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To drive growth and efficiency, CIOs must embrace “business intimacy” As technology becomes increasingly significant, a company’s success and growth depend on whether the CIO can move to a strategic business leader.
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cross every industry, leaders have been asked to be more efficient and productive as we face unprecedented headwinds and economic uncertainty. For CIOs and IT leaders, identifying where technology can drive growth, increase efficiency, and create more business value will be incredibly important in helping their organisations navigate challenging times. When the stakes are high, CIOs and their teams must help the entire company do more with the tools and resources at their disposal. To be successful, CIOs must embrace “business intimacy” — focusing on ensuring direct alignment with colleagues across every line of business to truly understand their needs. CIOs can increase their relevance and ability to deliver business value by bringing a new set of skills and operating processes to the executive table during a radically different business environment.
support teams in driving down costs and boosting efficiency. According to Salesforce research, the vast majority (91%) of organizations have reported that demand for automation from business teams has increased over the last two years. By taking the time to better understand the strategic priorities of business partners across sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, HR, finance, and other teams, CIOs can benefit from a micro and macro understanding of business operations and technology.
Lean into operational excellence and profitability Maintaining a durable, resilient business that can drive success now is no small feat and is increasingly challenging. Gone are the times of “doing more with less.” The tried and tested methods that have got companies where they are today are not necessarily what will enable continued success in the future - especially in today’s turbulent climate. As businesses mature, companies must shift from a “high-growth at high-cost” startup mindset to one that is dedicated to operational excellence and profitability by doing “more with more.”
Champion “business intimacy” as a strategy Closely partnering with key business leaders can help CIOs prioritize amid budget constraints and deliver the technology they need to increase efficiency, improve results, and lower costs. But to do this, they first need to understand broader business needs — what are the priorities, the pain points, the processes, the investments and, most importantly, the technologies their colleagues are dealing with. Only once CIOs understand the full picture, can they effectively
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In today’s economic environment, the stakes could not be higher and CIOs will play a crucial role in ensuring success now.
