{"id":11574,"date":"2019-01-16T10:21:45","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T16:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/?p=11574"},"modified":"2023-05-01T17:39:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T22:39:45","slug":"3-lessons-that-cios-learned-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/3-lessons-that-cios-learned-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"3 lessons that CIOs learned in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Education\"Summary: As we start a new year, it helps to reflect on (and learn from) the past year. In this article, we take a look at the past year from an IT leader perspective. What are the most important lessons that IT leaders and CIOs learned (or should have learned) in 2018? What important takeaways from the last 12 months will help you succeed in the coming year? We answer those questions (and more) in this article.<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStudy the past if you would define the future.\u201d
\n\u2015 Confucius<\/p>\n

They say we shouldn\u2019t dwell on the past. But, we can (and should) learn from it.<\/p>\n

As we begin a new year, let\u2019s take a step back and reflect on the past year. What can we learn? What key takeaways from last year will help you succeed this year?<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019ll explore this topic from a CIO\/IT leader perspective. What lessons can you pull from 2018 that will help you succeed in 2019? While the list could be much longer, here are 3 lessons that CIOs should take from the last year.<\/p>\n

When it comes to security, proactive beats reactive<\/h3>\n

You wouldn\u2019t wait until your car breaks down to change the oil, would you? Of course not. You (should) proactively change it on a set schedule to avoid larger problems.<\/p>\n

The same is true for cybersecurity. A proactive approach can save you from major problems down the road. Unfortunately, too many organizations still take a reactive approach to security. They focus on cleaning up the mess rather than preventing the breach in the first place.<\/p>\n

The problem: It\u2019s an expensive mess to clean up. A recent study found that the average cost of a data breach in 2018 was $3.86 million, up 6.4 percent from 2017<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite these costs, far too many companies aren\u2019t taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity. How can you tell? Just take a look at the list of major breaches from last year. Many of them stem from known security issues like unencrypted data, unpatched software, common vulnerabilities, etc\u2026 In other words, issues that could\u2019ve been corrected with a proactive approach to security.<\/p>\n

In the coming years, security breaches will only increase. Companies that take a reactive approach to security will be in for a rude awakening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019ve seen in 2018, security is one of the most important technology-driven aspects in your company\u2019s future,\u201d says Mike Hendrickson, VP, Technology & Developer Products at Skillsoft<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAs organizations start to use data, capturing more and more user demographics, credit-card numbers and identifying information, companies cannot afford to have this valuable information compromised, exposed or stolen.<\/p>\n

2019 must be the year that organizations truly grasp and deploy effective measures to mitigate risks. Organization-wide, staff must be educated on security risks and resulting policies surrounding BYOD, printing, third-party software, remote workers, legacy equipment, vendor management, social engineering, outdated-training and security policies, and public or poorly protected WiFi. The consequences are real and put your company at risk for attack, lost revenues and a bad reputation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CIOs must get out of the weeds<\/h3>\n

As technology plays an increasingly important role in the business, the IT department\u2019s role is transforming. These days, keeping the lights on is no longer good enough. Business leaders now expect more value out of their IT departments. The modern IT department must innovate and drive the business forward.<\/p>\n

The problem is, too many IT leaders (and their departments) are stuck in the weeds. They still spend the vast majority of their time and budget on maintenance and support.<\/p>\n

Now, am I saying that IT shouldn\u2019t support the business? Of course not! But, they spend time on tasks that they could offload to end users. For instance, tasks like reporting, BI, and basic application development are still handled by IT departments in many businesses. As this demand increases, IT departments can\u2019t keep up.<\/p>\n

How can you get out of the weeds? Offload these types of tasks to the end users. With the rise of no-code\/low-code development platforms and self-service analytic platforms, business users can easily create reports and basic applications. These tools let IT control data and user access, while giving users the ability to create their own solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIT Leaders should have learned that they can\u2019t succeed at being the support center for every end user application,\u201d says Paula Fredericksen, Founder of Veras Partners<\/span>. \u201cThe focus of IT Leaders, CIOs and their teams in 2019 and moving forward should be on their strategic initiatives, not on building reports or answering end user support questions.<\/p>\n

A report by Sky High Networks states that \u201cEvery company is a Software company\u201d and that companies with less than 1000 employees run an average of 22 custom applications. The rate at which new applications are added in today’s business world gives the IT Team little time to become experts or even gain basic knowledge before the application is rolled out to end users. A company’s IT staff was hired for a specific reason and their skill sets should be used to move the company towards its goals.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Digital Transformation isn\u2019t a buzzword (it\u2019s a state of being)<\/h3>\n

Over the last few years, the buzz around \u201cdigital transformation\u201d has reached peak levels. But, what does it mean?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still some confusion (and frustration) surrounding the topic. As explained in this CIO.com article<\/span><\/a>, \u201cContemplating the concept of digital transformation has become an agonizing feat for CIOs, many of whom view it as a catchphrase that has become confusing at best and meaningless at worst.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

How did we reach this point? While the list could be longer, here are a couple of reasons:<\/p>\n

1. It\u2019s a complex topic, surrounded by inconsistent definitions.<\/strong> If you try to find a concise definition, you\u2019ll run across a variety of \u201canswers\u201d. To make matters worse, technology vendors have jumped aboard the \u201cdigital transformation\u201d train, defining the term in a way that best positions their product as the solution. I\u2019ve seen software being sold as THE solution to digital transformation.<\/p>\n

2. It\u2019s unlike other projects, trends, etc…<\/strong> Digital Transformation isn\u2019t your typical project. The reason: It doesn\u2019t end. As Forrester explains in this article<\/span><\/a>, \u201cFirms think they are transforming – but many don\u2019t realize that transformation will be a permanent state of being.\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s not about the destination. It\u2019s about constantly adapting and putting your organization in a position to do that.<\/p>\n

So, what is digital transformation? The article mentioned above has a great definition: \u201cDigital transformation marks a radical rethinking of how an organization uses technology, people and processes to radically change business performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, the world is going digital. Businesses must adapt their technology, processes, and culture in order to keep up. It\u2019s not a buzzword that can be ignored. It\u2019s the future of business.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t started your digital transformation journey, where do you begin? I won\u2019t get into all of the details here, as we\u2019ve covered the topic in a couple of articles, which you can find here:<\/p>\n

The Digital Transformation Checklist (Part 1)<\/span><\/a>
\nThe Digital Transformation Checklist (Part 2)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Summary<\/h3>\n

These are just a few lessons that CIOs can take away from 2018, but the list could be much longer. Would you add anything to this list? Feel free to comment below!<\/p>\n

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Summary: As we start a new year, it helps to reflect on (and learn from) the past year. In this article, we take a look at the past year from an IT leader perspective. What are the most important lessons that IT leaders and CIOs learned (or should have learned) in 2018? What important takeaways …<\/p>\n

3 lessons that CIOs learned in 2018<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","slim_seo":{"title":"3 lessons that CIOs learned in 2018 - mrc's Cup of Joe Blog","description":"Summary: As we start a new year, it helps to reflect on (and learn from) the past year. In this article, we take a look at the past year from an IT leader persp"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-11574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-cio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11574"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14853,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11574\/revisions\/14853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}