I’ve been in the technology business for 30+ years, working in engineering, sales and marketing. Over the years, I’ve seen massive growth in the use of enterprise technology from the back office all the way to watching COVID accelerate the transition to a hybrid workforce.
Technology is a critical resource in today’s enterprise. But the sheer number of different technologies businesses rely on today – such as 1000’s of applications, cloud and networking infrastructure, 10,000+ endpoints, and mobile phones – has overwhelmed the CIO’s ability to manage these vital resources efficiently and securely throughout their usefulness to the organization.
Take the routine process of offboarding a terminated employee as an example. This process can involve terminating in Workday, removing access to Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and other applications, returning a laptop, monitor and any company provided point of sale devices, and deactivating a corporate mobile account. A typical organization manages this process through siloed tools and manual intervention, which can be very time consuming and inefficient while also leaving opportunity for human error.
Considering this complexity, how does the modern CIO and broader IT organization efficiently manage, control, and optimize technology spend while enabling the business to continue delivering exceptional experiences that are dependent on this technology?
There are other examples in the market that might provide some guidance. For instance, ERP and CRM applications evolved to automate key business processes such as purchase-to-pay and order-to-cash. Then CIOs managed the implementation of these applications, so the business would operate with higher quality and lower costs for the CRO and CFO
I think it’s time the CIO has her own application, something I’m calling Enterprise technology management
In fact, I’m writing a book on the subject, currently titled: What is the Future of the CIO? And I am inviting CIOs to be interviewed to have their insights shared.
If interested in participating, I invite you to please connect with me on Linkedin.
You can also register to get a free copy of the ebook once it publishes.