Job offers referring to the function of CIO (Chief Information Officer) are full of formulas such as “driving business transformation” or “promoting innovation”. But, especially in the current economic climate, it is closer to the truth to say that the CIO is in fact the guardian of the company's IT budget.
From delayed SAP migrations to organizations following their own technology paths, its mission is becoming less and less about driving business transformation and innovation. Responsibility has not changed, but the power to make a difference is diminishing.
This reduction in the power of the CIO must therefore be filled by technology to be disruptive and move the lines. We'll tell you more in this article.
A matter of time and money?
A company with comfortable financial resources and good visibility could obviously devote itself to a strategy of digital transformation adequate for optimize its processes. But in fact, the CIO's main responsibility is to manage priorities.
We often see that the actual actions in a given year often fall short of the objectives set, because reality prevails and the projects become more complicated and take longer than expected.
Even though the general perception is that The IOC has a well-filled order book, the reality is different. The budget, tools, and staff allocated to it are only enough to execute a small portion of the transformation. This situation is a problem, but it is also an opportunity to be seized...
Seizing the rest of the opportunity
Today, most of the problem (and the opportunity) of the gray portion of the order book above is simply obscured. The organization provides foolproof computer systems for the most important processes and generic tools, such as Microsoft Excel, SharePoint, email, etc. so she can solve the rest. Our technology partner UiPath has also been very successful in working with companies to bring them much greater operational agility thanks to the platform UiPath Business Automation Platform. But in most businesses, the CIO is much less involved in the automation program than it should be.
Cost center vs profit center
We can think of the order book in two distinct parts. The part that will be done is a cost center. We know what needs to be done and how we are going to do it. We know the technologies and the costs involved, and this is where the vast majority of the obvious benefits are, and where the vast majority of our efforts will be spent.
The rest are things we don't have the time or the money to do. Instead of ignoring it, why not set up a system to manage projects in such a way that they are self-financing? In other words, like a profit center. When we talk about the transformational impact of automation, that's what we mean. In most businesses, the scope of the automation program is rather ad hoc, because the business does not have the same visibility of the problem as the CIO.
So, is there a way to bring a bit of rigor, discipline and from the CIO's point of view without losing the agility and responsiveness of an automation program driven by the company?
It is highly possible! For now, everything starts with the CIO taking over the entire order book for the company's digital transformation. Not just the part we know we can finish today.
About StoryShaper:
StoryShaper is an innovative start-up that supports its customers in defining their digital strategy and the development of automation solutions tailor-made.
Sources: StoryShaper, UiPath
