Business Technology Roundtable

Forward-thinking CEOs ensure that their organization has access to the latest digital business technologies. But in today’s global networked economy, that’s not enough. If you believe that digital transformation knowledge is power, then fully mastering the ability to apply your IT capabilities into actionable wisdom is infinitely more potent. The Harvard Business Review ( HBR ) market research team recently completed a global study of the path that several organizations have taken to develop and deliver the digital learning support resources that their key internal stakeholders both need and want. In a prior editorial , I described how Digital Leaders are better prepared to cross the skills chasm. In this follow-on editorial, I’ll share the typical roadblocks on the path to digital transformation progress. Plus, I’ll also share some useful recommendations. Enabling Ongoing Digital Knowledge Transfer According to the HBR study findings, the biggest barrier to learning about new ...

Most informed CEOs seem to know intuitively that the most qualified person to lead their forward-looking business technology advancement isn’t likely to have the profile of a typical legacy CIO. In contrast, the role of a Digital Business Transformation innovator has very different requirements to the traditional IT utility infrastructure custodian of the past. That said, some progressive CIOs are already making the transition to lead the digital competitiveness quest, and others will surely follow. Moreover, a few multinational companies currently have a CIO in a highly strategic, visible and collaborative position within the company. Their challenge is to guide the rest of the organization’s leadership to attain the required skills that will enable them to actively participate in the planning and execution of a new strategy – empowered by digital technologies. The Harvard Business Review (HBR) market research team recently completed a global study of the path that several organi...

Senior executives at large multinational enterprises are already demanding that their CIO has a plan in place to ensure that they can effectively procure public and private cloud services for their organization. In smaller companies, some IT managers are now expected to acquire the knowledge and skills to perform a similar role. Are they prepared? To find out, let's review a current IT resource assessment. According to the findings from a recent market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), European IT departments still need to make significant improvements before they have fully embraced cloud architectures and transformed themselves into hybrid cloud service providers. When asked to evaluate their current readiness to execute on their cloud service brokering strategy -- where they become trusted internal advisers to their Line of Business leaders -- European respondents admitted to unexpectedly low levels of confidence that they're ready. As an example, 56 pe...