A recent report from Accenture has found that innovative IT leaders are leaving their more conservative counterparts behind by investing in transformative technologies such as cloud computing, analytics, social media, mobility and security. These technologies then help to create more agile businesses that are better equipped to analyse and understand requests from customers, pass them on to the right person at the right time, and deliver new products and services that meet or anticipate their customers’ needs.
The “High Performers in IT: Defined by Digital” report argues that because high performers have been early adopters of digital technology, they have a significant head-start and are already reaping the benefits compared to those who are just beginning to implement their digital strategies.
The research shows that 69% of high performers are committed to mobile transactions as part of their customer service, compared to 42% of other CIOs. This is significant because mobile transactions allow customers to do things like place orders, book travel, and even transfer cash between bank accounts while they are on the go. And nearly one-third of customer interactions for high performers are already self-service, with seamless interfaces across mobile, social media and web channels.
The report also found that top performers are learning to master a hybrid IT environment. They have adopted a “cloud first” mentality, with one-third of IT leaders replacing their legacy architecture with private and public cloud components – eight times more than their counterparts in other organisations. Meanwhile, one in six manage a fully virtualised, dynamically provisioned hybrid infrastructure, creating an agile platform that promotes the sharing and exchange of data and ideas seamlessly across multiple business units. Forty per cent of high performers have seen a measurable improvement in IT agility as a result of cloud technology, compared to just nine per cent of the others.
However, all this aggregated data, cloud technology, mobile connectivity and seamless, across-the-board customer interaction also bring security concerns, says the report. It found that this is one area where many organisations are struggling to keep pace, and there is a general acknowledgement that endpoint security is not sufficient to deal with the constantly evolving threats. Active defence strategies are needed that attempt to stay ahead of attackers, and three-quarters of IT leaders have made it a priority to lower their risk profile and upgrade their best practices more rapidly during the year ahead.
It is interesting to note, said the report, that high performing CIOs have generally been in position for longer than their peers. This may reflect the fact that these CIOs have built strong foundations for their digital businesses that directly result in revenue growth, and they have the metrics to prove it. This gap will likely continue to widen, and as digital tools evolve, customer service improves and revenues increase, forward-looking CIOs who understand how IT can help drive the business will watch as their competitors recede even further in the rear-view mirror.
A video about the report is available here:
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