How can the CIO achieve their innovation potential and stay one step ahead of the competition?

CEOs today want more from their IT teams and are excited about the possibilities technology can offer to the organisation. These CEOs are looking to the CIOs to deliver internally and externally focussed innovation to help their organisations remain competitive. Indeed, 74% of CIOs believe that technological innovation is a requirement and if they do not innovate and embrace new technology, their companies will lose market share. However, only one-third of global CIOs believe they have achieved their innovation potential.

The evolving strategic role of the CIO and the opportunity to adopt disruptive technologies presents many opportunities for CIOs to drive competitive advantage through innovation.

What are the new technologies?

There are some clear forerunning technologies that CIOs are beginning to employ, which are driving innovation helping gain the competitive edge. More than 50% of CIOs are already using social networking technology to innovate and about 51% are currently testing or using mobile technology to drive innovation. In fact more than 22% of the organisations have implemented mobile technologies over two years ago and 40% have implemented in the last 2 years and 23% are intending to do so soon. This shows how a technology that has been employed to open up new routes to market and drive efficiency has the unforeseen benefit of driving innovation. This is also being seen in private and public cloud services - private cloud services are being experimented with by 27% of U.S. CIOs while 14% are currently using public cloud services to drive innovation and competitive advantage. 

What are the skillsets that CIOs are looking for?

The use of these new technologies and the increasingly complex business environment means that 20% of CIOs are looking for new skillsets in their teams. This trend is only set to increase leading to heightened demand for a restricted supply of skills. Adding to this pressure, no single technology skill will be instrumental in ensuring the innovation the company requires. In addition to traditional skills such as enterprise architecture and business intelligence, social media and mobile solutions will be increasingly in demand.

How are the current technologies driving outsourcing changes?

New technologies in mobile commerce and social networking are driving many CIOs towards smaller, niche experts who can support this innovation. For example through application development. It is this level of specific, granular knowledge that CIO’s will be demanding from their outsourcing partners as these technologies become more prevalent. This will be reflected in contractual arrangements that will be less focused on price and will concentrate on differentiation and innovation.

To learn more about PA Consulting Group's approach to smart strategy and how we can help your organisation tap into the potential of smart, please contact us now.