5 Questions Every CIO Should Ask Before A Digital Transformation.

When working with information technology, the chief information officer (CIO) is a key figure of the enterprise. CIOs are one of the leading roles in the companies because they have to take care of the management and the usability of information.

 

Lately, with the increase in the use of technology, CIOs gained a bigger importance. CIOs study how the different technologies improve the company’s business, and they are in charge of analysing their benefits.

 

As you can imagine, any type of digital transformation needs to obtain the CIO’s approval before passing through. The CIO will have to be completely sure if a change in the technology is worth its risks, because every change will always bring with itself a factor of unpredictability.

 

So, before approving any digital transformation, the CIO will have to ask some questions. We’re here to help with this, by providing what we think are five questions the CIO will want to keep in mind.

 

 

 

Is the Cloud a good business strategy?

 

Many companies nowadays decide to move their digital structure to the Cloud, because it presents a higher agility in business applications.

 

But before taking this decision, the CIO will have to ask what tangible benefits it will bring to the company. Is the company going for the Cloud business just because it looks better, or because it will actually represent an improvement in its business?

 

 

 

Cloud-Native or Mode 2 applications?

 

What a CIO will really have to ask here is something different. In which way are we considering this, did we take into consideration a greenfield standpoint? The type of shift that the CIO will want to guide is always organisational, in order to support the Cloud-Native technologies as well.

 

It’s true that every technology is relevant, but some are way more than others. The Cloud is a valid alternative, but even when the CIOs have made up their mind, there are still all these elements to consider.

 

 

 

Is the Cloud safe?

 

The fact that so many companies have taken the decision to move into the Cloud technology doesn’t necessarily mean that this type of decision doesn’t have any risk.

 

 

 

First of all, the Cloud will become the storage unit for many kinds of information, including relevant data. It’s the CIO’s job to make sure that these data are protected in the right way. Furthermore, it’s really important for the Cloud to present an option of recovery, in case of loss of important information. Having a good backup plan is always essential.

 

 

 

How will the Cloud change the company?

 

The job description has to change first, to reflect the new asset of the company, given this shift in its technology. Sysadmins, for example, will have to become Site Reliability Engineers (SRE) and Developers will have to turn into DevOps. Secondly, it’s important to re-train all of the employees in techniques that will revolve around the Cloud.

 

 

 

How will Cloud Technology change Vendor Choices?

 

It’s important at this stage to focus on some projections for the future. What are, for example, realistic ROI projections in the next three years? Only by analysing this kind of information, the CIO will be able to understand how the Cloud technologies are going to change the Vendor Choices. It’s also crucial to ask, at this point, if the ROI includes the Professional Services, if they’re needed to start with this technology.

 

 

 

Bottom line

 

The chief information officer is a critical figure for any company that deals with technology. The choice of a digital transformation towards the Cloud technology falls on them completely, but it might get difficult, depending on the case.

 

 

 

If you have any further doubt, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re a friendly team here at Source, and we would love to help you in any way we can.