Welcome to 2023 😊
I have had a fabulous summer spending close to three weeks with my family and doing things I love … a vacation to Bali, weekends in Blairgowrie, yoga (almost daily) and I wrote 15,000 words for my third book due later this year.
The rest of the world begins their year earlier than Australia. And begun they have! With big tech companies focusing on costs (and consequently reducing headcount), we can expect other organisations to follow. CIO’s budgets and teams will not be immune, but as always, they will be expected to continue with critical initiatives.
Here are the four areas (CIO priorities) I would not be compromising on:
Cyber – STAY in business
Threats will continue to be diverse so astute risk assessment is required and mitigations should be implemented. The landscape is dynamic and evolving, and you will be hacked – it’s just a matter of when, and how well-prepared you are to restore services.
Data / Intelligence – DIFFERENTIATE your business
Analysis of data available within your organisation may enable you to make quicker decisions than your competitors. In an environment with margins potentially diminishing and business being more difficult to win, organisations that have invested in analytics, AI (helps with automating known tasks), or Machine Learning (the computer develops its intelligence) will likely have an advantage over others.
Digital – your FUTURE business
Digital transformation was hyped before 2020, and then when the pandemic arrived, we saw another major shift in how we worked (remotely) and how we serviced customers (digitally). Society has shifted but stubborn elements remain due to legacy practices. Now is the time to address this by seeking to eliminate or integrate traditional legacy operations with future digital ones.
Capability – ENABLE your business
There is a war for talent. I was speaking to someone recently who said, “I will pick up some of the people these tech companies are letting go”. Well good luck, because tech organisations are doubling down on great tech people so you are unlikely to inherit someone with excellent capabilities. Instead, consider growing your people from within; subscribe to an advisory service that can help you execute and build your capability. Finally, create a great workplace and ask your team to encourage their well-regarded industry peers to jump on board.
You can expect these areas to be common themes across any industry.
Wishing you all a wonderful 2023!