizations adapt to changing priorities and the unexpected need for a digital workplace. Organizations have not only had to pivot to meet the demands of customers online but also support remote workers.
A report by Genpact and the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium reveals that 83% of CIOs surveyed are taking a more strategic role in digital transformation. CIOs are not only accelerating the adoption of technology solutions but becoming increasingly involved with changing business processes and the delivery of customer experience strategies.
With a lead role to play, how can CIOs keep the momentum of digital transformation going?
Three ways CIOs can drive digital transformation
1. Change management
The pandemic has required CIOs to introduce new digital solutions to adapt to an evolving business environment, but digital transformation also requires connecting people across the organization to adopt new solutions for it to be successful. Change management is a critical component of digital transformation. Without it, employees may not adopt the new technology and transformation will fail.
Change management can include the following in a digital transformation framework:
- Introducing new solutions in increments
- Educating stakeholders on the value of the new technology
- Training users
- Tracking progress and sharing the results with stakeholders
- Consulting stakeholders on any required changes
2. Choosing the right digital solutions
CIOs can drive digital transformation by replacing outdated legacy systems and introducing the technology that will make the most impact on operations such as:
- Application modernization to update existing legacy systems
- Robotic process automation (RPA) for automating repetitive tasks and processes
- Machine learning to gain actionable insights and predictions from data
3. Making customer experience a priority
Customer experience has always been important for organizations to be successful, but CIOs can also think strategically about transforming how organizations deliver customer experience. Improving customer experience involves collecting data, analyzing the data for insights, and using those insights to create personalized and enhanced customer experiences.
Today’s customers expect experiences that are fast, personalized, and available around the clock. A powerful customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce or Oracle is essential for organizations to optimize the customer experience. A CRM centralizes data for a 360-degree view of a customer, including their preferences, purchasing history, and interactions with the organization. Having this information is vital for organizations to create seamless experiences for each and every customer.
The CIO’s digital transformation journey
CIOs have helped organizations accelerate the adoption of digital solutions in response to the pandemic. Now CIOs are taking a strategic and vital role in driving digital transformation. With their leadership, organizations can become more productive and innovative, as well as provide the seamless experiences in demand by customers.
If your organization is finding digital transformation a challenge, working with a technology consulting partner like Speridian can put you on the right path. Speridian is a global business and technology solutions provider with a proven record of solving business challenges with our unique, industry-based consultative approach.
