Much is changing in the workplace these days. Many employees are working remote, there is a bigger gig economy, our workspaces and jobsites look different than years past, and technology is now playing a greater role than ever before. At the same time, the IT (information technology) department is undergoing a dramatic shift—one that has been years in the making.
CIO (chief information officer), CDO (chief data officer), CTO (chief technology officer), CAO (chief analytics officer): the tech group is a regular alphabet soup of acronyms these days but understanding how roles are going to evolve and shift will be key to setting a company up for success in the years ahead.
To add a bit more confusion to the fire, we are seeing the rise of both the chief digital officer and the chief data officer—two different roles for some organizations. Chief data officers oversee the data in their organizations while the chief digital officer draws the value from the data and changes business processes.
Here is one prediction. Gartner says by 2023, 50% of chief digital officers in organizations without a chief data officer should become the de facto CDO to succeed. The 2021 Gartner Board of Directors survey found that 69% of boards of directors have accelerated their digital business initiatives in response to COVID-19 disruption and are moving faster now than before the pandemic began.
What’s more, 78% of respondents said that analytics will emerge as the top game-changing technology from the COVID-19 crisis. Not only has demand in data and analytics increased since the COVID-19 crisis but the urgency to drive digital transformation has also changed.
Data is the new oil. It is a cliché, over-used phrase these days, but it is true. According to Forrester Analytics’ Business Technographics data, in early 2020, 85% of organizations prioritized improving their use of data insights in business decision making. While some priorities have changed since the pandemic, Forrester’s COVID-19 updates reveal that the emphasis on data insights has not diminished: 86% say improving use is either a moderate priority or it’s critical or high.
How are you shaping your tech department to tap into information in new and innovative ways? As Peggy Smedley always says, it is people, process, and technology. Let’s take a closer look at how we are shaping tech roles.
Original Article: https://constructech.com/whats-next-for-digital-leaders/
