Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 17 | Page 46

CIO opinion CIO OPINION “ IN MOST ORGANISATIONS, THERE REMAINS A HUGE GAP BETWEEN THE RHETORIC OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE REALITY OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE. ////////////////// Darren Fields, Vice President, UK & Ireland, Citrix The ‘CIO cycle’ is endangering Digital Transformation, says expert CIOs must adapt their approach to business operations in order to drive change within their organisation. Darren Fields, Vice President, UK & Ireland, Citrix, discusses a CIO’s responsibilities as Digital Transformation evolves, and offers his best practice advice as their role becomes increasingly critical. 46 INTELLIGENTCIO N ot so many years ago, IT’s role was primarily to supply IT infrastructure and enable efficiency through new systems. IT departments were often viewed as an unavoidable cost centre, quietly responding to the bidding of boardrooms and leadership teams to deliver better processes and improved margins. In 2019, technology is now understood as the great enabler of change, competitiveness, modernisation and better customer service. Now, every customer and employee expects a seamless digital experience where the technology just ‘works’ – and behind the scenes it is the responsibility of the CIO to deliver this. New technologies such as cloud and the IoT have evolved at a lightning pace, providing CIOs with the opportunity to bring value and enhanced productivity to their business – moving away from simply operating IT to orchestrating it. Yet in most organisations, there remains a huge gap between the rhetoric of Digital Transformation and the reality of what is possible. IT has always grappled with a tension that lies at the heart of deploying technology into organisations. How do you ensure an organisation is optimised and functioning from day-to-day, yet keep a watchful eye on the opportunities of emerging technologies – and then invest at the right moment, in just the right way, to maximise IT potential and to stay ahead of rivals? CIOs face innumerable conflicting and daunting challenges, needing to bring about transformation, innovation and www.intelligentcio.com