CIOs are in a unique spot in any organization’s digital transformation (DX) journey.
With one foot on the business side and the other firmly planted as a technical leader, CIOs are a vital piece of the puzzle, especially with the many challenges and constant management required on the road to digital.
As Gustavo Gomez, founder and CEO of intelligent process automation software provider Bizagi, explained in The Enterprisers Project, “Only CIOs have the broad perspective to ensure that transformation deployments can reach both deeply into organizational silos and broadly across lines of business.”
How can CIOs put their organizations onto a digital transformation path that’ll lead to a better likelihood of success? Gomez outlines four essential steps:
1.) Embrace different perspectives
CIOs aren’t always the catalyst for digital transformation. Frequently, leadership from many parts of the organization will “have a “wouldn’t it be great if we could…” epiphany,” as Gomez explains.
“As the bridge between technical implementation and business objectives, the CIO needs to recognize and address this divergence before it undercuts the actual transformation,” he says.
How? Clear and steady communication between the transformation teams and stakeholders, with a goal of understanding what transformation will accomplish.
2.) Focus on incremental wins
According to Gomez, organizations will encounter two competing narratives: “Start immediately on disparate pilot programs (risking control and scalability) or meticulously craft the perfect comprehensive transformation (risking months or years of delay with limited return).”
A clear, goals-driven strategy is key, but feasible milestones that are regularly achieved can go a long way in showing steady results to stakeholders or the board.
3.) Win hearts and minds
Organizational change of any kind is often met with resistance, and it’s no different when it comes to digital transformation. But given that DX is a key part of ensuring long-term success, Gomez explains, employee participation is “a matter of survival.”
The trick to getting everyone on board? Departmental management. By on-board these leaders to the larger vision, their role within it, and bigger-picture business objectives, “CIOs can help evangelize the change, ensuring it trickles down to all levels of the organization.”
4.) Identify a scalable solution
As Gomez explains, it’s one thing to complete a successful trial transformation in a small team, and another to turn around and roll that change out across an entire organization.
He identifies two considerations: First, it’s possible to achieve micro-scale DX wins that end up siloed in a single part of the organization. Two, transformations that work in controlled, smaller settings but fail when scaled up for broad release.
“A key indicator can be a heavy reliance on IT involvement in modifications,” says Gomez. “Digital transformation must evolve to meet changing business realities, and anything that leans too heavily on IT for those adjustments will quickly stall.”
All digital transformation journeys have hurdles, but through the unique position of CIOs as both business and technology leaders, success is more likely when they actively work to effectively hear from all sides, embrace smaller-yet-frequent milestones, win over stakeholders, and ensure that the DX journey goes where it’s needed.