3 reasons why IT execs need to go out to lunch more

In the last couple of years, social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies have risen to the top of many organizations’ agendas. IDC calls the combination of these technologies “the third platform” and predicts they will account for 89% of technology spending this year.

However, strong enterprise interest does not guarantee that IT will be a key player in business strategies that hinge on the use of these technologies. Other heads of business functions with a capital C in their titles are jockeying for a prime role in these strategic technology initiatives, including chief marketing officers, chief analytics officers, chief data officers, chief digital officers and chief customer officers. In some cases, CIOs aren’t even aware that their company has a dedicated analytics group or has hired someone to lead the digital strategy, and in others, the CMO, CAO, CDO or other C-suite title sees IT as a bottleneck, not an enabler.

So, it’s more essential than ever for IT leaders to put “going out to lunch” or “meeting for coffee” high on their priority list. Soft skills have always been important in IT, but learning to collaborate with these other business leaders on key initiatives is now essential to the continuation of IT’s relevance.

Here are three arguments for getting out of the office and finding out where the company is headed with its social, mobile, analytics and cloud initiatives, as well as its overall digital strategy.  

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1. IT may be less involved with analytics than it thinks.

According to an IDC study, organizations know that big data and analytics are fundamentally transforming business; however, more than one-third (38%) said the majority of their analytics resources resides in a centralized group outside of IT, and 21% said their analytics strategy is primarily determined by this centralized group. Such organizations are often headed by a chief analytics officer or chief data officer, according to the study. Respondents also noted a disconnect between IT and the lines of business when it came to how IT’s role with analytics was perceived.

However, big data is changing the nature of analytics, according to the study, which introduces opportunities for IT to become more essential to analytics initiatives. For one, many of the sources required to achieve a full view of the business are scattered throughout and even outside the enterprise, the study says, and IT is perfectly positioned to take the required holistic, enterprise-wide approach to gather, integrate and ensure the integrity of this data.

Further, the respondents deemed the most effective users of analytics (those who reported benefits that met or exceeded expectations) were the most likely to have an enterprise-wide analytics strategy. CIOs can play a direct role in encouraging a holistic approach by, for instance, establishing data advisory boards and steering committees to coordinate activities and share best practices. In fact, this “effective” group was the most likely of all respondents to say IT leaders were very involved in promoting and encouraging the use of analytics (34% vs. 15%).

So, despite the many disconnects between IT and lines of business when it comes to analytics, there is clearly a role for IT that will both help the business derive greater value from analytics and also ensure a path forward for IT.

2. Marketing budgets are moving to digital spending.

Marketing departments have gotten the religion on using technology to engage with customers, whether on social networks, Web sites, mobile devices or other digital mechanisms. According to a recent Gartner survey, digital marketing budgets will rise by 10% in 2014, following a double-digit increase last year. In all, digital marketing represented an average of 28.5% of the total marketing budget in 2013, compared with 25.5% in 2012.

In its report The CMO-CIO Disconnect, Accenture Interactive makes it clear why: Technology – analytics, integrated marketing platforms and multichannel delivery systems — is what will enable marketers to collect and analyze data on customer behaviors and turn those insights into relevant, personalized experiences, offers and promotions.

However, as the title suggests, Accenture also reveals that CMOs and CIOs are not working together as effectively as they should, with only one in 10 marketing and IT executives reporting their collaboration to be at the right level. Other gaps exist; more CIOs (61%), for instance, believe their companies are prepared for a digital future compared with CMOs (49%). CMOs report that IT is not responsive enough to marketing requirements, and CIOs counter that marketing pulls in technologies without consideration for IT standards.

Among the many points of contention and disagreement, there are some bright spots; CMOs rank CIOs as the second most important C-suite relationship, after chief sales officers.  And both groups seem to agree that their relationship has improved in the past year. Working from these points of strength, Accenture exhorts CIOs and CMOs to begin building trust and alignment between their two functions, especially as technology will only continue to underpin and shape the entire customer experience.

How can a CIO instigate collaboration, you ask? Believe it or not, it can all start with a cup of coffee. In Forbes magazine’s series on CIO-CMO relationships, the CIO of Shop.CA, the Canadian shopping network, says, “We eat together weekly, have coffee regularly, and talk first about the broad business issues before wrestling with tactical issues.” And as the Moosejaw Mountaineering CIO says,

“We just have to force the relationship” through weekly meetings and physical proximity of the two business functions. Other issues to hash out include ownership of customer data, what the business goals are, and the importance of process and risk management vs. creativity and fast action, according to Forbes.     

3. Companies are eager to plan their digital future.

It’s clear to companies everywhere that we’ve moved from the knowledge economy to the digital economy, and that means businesses are under pressure to develop a digital strategy. In a study by Forrester Research, the majority of companies (74%) said they had a digital strategy, but only 15% said their firm has the skills and resources required for execution. And, Forrester says, a strategy entails more than throwing a mobile app out there for public consumption or starting to tweet. Rather, “you must think of your company as part of a dynamic ecosystem of value that connects digital resources inside and outside the company to create value for customers,” says Nigel Fenwick, a Forrester principal analyst.

Someone, Fenwick says, needs to convey a vision to the C Suite on how to weave digital into the fabric of the business and then help lead the company toward that vision. In some cases, that person is the chief digital officer, and while CIOs are in a good position to play that role, it’s not a slam-dunk. According to a Gartner survey, just 18% of CIOs said they operated as a CDO, and in some companies, the CIO and CDO are deliberately separate roles.

CIOs should take an honest look at themselves and evaluate whether they have the professional standing, strong relationships and business acumen – particularly in marketing – to be a CDO, says Mark McDonald, a Gartner vice president. Additionally, Ernst & Young provides the following checklist of characteristics for CIOs who want to lead digital transformation:

• Have a strategic vision of how technology will transform the business – and know how to implement it.
• Are relentless innovators.
• Focus closely on driving growth – and the relationships they need to support this.
• Ensure their vision is understood.
• Move beyond operations and infrastructure.
• Are courageous risk-takers.

If this sounds like you, you may have a good shot at the position; Gartner also reports that of all the C-level execs, CEOs are more apt to recognize CIOs (vs. CMOs, business unit leaders or chief operating officers) as the individuals who should be responsible for driving companies’ digital innovation strategies.  

Whether the subject is analytics, digital marketing or digital strategies, it’s increasingly clear that CIOs can’t assume that the responsibility will just land on their lap. It’s time to get out of the office, talk to other C suite execs and start collaborating on where technology should take the business.

Brandel is a freelance writer. She can be reached at marybrandel@verizon.net.