Nonetheless, the sport is much from up for CIOs. Whereas line-of-business staff would possibly consider they’ll spot discrete digital options to their organizational challenges, CIOs have expertise integrating methods and providers. Efficient digital transformation requires a detailed relationship between CIOs and their line-of-business colleagues.
“Digital transformation is all about outcomes,” mentioned Nick Woods, CIO at MAG, a UK airport group that owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands Airports. “It comes again to the partnerships and allegiances you are forming,” he instructed ZDNET. “As a CIO, you possibly can’t achieve success by yourself. The enterprise nonetheless must personal its outcomes.”
With corporations now trying to get extra from current digital transformation tasks, even better focus will probably be positioned on the tech management capabilities of CIOs, which implies constructing even stronger bonds with the chief government and the remainder of the C-suite.
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Vogel instructed ZDNET that Gartner’s 2024 CIO Agenda highlights how CIOs ought to base their partnership with CXOs on a franchise mannequin, the place they co-lead, co-deliver, and co-govern digital supply. Gartner experiences that 63% of digital initiatives meet or exceed final result targets when CIOs arrange franchise fashions. Nonetheless, Vogel mentioned solely 12% of CIOs at the moment use a franchise mannequin the place they create digital options with the enterprise.
The excellent news is CIOs who assist their enterprise colleagues reap the advantages of digitalization will probably be valued. Helen Fleming, government director of search and specialisms at recruiter Harvey Nash, instructed ZDNET that CIOs who get the best method might find yourself rising to the highest of the enterprise and fulfilling different senior roles within the group, reminiscent of COO and even CEO. “CIOs are diversifying or progressing into the COO function,” she mentioned.
Fleming pointed to the instance of Nash Squared, the place CEO Bev White started her CIO profession at one group and progressed to COO and MD roles. White then took CEO positions at different corporations. For many CIOs, this cautious development is the possible path to the highest in an age of digital transformation.