AVIO Consulting

The Role of IT in Digital Transformation

Oct 26, 2017 | Uncategorized

Prophet recently released Altimeter’s report on their current-year research into the state of digital transformation. The 2017 State of Digital Transformation Report aggregates data taken from the survey responses of 528 digital transformation leaders and strategists. It reveals some interesting patterns, a few of which we found noteworthy.

IT and CIO/CTO Increasingly Responsible For Digital Transformation

While recent years have seen CMOs most often in charge of digital transformation initiatives (which the authors attribute to the focus on customer experience), this year’s responses indicated that CIOs and CTOs were emerging as executives most likely to lead transformation initiatives.

Correspondingly, IT departments edged out marketing departments as the department most frequently reported as leading a company’s digital transformation efforts.

The authors connect this trend to a couple of observations.

1. All Companies are becoming technology companies

The centrality of technology investment and deployment to digital transformation, as well as disruptive technologies on the horizon like AI, machine learning, and IoT, make IT departments the most natural choice for leading transformation initiatives.

2. Cross-functional groups have proven the most effective in managing digital transformation

Successful digital transformation is enterprise-wide, and CIOs/CTOs most often manage enterprise-wide technology initiatives.

Company Culture Among The Top Barriers To Change

This comes as no surprise. Culture is deeply ingrained. It’s natural that changing it would be one of the biggest challenges of any digital transformation journey. While it’s often taken as a given that digital business transformation begins with people, companies appear to be struggling with making that start effectively.

Empowered Customers Drive Initiatives; Investments In Understanding Them Lag

While “evolving customer behaviors and preferences” was the most frequently reported driver of companies’ digital transformation efforts, fewer than half of those same companies included among their digital transformation initiatives research into digital touch points and the customer journey.

AVIO Consulting: Elevate your business by evolving your IT.

Companies are looking to their IT departments for digital transformation leadership. We equip you to deliver.

Smart, Far-sighted Solutions

An elite team of highly trained experts, we design, build, and deploy modern API-based enterprise solutions that help you clear your immediate hurdle while rendering you more agile, more efficient, and more fit for the Darwinian struggle afoot in the digital landscape.

DevOps Mentorship

Technology in and of itself is not transformative. Digital business transformation is first and foremost a business transformation. And culture change is key to that transformation. According to the authors,

“Company cultures continue as a top impediment to change; affecting support of digital transformation initiatives on all fronts…Without an empowered culture focused on agility and growth, digital transformation and innovation are greatly hampered.”

DevOps is both a philosophy and a way of working. It aims to increase productivity, foster collaboration, and encourage innovation. Two of its core values are culture and sharing.

AVIO equips you to you lead the culture change by mentoring you throughout your project and beyond in the DevOps methodologies and Agile Software Development practices we employ to deliver your solution.