Most chief information officers (CIO) agree that technology is the nervous system that connects all of the different departments in an enterprise. However, were it possible, many would gladly rip and replace large portions of the tech stack.
This is according to a report from Lenovo, based on a survey of more than 500 CIOs, which states that most find the role has evolved and expanded significantly in recent years. The upshot is that CIOs are playing a larger role in their organization's fortunes.
This rising reliance on the CIO stems from the growing importance of technology, a component that needs to constantly evolve in order to keep the business afloat.
Room for improvement
Most CIOs believe their current tech stack has “much room” for improvement and, given the chance, 57% would replace at least half of their current stack.
The majority are now using more Device-as-a-Service offerings than they did a couple of years ago, and almost all (92%) would consider adding additional “aaS” offerings in the coming months.
Should businesses stop investing in digital transformation initiatives, the report found, it would take only a few weeks to feel the negative impact, most CIOs agree.
Technology vendors, which are “so effectively integrated that it increases their overall productivity,” are able to solve a myriad of problems for CIOs, including increasing their organizational agility (60%) and providing security of their company’s systems and operations (52%), simplifying the configuration, deployment and maintenance of technology (50%), and optimizing costs (43%).
In the months and years ahead, CIOs will find data privacy, cybersecurity and ransomware, and the management of a fragmented IT vendor ecosystem the biggest challenges, Lenovo concluded.
“Modern CIOs are the ‘mission control’ for their organizations, their role has transformed drastically in just the span of the past 24 months,” said Ken Wong, President, Lenovo Solutions and Services Group.
“From navigating complex tech ecosystems to keep up with the speed of digital transformation, to upskilling employees and managing a global shortage of IT talent, today’s CIO is responsible for the entire technology value chain and beyond. Lenovo’s research demonstrates CIOs are up for the challenge. And they are looking to partner with their vendors to bring their organizations along and succeed.”
