CIOs are seizing the moment Says Canadian CIO Census | News Canada

CIOs are seizing the moment Says Canadian CIO Census | News Canada

Less than a year ago, global epidemics existed only in science fiction. When the art of life was simulated in March 2020, CIOs in Canada were put to the test, developing concrete plans for business continuity and resources to support the transition to work-from-home (WFH) Quickly pivot to. 

After a kind of conflict that they could not imagine, these IT leaders may spread well into the future, but in this case again the truth is more stranger than imagined. ITWC CIO Jim Love said, "We have seized the opportunity from the crisis and we are proving to be very resilient." 

"Most Canadian organizations made a quick change at WFH and are now strategically and tactically looking at where they are going." Love Luis Giraldo, OutSystems RVP, joined Value Consulting America, in an October webinar focusing on the recently released census urging the views of 165 senior tech leaders. 

And the mood of those leaders? Perhaps, surprisingly, was optimistic. According to the Canadian CIO census, more than 60 percent of CIO polling are somewhat or very optimistic about how their organizations will fare over the next 12 months. Adding legitimacy to that number is the fact that 98 percent of the participants described themselves as having influence on technology-related decisions and about half were in their roles from between five and 25 years.

A New Seat at the Table for IT

Both Love and Giraldo attribute this optimism to the uplifting profile of the CIO. "I saw in direct dialogue with leaders in all fields that this is a push to collaborate with IT," Giraldo said. "IT is no longer seen as a cost cutter, but as a business partner." 

For his part, Love is seen with this new appreciation for IT as well as an emerging business focus on employee welfare. "It's polite," he said, to see such concern for people. 

"Giraldo has seen a similar theme in workplace change as businesses look at technology to enable a more streamlined approach to the employee." If you don't have employee engagement, and you optimize the workplace from the perspective of workplace management If not, then your customer experience will suffer as a result, ”he said.

A New Focus on Work

As the discussion goes on how businesses have adjusted to the new normal, Love census results show that 85 percent of participants improve remote work capabilities and 71 percent of their on-site workplaces to ensure safety. 

Are restructuring. Other top-rated adjustments were re-prioritizing projects and supporting new customer interactions. 

Priorities to support remote work over the next 12 months were also captured in the Canada Census Census, which reformed remote work policies as a top priority, followed by tighter security controls. Gaps in remote work technology and adoption of new processes for agile work were also common concerns.

The Genie is Out of the Bottle

In one of three surveys of the webinar, participants were asked how many people they expected to work from home in a year from now. 

More than half thought the number would be over 50 percent, echoing the CIO census, where about 50 percent of the workforce is expected to be over 50 percent who will have to work from home in a year. In a second survey, participants were asked what techniques they use or use to manage remote teams. The top scoring answer was applying agile techniques to define clear, measurable results. 

"The genie is out of the bottle," Love commented. “In the end, we have to be nimble. This is no longer an option. "Giraldo agreed, noting that agile is pushing for a true partnership between IT and business. "The crisis has exposed what we need to do from a change point of view," he said. "Those who do this will not only come out of this epidemic, but they will come out of it even stronger."