What Are the Top CIO Priorities For 2020?

Centerpoint IT consultants range from experienced CIOs to consummate specialists in various areas of technical functionality. Contact us today to discuss your company's IT leadership and infrastructure needs.

Top CIO Priorities for 2020

Centerpoint IT consultants range from experienced CIOs to consummate specialists in various areas of technical functionality. Contact us today to discuss your company’s IT leadership and infrastructure needs.  

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and other IT leaders in your company face challenging rules in a sometimes treacherous landscape of security threats, constant change, and growing expectations from board members and customers. if you don’t have or can’t afford a full-time CIO, you may wish to consider hiring a virtual CIO from a trusted IT managed service provider.

A PriceWaterhouseCoopers study entitled “The Changing Role of the CIO” concluded that today’s top IT leaders must possess skillsets that incorporate customer engagement, business strategy, and business leadership, as well as technical skills. Through a holistic understanding of the company and the external landscape in which it operates, sophisticated CIOs facilitate high-level decision-makers by delivering timely and accurate KPIs.

What Are the Top Challenges for CIOs in 2020?

Digital transformation, client responsiveness, recovery from business disruption, finding top talent and cybersecurity continue to be the focus of most CIOs.

How Can CIOs Drive Digital Transformation in 2020?

Top leaders expect CIOs to adopt a more hands-off, strategic role due to the importance of IT in modern business. This includes incorporating the latest technologies, such as machine learning, big data, blockchain, and virtual reality. However, managing the change of pace can be exhausting without the right resources in place.

“CIOs are suffering from digital transformation fatigue, but not just because the phrase has been overused to describe nearly any IT modernization effort. As it turns out, CIOs are finding it challenging to get sponsorship for Big Bang transformations from CEOs and boards who have little appetite for a long wait in an era of rapid-fire business disruption,” according to CIO magazine.

This is the perfect function to outsource to experienced leaders, such as those available through Centerpoint IT.

How Important Are Internal Clients?

Although IT departments are typically cost centers, C-suite leaders recognize the central role IT fills across all business units. Digital age employees want constant access to the company network in the office and at home.

Unstable connections, outages, and slow performance result in calls to the CIO, who must provide quick, permanent solutions while juggling other responsibilities. Establishing good relationships with internal clients builds trust, which is essential when it comes time to ask for faith and patience during a crisis.

How Do You Find and Recruit Top Talent?

Even if you have effective HR and IT managers that vet our prospects for open positions, many roles are highly specialized. A lot can get lost in translation when non-technical leaders become involved.

In a recent Gartner study, “Sixty-three percent of respondents indicated that a talent shortage was a key concern for their organization. The financial services, industrial and manufacturing, consumer services, government and nonprofit, and retail and hospitality sectors showed particularly high levels of concern in this area, with more than two-thirds of respondents in each industry signaling this as one of their top five risks.”

This has led to a global skills gap. CIOs lucky enough to find the right people at the right time often rely on IT managed service providers, such as Centerpoint IT, to find qualified candidates at a moment’s notice. This allows the company to secure the right fit without committing to full-time salaries, benefits, and recruiting time and costs.

What Are the Main Cybersecurity Concerns of 2020?

CIOs need a proactive strategy when it comes to battling constant innovations in malware released by hackers. State-sponsored cyberterrorism is another concerted threat that can compromise data if security engineers and other employees let their guard down even for a moment.

Cybersecurity awareness training reduces the risk of employees falling prey to phishing attempts. However, a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy must include provisions to deal with disgruntled employees and acts of corporate espionage.

Why Choose Centerpoint IT?

Centerpoint IT consultants range from experienced CIOs to consummate specialists in various areas of technical functionality. Contact us today to discuss your company’s IT leadership and infrastructure needs.