Does your company have a digital boss? What we mean by that is, do you have a leader on board who can easily leverage new technology advancements in order to grow your business? This “luxury” is no longer an option in today’s business climate. In fact. Raconteur says that “data is the new oil.” They both generate substantial wealth and power global economies, but one crucial way in which they differ is their longevity. Oil is a finite fossil fuel, meaning it will come to an end at some point. Data, by contrast, is infinite. CEOs must invest in digital transformation in order to stay relevant.
Just take this example: 40 zettabytes of new information will be created within the next couple of years, translating to four million years of HD video. So, then, it’s a no-brainer that CEOs must invest significantly in digital transformation. Indeed, it’s a strategic imperative for any business that wants to surge ahead rather than just limp along. Digital resources are taking on a new importance, making them serious contenders as asset classes that are well worth the investment. The big challenge, then, is to blend the old’s strengths with the new’s opportunities, requiring tech-savvy CIOs to dive into and own the data themselves to interpret, analyze and align.
A Climate of Exponential Digital Growth
Think the Industrial Revolution was a frenzied pace of advancements and breakthroughs? Well, it was — then. But it pales in comparison to the exponential pace of digital transformation now. The next decade alone will bring furious growth into many sectors, from 3D printing and neuroscience to digital telepresence and cryptocurrency, points out New Scientist. Therefore, it’s not really a choice to embrace technology enablement; rather, it’s mission-critical to every company’s survival. CIOs and CEOs don’t necessarily have to be tech experts themselves; however, they must clearly appreciate how technological advancements will redefine their business models, operational processes and customer experience engagement, says the CIO.
How Industries are Evolving
From retail and banking to media and healthcare, new technologies are injecting themselves into all sectors—in many cases, pushing out traditional companies through the leveraging of digital advancements. There is no more room for ignorance. Just look at the Blockbusters and Borders of the world, which failed to migrate into new territory as smoothly as icons like Netflix, Amazon, Google, Airbnb, and Zappos.
So, what are these relatively new entrants into traditional industries doing right? They have been able to build market share fast by:
- Offering more enjoyable customer experiences, backed by engagement models supported by evolving technologies
- Delivering service at a much lower cost
- Instituting return policies that take everything back, no questions asked
- Offering superior products or services as compared to traditional players
- Providing stellar ROI for shareholders and investors
Social media…data analytics…the internet of things, and gamification: large companies and how they approach data, security, and new business models can no longer ignore the technology spurring on these areas. The truth is that companies don’t fail because they don’t want to advance right alongside technology. They fail because they don’t understand the technology. Surveys have shown that boards believe technology is imperative to the survival of a business. Yet, a deficiency of properly skilled executives at the CEO level was seriously lacking in leveraging technology advancements for business growth.
In fact, surveys, such as the Watermark Board Diversity Survey 2015, revealed that while almost 55 percent of board-level executives had accounting and legal backgrounds, just three percent had technology experience.
Moving Forward
As such, executives at the board level should be seeking growth by embracing technology advancements by:
- Improving their understanding of disruptive technology trends
- Boosting board and senior executive-level awareness
- Taking on an agile approach to technology-enabled innovation
- Emphasizing technology-enabled business growth and transformation as a top corporate initiative
- Getting more aggressive when it comes to risk-taking
- Appointing the CIO or other technology leader as a member of the senior executive team
- Leading through example in the adoption of new innovations
Agility and fast action is one of the cornerstones of success. Many people assume the magic comes from the data itself; however, many companies fall victim to “analysis paralysis,” where they are aware of the technology but get stuck in a loop of analyzing the data. As a result, they become stagnant — the death knell of a company that has missed the bus on enterprise agility. Striking quickly is the key to digital transformation, and it is something that CEOs must invest in.
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