After another year of crisis, it is important for CIOs to align their IT strategies with current trends. These include security, agility and customer interfaces. […]
For many, 2021 was the year of realigning and working through what the corona pandemic has left behind. Nevertheless, this did not mean a return to the usual life before. Working life after the pandemic (and before the next pandemic wave) was no longer the same – especially in information technology.
A number of trends of the major market researchers have emerged as a result of the pandemic and some have prevailed precisely because of the pandemic. On closer examination, the question arises as to which of them will still be somewhat theoretical in 2022 and which will occupy the daily life of CIOs beyond the lighthouse projects one time and the other.
Here are some trends for 2022 that are at the top of the minds and priority lists of many CIOs. These do not always have something to do with the latest technological gimmick. In addition to inspiration, they always require a lot of perspiration from the entire CIO organization. After all, one of the biggest challenges for implementing new technologies is scaling them up. Emerging technologies will only be mature or become established when they go beyond the experimental and prototype status.
Converting legacy systems to cloud platforms is an oft-cited example of digital transformation. It usually seems as if it is a matter of months to modernize the old world. The practice is different in many industries.
What old SAP systems are in the industrial environment are represented in the financial environment by the still widely used mainframes. The modernization of legacy IT will take several more years. Hybrid architectural models – Gartner calls this “composable applications” – determine the day-to-day business. They will employ many CIOs as they shape or update their IT strategies in 2022.
Central IT structures organized in rigid lines that separate development and operation are further broken up. Interdisciplinary teamwork, often in interaction with the business, replaces them. According to Forrester, the reorganization of IT is on the agenda of about 70 percent of companies worldwide. In 2022, IT professionals will continue to deal with the organizational structure of the future.
One thing is certain: there is no off-the-shelf sample solution and the blue print of the IT organization for all companies. Every CIO must therefore find the way for his specific situation, how a structural and organizational change can succeed. At its core, it is always about overcoming structural silos, understanding the requirements of the business better and accelerating the transformation.
Hyperautomation will continue to combine technologies such as robotic Process Automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in 2022. The goal is to become more effective and efficient, to improve quality and to make business processes as a whole more productive. The real use case counts more than tests in the digital laboratory.
In this context, process mining as the starting point of hyperautomation can continuously offer transparency in real time with improved analyses. Because of this, workflows and processes can be further improved.
According to former FBI director Robert Mueller, in the future there will be only those companies “that have been hacked, and those that will still be”. The long-running “security“ of recent years on the CIO agenda will therefore gain even more importance in 2022.
High security standards and compliance with (rightly) constantly growing regulatory requirements are no longer a “freestyle”. On the contrary, they are demanding ever larger shares in the transformation budget. A U-turn is by no means in sight for 2022. The new world of “Working between the office and the home office” opens up new gateways and opportunities for . No company wants corresponding security incidents and headlines, and certainly not the CIO.
As digitization progresses, customers’ understanding of non-digital interaction decreases. In their own ecosystem, customers orient themselves towards companies that proactively integrate into their environment in the sense of a “total customer experience”. Financial institutions use portal solutions to create financing options at the “push of a button” in the ERP system. Insurers already offer the right insurance when buying products.
The digital proximity to the customer becomes critical to success. This creates pressure to act for many CIOs, especially medium-sized companies.
Data and application silos have proliferated in recent years and have become more complex. Millions of investments in huge data warehouse octopuses and the latest AI technologies have deceived us that the basics are often missing: how long does a process take from customer to customer? How much quantity is produced? The simplest questions can often not be answered.
Virtual data integration (data fabrics) across platforms and business units can create easy access options. This also applies to the CIO organization. For example, it is the basis for software process mining. This in turn helps to identify crises in IT projects and possibly save millions.
In order to manage companies effectively and intelligently, the latest technological trends are not needed. The transformational challenges are to master a few basics and to write your own script for mastery in cooperation with customers, business and partners. This is where CIOs are playing a key role as designers more than ever.
*Oliver Laitenberger heads the Competence Center Digitalization and Technology at the management consultancy Horn & Company.
**Dr. Seebach supports banks and insurance companies in the implementation of groundbreaking digitization projects at the interface between the department and IT. He studied economics at the Goethe University Frankfurt (Main) and received his doctorate there in the field of information systems research. He now has 12 years of consulting experience in the financial services sector.
