BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

The CIO In 2020 And Beyond

Forbes Technology Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Jody Shapiro

Getty

It’s all in a day’s work for the modern chief information officer (CIO). Historically, the CIO has been an enterprise’s most senior information technology executive, responsible for ensuring all tech-related systems and devices are operating efficiently and effectively. But then came the cloud, SaaS applications and an ever-changing technology landscape, and the role of the CIO has evolved as a result.

Once upon a time (or more specifically, a decade ago), the CIO was the person who ensured email, file servers, print and telephony systems stayed up and running. They were a “cost center” owner, and the person called at 2 a.m. if the network went down.

As we move into the 2020s, the CIO still makes executive decisions about IT equipment purchases and the creation of new IT systems (and still tends to IT staples like cybersecurity and business continuity), with the added roles of business strategist and partner to other executives in the C-suite.

The 2020 CIO: Technology Expert with Business Skills

As the technology landscape has shifted—from on-premise to cloud and from capex to opex—the CIO has taken on a broader, more strategic role that supports larger business objectives.

For example, they may explain how technology can streamline the supply chain or how a company can expedite its software development and deployment process—and how this will boost the business's bottom line by X dollars/percent.

In fact, according to an estimate from Gartner, "By 2020, 100% of IT roles will require an intermediate level of proficiency in business acumen.” In other words, CIOs must understand the business and be in almost constant communication with other C-level executives. They must have a business mindset powered by a technology core.

How can CIOs become more business-aware? The first step involves the enterprise’s communication strategy. Communication should be horizontal among different departments rather than top-down. Members of other business units should easily be able to share information on their projects, needs, current market trends and more. Customers or partners should also be able to share feedback, highlights and pain points.

This way, the CIO can link IT’s plan of action with the company’s business vision.

CIOs In The Age Of SaaS

The CIO of 2020 must recognize that every company is now a technology company—and SaaS is fueling the technology train.

Gartner projects the SaaS market will be worth more than $151 billion by 2022. The accelerated adoption of and near-standardization on SaaS applications has improved many rudimentary business processes, resulting in the decentralization of the application decision-making process. A decade ago, a CIO could tell you exactly how many applications their organization used and that they had a three-year deal with Microsoft. The CIO was the selector, purchaser, provisioner and manager of the company’s chosen applications.

When SaaS entered the picture, everyone in the organization became a buyer. SaaS vendors marketed straight to business units while employees purchased applications on their credit cards. Now, there are literally thousands of applications used in a company where there used to be tens.

This massive increase in the number of applications has left CIOs in the dark about which applications are being used within the organization (as well as how they are being used and by whom). How will they determine how to best manage application costs, usage and value?

The CIO of 2020 must get their arms around all of the SaaS apps in their organization, including application contracts, pricing and renewal timing; purchased and provisioned application licenses by feature tier; application login data; application spend data; and application user engagement data.

CIOs Must Rein In Companywide Application Sprawl

As CIOs struggle with application visibility, employees are grappling with application redundancy and application sprawl. In fact, a recent survey that we conducted at our company surfaced some compelling insights. Redundant applications are common in the enterprise, especially for functions such as messaging and productivity. Eighty-three percent of respondents claimed their companies had at least two redundant applications for these functions. Meanwhile, 57% reported at least three redundant applications. And people are using several applications simultaneously, as five or more applications are, on average, open all day, according to 36% of respondents.

One of the CIO’s first tasks for 2020 should be examining which employees are using which apps (and how) and changing software-related investments based on actual business need and value. Historically, this license- and usage-level information was gathered via manual audit and stored in spreadsheets. However, this static data quickly becomes obsolete. CIOs must automate and uplevel this process.

Application engagement analytics goes beyond SaaS management to provide meaningful insights about how employees are using applications after they log in—at the feature level and beyond. Does everyone need a premium Tableau license? How many redundancies can be eliminated? How can application-related investments be reprioritized?

If a CIO sees that 1,700 people use Microsoft Teams and 1,400 use Slack, but Slack engagement was nearly 10 times greater than in Microsoft Teams, they can make better decisions about purchases, renewals, provisioning and deprovisioning. This, in turn, can boost the bottom line when it comes to lower application costs and maximum productivity.

CIO: Proactive Business Partner

As the caretaker of information in an organization, the modern CIO should have a seat at the business table. They should have a clear understanding of the who/what/when/where/how of application usage; this, in turn, will help IT contribute to an organization’s broader business objectives. This will cement a true partnership between the CIO/IT and the overall business that will take shape in 2020 and continue for years to come.

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?