It's hard to believe, but 2020 is right around the corner. How are successful CIOs strategically preparing for the new decade? Here's how Google Cloud CTOs think about it. Read on to hear what they have to say to fellow IT leaders like you.
1. Put the Customer First
Mobile apps, connected devices, Social Media, Chatbots: people are interacting more with brands than ever before, using a wide range of technologies. Increasingly, a company's success depends on its ability to create delightful experiences through these touchpoints. In fact, there is a strong correlation between these types of experiences and revenue growth.
"Consumer expectations are at an all-time high and will continue to grow through 2020," explains Jamie Erbes, one of the technical directors for Google Cloud. "People want highly customizable products and services that fit their lifestyle; when that doesn't happen, they change quickly."
As the digital experience becomes an important differentiator, IT leaders are redefining their roles within the company focus on business value. Enabling employees to deliver what customers want, making improvements and responding quickly to feedback. It all boils down to a fewkey topics: data analytics, machine learning, Cloud services and IT department transformation.
2. Analyze your data differently
.Businesses today are working to create a better digital experience in 2020 and beyond, even if they don't realize it, by engaging the devices we use every day, screens and devices. The customer journey generates a constant flow of information about what works and what doesn't. CIOs seek to leverage all this data through data analytics to make smarter business decisions.
"Companies that want to scale in 2020 need to think about every interaction with their customers to improve their business," says Scott Penberthy, one of the technical directors for Google Cloud. "Even if you're not thinking about it, your competitors are doing it."
For some CIOs, everything about big data is now old news. A 2015 survey of IT decision makers confirmed that 53 percent either initiated data-driven projects or planned to do so within a year. But as technology advances, CIOs will need to integrate new touchpoints, consider next-generation tools to make processes faster and more scalable, and reevaluate storage strategy.
"By 2020, data will not be limited to large data centers," Erbes says. "Advances in physics will allow data to be everywhere, always at your fingertips. As a result, CIOs and analysts will need to move from a traditional database to a data warehouse platform at the center of the enterprise powered by diverse data sources that you can read any way you want.
3. Automates the heaviest work
Now 2020 is starting to look as futuristic as it sounds. 2020 is the year when machine learning and artificial intelligence will reach $5 billion, up from $420 million in 2014 in market research and prediction.
Machine learning creates business value because of the enormous amount of data that rotates within every business, but what makes it so powerful is that it evolves and improves over time, argues Penberthy. "Business processes continue to produce data. You can use artificial intelligence to understand what's going on in your industry by responding after minutes or hours, rather than months.".
Still today, CIOs around the world are adopting these powerful technologies. In 2016, 72 percent of the 1,600 decision makers surveyed by Vanson Bourne had already fully or partially implemented AI solutions.
Evren Eryurek, one of Google Cloud's technical directors, observes that insightful CIOs are applying machine learning to manage weaknesses in their business and the industry,whether it's analyzing medical reports, handling insurance claims, or analyzing customer service requests. "Avoiding the burden of manually sifting through all this data"because "the software can handle tedious, time-consuming tasks, so you can focus on something more interesting and challenging."
4. Make the IT department efficient
Cumbersome processes, slow approvals, and access restrictions are often seen as frustrating impediments to productivity and collaboration, leaving no choice for employees who often use unauthorized Apps that could jeopardize corporate data. This "shadow IT" has become a reality for 90 percent of CIOs, according to a 2015 Logicalis survey.
But it doesn't have to be that way, says Max Saltonstall, one of Google Cloud's technical directors. "CIOs have the power to make IT fast, hassle-free, empowering, he continues. "They need to shift their focus from keeping things running and reducing costs, to helping employees become more efficient, productive and collaborative, creating an environment open to innovation. The key is to give them tools and great resources and then step aside."
Depending on a company's specific needs and resources, it may be beneficial to make employees autonomous without involving the support team, explains Saltonstall. In other companies, CIOs may choose to provide cloud-based tools that enable both developers and non-technical staff to quickly create time-saving in-house apps without having to write a single line of code.
"Everyone benefits from this kind of approach," Saltonstall says. "Employees are happy because they don't have to wait for someone from IT to solve their problems, and the IT team is happy because they have more time for more interesting and challenging projects."
5. Switch to "public" cloud
Between 2016 and 2020, worldwide spending on public cloud services will more than double, reaching $195 billion according to the International Data Corporation. If today's CIOs do not take part in this movement, they could risk falling behind according to Penberthy.
"We've heard it before, but I'll say it again: now is the time to run, not walk, to the cloud," he explains. "Cloud solutions are smarter and faster and also include cutting-edge security features that use artificial intelligence to keep up with new threats."
Much of the investment will undoubtedly be diverted to the local systems that today's CIOs own and operate, and perhaps designed and built. However, forward-thinking IT leaders will engage in the difficult task of driving their companies' cloud adoption away from the enterprise data centers that once defined their jobs.
Why? Instead of wrangling with local servers, fixing outdated software, and losing control of security and with the risk of "shadow IT," these CIOs will write a new chapter for their companies' digital transformation.Thanks to the speed, agility, and infinite scalability of Google Cloud, employees can create efficient business processes and better customer experiences, ensuring a competitive advantage in 2020 and beyond.
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