10 calls to the Chief information officer of new generation

Top level factors such as long crisis, total cost reduction and removal of IT on the level of the key instrument of competitive struggle are in turn decomposed on a number of more specific trends. And if in zero years of the 20th century the corporate technology landscape was defined by a question – "how many we will spend for IT", then now regardless of the industry and specifics owners want to know "how many we will earn from IT".

1. Orientation to business needs

Immersion in business challenges is, according to all experts, the main thing that will be required from any top manager. Heads of new generation underlie the principle of "usefulness" in bases of the activity at once.

During creation of IT products I always consider requirements and requirements of DOC+ where we go and what result we want to achieve. I can influence processes, prioritize tasks, select resources for what I consider important at the moment. It is possible to tell that in this plan at us democracy and freedom, - shares with TAdviser Igor Kotlyar, CTO of mobile clinic DOC+

2. Focus on economic feasibility

For more fixed analysis of economic feasibility of IT costs it was headed after crisis of 2008. At that moment business froze a set of large-scale projects, a part from which was not implemented even after stabilization of a situation. Chief information officers did not manage to defend all expenses, whose potential return, got "under a knife". Owners do not give the chance "play" new products just for the sake of interest or test on any more "perhaps will pay off".

From language of implementation of technological solutions it is necessary to pass to clear language of business. Not from the "What to Explain, All the Same Will Not Understand" series namely to explain and most to understand business, this most important what most of Chief information officers do not understand now. Those who will understand how their solutions improve business will succeed in 5 years (will turn from the function "invest in me so much money" into function "how many money I will give if you invest in me"), - Alyona Vladimirskaya, Hunter and the founder of Antirabstvo service says

3. Problem definition on advancing

Any IT project should be planned so that to provide economic return throughout a long amount of time. In practice we often observe situations when the implementation lasting year for launch already lost the relevance and does not bring anything except additional costs. Other option – to project closure business processes change and a system requires completion or reconfiguration.

Value should be created after already directly implementation. If there is no it, then it turns out that you were late with implementation of this system, and again everything should be remade. And it means that at the first stage of planning you incorrectly set the object, incorrectly saw what should be executed. The IT director-visionary at a planning stage correctly sets the purposes, - Evgeny Pochkayev, the vice president for IT and operational development of Biocad says

4. Growth of level of technology literacy

The overall level of technology literacy promptly grows in the aspiration to win competitive war at digital instruments. Earlier the Chief information officer bore "light and knowledge", now owners of business not bad understand digital instruments and become useful to them only that specialist who moves not to the touch, and with the accurate argumentation can. The business customers interested in profit increase ceased to trust "IT specialists" blindly too.

Sergey Lobov, the CEO of Pegasystems in Russia shares observations:

The Chief information officer has tasks for rather small budget to provide all wishes on development and maintenance of IT business needs, and on the other hand, business too very not bad began to understand IT and, seeing slowness of colleagues, aims to create the pass IT departments which not because of a fashion and need of loud slogans, and from real requirements try to adapt agile-approach and do projects quickly

5. Industry "enslaving"

One more modern trend influencing the Chief information officer – relevance of cross-industry knowledge. The high level of technology competences is not sufficient any more, applied skills in specific segments and understanding of narrow industry processes are required.

The chief information officer should understand very well business of the company in which works. For example, transition from the financial industry to the industry can become a failure step. The chief information officer should understand well specifics of business as business processes work at the expense of what they can be optimized and improved at the expense of what it is possible to increase employee performance, etc. It is a big pool of business tasks without which understanding the successful Chief information officer it is impossible to become today, - Olga Rubtsova, the deputy CEO claims Technoserv Consulting

6. High speed of changes

Speed of change of an information field around technologies even advances development of technologies. And it in turn too continuously accrues. Loss of relevance - process prompt, the Chief information officer need to monitor all this and his command, remaining on an edge.

Young Itshnik is in promptly changing environment now. For example, versions of Windows or Office did not change so often in the 90th years as it occurs now. New versions of software, new frameworks, platforms, solutions appear now much more often. It demands from modern people of much faster adaptation to these changes. And the speed of these changes will increase. Therefore if you want to be a leader, you should change several times quicker, - Evgeny Pochkayev the vice president for IT and operational development of Biocad says

7. Development of the managed services

Also narrowing of operational functionality due to development of the managed services threatens the Chief information officer. Not to lose the scale of division and level of influence on processes, it is necessary to reach managements strategic level.

Ilya Omekhin, the Chief information officer of CROC company, claims:

Decrease in classical load of the Chief information officer is influenced also by a market tendency to providing the managed services. The provider undertakes the solution of increasing number of technology tasks, becomes uniform point of entry: from implementation before maintenance 24/7, exempting the customer from a routine headache

8. Total didzhitalization

If 10 years ago the Chief information officer most often had a supporting function (internal CRM, a task managers and other), then now with significant increase in a didzhitalization in many companies they actually began to perform the basic selling function: billings, the websites, various integration with clients, etc, - Alyona Vladimirskaya notes

Didzhitalization already took the market a telecom, financial services and retail, in line other segments. The trend will also not avoid the regional companies and will have an impact on digital instruments. Those who will register in IT strategy already today will win also timely measures are adequate.

9. Uberization and gamification

Technology equipment of profitable business cannot be below a certain level. Points on which there will pass the minimum digital level are already planned. A little later it will come also to government institutions, having demanded inclusion of heads of all levels.

It is very difficult to use possibilities of social networks, services which provide our daily life, but, having come to office, to face the antediluvian systems and interfaces. Business cannot wait, and the IT cannot find the reasons for delays and failures any more, - Sergey Lobov, the CEO of Pegasystems in Russia says

10. Selection of narrow specializations

On functionality of the Chief information officer surely there step new technology leaders. The director of digital transformation, by data, on mathematical modeling, the IT evangelist, the director of cybersecurity - all these functions on the run combined several years ago the Chief information officer. Today the volume of knowledge of the separate directions increased so that requires deep examination and complete immersion in a subject. Thus, some directions separate and grow in independent professions, a part of functions dies "as superfluous", but at the same time new tasks are as avalanche rolled.

The situation for CIO is complicated also by the fact that new IT leading in the companies appear: Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO), etc. And traditional positions of bosses are taken by specialists of new generation who well are guided in IT. Thus, in order that will bring value to business already insufficiently simply to be a cool IT specialist, something bigger will be required, - Ilya Omekhin, the Chief information officer of CROC company is sure

Forecasts

TAdviser asked experts to describe their vision of development of a profession of the Chief information officer for the next 5 years.

I think that the trend when Chief information officers become the most business people will proceed. Today most the companies motivate Chief information officers on successful accomplishment of long-term strategic objectives, and not just the solution of technology tasks. This tendency to proceed will also develop further Olga Rubtsova, deputy CEO Technoserv Consulting

Development of this position will strongly differ from the organization to the organization. By then, when in the companies there will be processes of digital transformation, Chief information officers should be rebuilt too and to again divide areas of responsibility with other heads of business Ilya Omekhin, Chief information officer of CROC company

I was lucky to work in the company which aims at becoming 'turquoise', implements a holacracy, is guided by self-organization. I see that within the next five years I will have no one conditional position within the company, and there will be ten narrow roles, generally advisory sense, and the majority of key decisions will be made on places without my participation - and it abruptly Danila Shtan, CTO bank for entrepreneurs the Point.

The chief information officer in the modern world should be somewhat the futurist, the predictor. It should have vision that will be demanded not only here and now, and in 5-10 years and later. What technologies will be demanded what problems business will need to solve, data which will be necessary for business after a while. So it should not try to catch up, and on the contrary, to move the company forward Evgeny Pochkayev, vice president for IT and operational development of Biocad

In DOC+ development will precisely bring me out of a comfort zone because I now, one may say, the startapersky Chief information officer. I have a lot of work, different and interesting, at the peak of technologies. But we strongly grow and from a small startup we turn into the serious company where other processes should be perfect. These processes will not work the same as at start therefore I will need to grow, study up and to change something Igor Kotlyar, CTO of mobile clinic DOC+

Remain at the peak of demand, leaving a comfort zone only incidentally, it is impossible. Digital transformation of Vsey Rusi already began. The heads wishing to sit out aside and incapable to head process on places, will consign to the past together with analog communication and printed media.

See Also

• Chief information officer (Chief Information Officer, CIO)
• Chief Data Officer (Chief Data Officer, CDO)
• Chief Digital Officer of Chief Digital Officer, CDO
• Chief information security officer (Chief information security officer, CISO)
• The chief financial officer (CFO - Chief Financial Officer)
• System administrator
• Data scientist (data scientist)