Why Some Business Execs Think IT Can Be Replaced
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Why Some Business Execs Think IT Can Be Replaced
Many business executives believe that IT is not excelling at innovation, and some have concluded that third-party vendors could do the tech department's job. -
Strategic Gap
80% of the tech and business executives surveyed said their company's business and tech departments should collaborate on a digital strategy, but only 55% said this is happening now. -
Stumbling Block
58% of IT executives said that "organizational context and culture" hold back CIOs from being responsible for various tech activities. -
Disposable Item
43% of business executives believe that IT is either significantly or fully replaceable by third-party services. -
Online Outage
Only 8% of the tech and business executives surveyed said IT is very effective at leading the design of e-commerce and online experiences. -
Missing Metrics
Just 10% said IT is very effective at developing analytics use cases. -
Uninspiring Outlook
Only 12% of the tech and business executives surveyed said IT is very effective at identifying cutting-edge or innovative technologies. -
Tricky Transition
Just 12% said IT is very effective at leading digital transformations across business, and 10% said the same about IT's ability to lead IT-wide transformations. -
Focus Shift, Part I
45% of the tech and business executives surveyed said IT creates the most value for their company via business-process enablement, but only 17% expect IT to create value by doing this five years from now. -
Focus Shift, Part II
39% said IT creates the most value for their company through operational stability and management, but just 7% anticipate that IT will create value by doing this five years from now. -
Critical Contributor
43% of those at companies in which CIOs are very involved with business strategies said their digital initiatives have a significant business impact, but only 23% of those at other businesses made this claim.
As company culture and existing "organizational context" (attributes in the environment that can influence performance) keep CIOs from being as effective as they could be, many business executives said that IT is either significantly or fully replaceable by third-party services, according to a recent survey from McKinsey and Company. The resulting article, "IT's Future Value Proposition," calls out a wide range of perceived IT shortcomings: The tech department doesn't collaborate with business about digital strategies as much as it should. It's not extremely effective at leading the design of e-commerce and online experiences, or developing analytics use cases. IT also struggles to identify cutting-edge or innovative technologies, according to the findings. To overcome this, CIOs and their teams must work more closely with top organizational leaders to more effectively ensure that their efforts contribute tangible business value. "CIOs will need to increase expectations for themselves and the IT function," according to the article. "They must also work hard to elevate their role within the organization, developing both their leadership and business muscles, while building a more direct reporting line to the CEO. To do so, they will need to write a more ambitious job description that reflects their organization's broader aspirations for growth and innovation. … CIOs will also need to focus on developing both the functional skills (such as digitization and delivery) and the leadership skills necessary to gain credibility as a true business partner, and they must ensure that the IT organizations they lead are meeting—or even surpassing—expectations."
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