Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 34 | Page 47

A CIO WITH BUSINESS ACUMEN CAN EXECUTE ON A DIGITAL LEADERSHIP STRATEGY THAT WILL MAKE THE BUSINESS MORE EFFICIENT AND CREATE NEW AND PROFITABLE DIGITAL CHANNELS . function and advising employees and company stakeholders on what technology will make them more productive .
is essential for all roles , for a CIO in particular , it is especially important in order to help generate business value from key digital initiatives . By partnering and collaborating with C-level executives , CIOs will be able to gain visibility into different departments across the business and in turn , get the buyin needed to digitise business efforts .
CIOs should then map their digital strategy based on what these leaders are aiming to achieve and take a collaborative approach to adapting and improving the strategy to continuously meet the business ’ requirements .
The result should be showing how technology can improve these leaders ’ efforts in a way that will provide demonstrable benefits – from major savings and competitive advantages to new revenue opportunities .
Achieve a business and technical mindset
For many CIOs , their view has been internally focused – operating more as a support

A CIO WITH BUSINESS ACUMEN CAN EXECUTE ON A DIGITAL LEADERSHIP STRATEGY THAT WILL MAKE THE BUSINESS MORE EFFICIENT AND CREATE NEW AND PROFITABLE DIGITAL CHANNELS . function and advising employees and company stakeholders on what technology will make them more productive .

But as technology continues to play a more vital role in the success of the business , CIOs need to shift from this advisory role when it comes to just infrastructure and tools – guiding Digital Transformation of the entire business .
Although it seems obvious that this increased focus on digitisation sits within the CIO ’ s domain , many decisions about digital innovation are made outside of the IT department .
In fact , according to Altimeter , 34 % of CMOs are leading the Digital Transformation , compared to just 19 % of CIOs .
But CIOs cannot afford to take a backseat and be idle participants , especially with technology transforming almost every industry – from automotive , hospitality , healthcare and financial services .
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