Art of Connecting:creativity and the modern CIO

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“Digital business evolves when people, businesses and things communicate, transact business and negotiate with one another. CIOs must adapt to that new way of doing business or risk losing their competitive edge.” Seize the Moment: Driving Digital Business Into 2015,

Gartner Group, 2 October 2014

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Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 4

Executive summary .................................................................................................................. 5

Research methodology ............................................................................................................ 6

Research insights ..................................................................................................................... 7

CIOs welcome the opportunity to be more creative

Customers, creativity and data are changing the CIO role

‘Nexus of forces’ creates win-win for CIOs

The right technology partners can help the CIO deliver creative solutions

The organisation needs to recruit/train the next generation of CIOs

Last word: the creative CIO mind-set ................................................................................... 14

Contents

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In six years, there could be more than 50 billion connected devices in the world1,

dramatically changing the way we live and do business. This year’s Gartner Symposium

ITxpo on ‘Driving Digital Business’ is a timely forum to discuss the commercial

opportunities and human implications of this runaway connectivity.

As part of our contribution this year, BT has carried out research into the changing

role of the CIO. Gartner says the digital disruption is “a CIO’s dream come true, and

also a career-changing leadership challenge”2. They’re also the obvious candidates to

spot what Gartner calls the ‘business moment3’ for the digital business opportunity.

We’ve interviewed CIOs and senior IT decision makers from around the globe and you

can read the best of their thinking and the research findings in the following pages.

I’ve been a CIO, and it’s clear to me how the role is changing. The CIO of tomorrow’s

successful digital business will have a more creative, imaginative and visionary mind-

set. Because building a digital business is as much an art as a science. The

artistry is in seeing fresh ways to do things. In blending technologies together in new

ways. In not copying anyone else, but creating something truly original, that delivers

stunning outcomes for the business.

At BT we call this the art of connecting. It’s a mind-set that’s already helping our

customers master the art of building a digital business and it can help you too. At

Gartner and beyond, we look forward to productive conversations with you as we all

seek to make the most of these exciting opportunities.

Foreword

Luis AlvarezCEO, BT Global Services

1 Cisco http://share.cisco.com/internet-of-things.html

2 Taming the Digital Dragon: The 2014 CIO Agenda,

Gartner Group 2014

3 Seize the Moment: Driving Digital Business Into 2015,

Gartner Group 2 October 2014

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CIOs face a Darwinian moment.

New research by BT into the role of the CIO shows that we’re at a tipping point.

The CIO job is changing faster than ever. CIOs must adapt to a new age where

digitalisation is rapidly undoing the traditional relationship between the business

and the IT department.

The good news is that IT decision makers say today’s CIOs have greater standing and

are more influential in the boardroom; their performance is increasingly measured

by business results.

But CIOs must meet a new requirement: they must be creative. More than two thirds

of organisations now expect their CIO to show creativity – something not usually

associated with the role. They expect the modern CIO to be an innovator and use

technology creatively to take the business forward.

This is hardly without challenges. However, in a win-win for CIOs, our research shows

that the same technologies that are essential for delivering business results - mobility,

cloud services and unified communications – are also those which can unleash their

creativity, further strengthening their reputation and leadership in the organisation.

Technology partners can also help the CIO to be more creative, by sharing their

ideas, involving customers in research and engaging in innovative thinking about

new ways of working.

In short, modern CIOs who innovate, who use technology and their IT partners

creatively to deliver commercial breakthroughs, have a great opportunity to be

play makers as their organisations prepare for the digital business era.

Executive summary

The purpose of the research was to explore the changing role of the CIO. We wanted

to understand how creatively they use technology, and how such innovation helps

them add value to the organisation and increase their influence in the boardroom.

In October and November 2014, 799 IT decision makers were interviewed in eight

regions: UK, Germany, Spain, Benelux, USA, Brazil, Singapore and Australia. All

respondents interviewed work for companies who employ over 1000 staff members,

and come from one of the following sectors: banking, retail, energy & resources,

transport & logistics, manufacturing and the public sector. The interviews were

carried out by independent research house Vanson Bourne.

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Research methodology

“Creativity is now an important attribute for the successful CIO.”

Barnaby Davis, MD of the UK branch network at

Barclays, had a bright idea to improve customer

service and help differentiate the bank in a highly

competitive market: free in- branch wi-fi. Barnaby

abandoned the traditional business case process

and chose BT as strategic partner for the rollout.

That proved a wise decision – wi-fi was installed in

around 1,600 branches in just six months, giving

Barclays first-mover advantage. BarclaysFreeWifi is

attracting new customers and the in branch

customer experience has been transformed with

over 9,000 iPads issued to Barclays colleagues.

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CIOs welcome the opportunity to be creative

Historically, CIOs have been responsible for core IT systems but the digitalisation of business

is fast undoing the status quo. Pressure is coming from all directions but especially

from the changing needs of customers, the demand for more innovation/creativity and the

massive increase in data. So it will come as no surprise that eight out of ten IT decision

makers say that the traditional CIO role is changing (85%). What is more surprising is

that creativity is now an important attribute for the successful CIO.

Creativity is a major driver for change. More than two thirds of IT decision makers

(68%) say their board wants creativity from the CIO and a majority (70%) agree that

the CIO role now gives opportunity for innovation/creativity. The good news is that

CIOs themselves welcome this demand for more creativity, and consider it as the

most positive development in the way their role is changing. Although the fact that

four out of five (81%) respondents agree that their CIO is creative, the big rise in

chief digital officers in organisations suggests that some boards may look elsewhere

for creative technology leadership.

CIOs continue to increase their influence and standing in the boardroom.

Expectations have changed. Sixty four per cent of IT decision makers say the CIO

now has greater opportunity for adding value to the business. More is expected of

them and compared with two years ago, 81% felt they owned more business KPIs

than technology KPIs.

We’re at a point where CIOs can reshape their role as a new type of CIO,

commercially astute and technologically creative, and they can take a lead in

building the digital business.

And the push for change is coming from so many directions that even the most

conservative CIO will find it hard to resist the call to innovate.

Greater opportunity for adding value to the business

Greater opportunity to formalise and consider company-wide IT policy

Less time spent on maintaining legacy IT

Greater opportunity to interact with external contractors

The board in my organisationrecognises the need for a creative CIO

The standing my CIO has in the boardroom has become more central in the last two years

The perspective of the board towards the CIO has changed in the last two years

Greater opportunity forinnovation/creativity

The expectation of the board towards the CIO has increased in the last two years

“Which of the following are positive ways you see the role of CIO changing?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Those that selected strongly agree or agree for “To what extentdo you agree with the following?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Research insights

The Johan Cruyff Foundation uses sport to build social

and personal resilience among young people living

with social deprivation or disabilities. When Carole

Thate, general director, realised that the global

recession could undermine success, she had the

inspired idea of contacting BT. BT Benelux stepped

forward with a cloud-based learning solution. Hosted

in a BT data centre it provides an ingenious virtual

learning environment for course materials and other

resources over any internet-enabled device, helping

children and coaches learn and organise sporting

events more effectively.

“In a lot of respects the CIO can bring new thoughts and ideas to the table because so many new ideas are driven by technology. As companies have conversations about how to be more adaptive and flexible in relation to so many aspects of their business, the CIO has the opportunity to influence those discussions. Creativity is the chance for the CIO to move from his/her previously operational role to one with much greater profile in the business.”

Ashish Gupta, President, Portfolio & Service Design and BT Advise,

and Chief Information Officer, BT Global Services

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Customers, creativity and data are changing the CIO role

A multitude of external factors are impacting the work of the CIO but customers,

creativity and data dominate.

Almost all our respondents say that the evolving needs of customers are having

some impact on the traditional role of the CIO and nine in ten (91%) say that the CIO

is currently involved in improving service to customers.

More than two thirds of organisations now expect creativity from the CIO.

Then there is data, and yet more data. More than nine in ten respondents say that a

significant increase of data coming into and through the organisation (94%) impacts

the role of the CIO. Employees want access to the organisation's data when working

away from the office (93%) and nine in ten respondents say that their CIO is

involved in enabling employees to work remotely (93%).

Cloud services (93%) and business units buying their own IT products and services

(89%) also undermine the traditional corporate IT model and will require a fresh

response from the CIO.

In spite of these pressures, change to the CIO role is universally seen as positive by IT

decision makers. Indeed, the combination of technology trends and business

expectations may turn out to be a virtuous circle.

Demand forinnovation/creativity

Increasing complicatedpolicies/procedures

Significant increase of datacoming into and throughthe organisation

Changing demandsof customers

Those selecting impacting to some extent for “To what extentare changes to how your organisation operates impacting thetraditional role of the CIO?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Employees demanding accessto the organisation’s data when working outside the office

Increasing implementationof cloud services

Business units commissioningtheir own IT services

“We [CIOs] can make more use of customer data to drive strategy and take the business forward. Look at Walmart and Tesco, and how they rely on club card data to decide what goes on the shelves; it turns the model on its head.”

Ashish Gupta, President, Portfolio & Service Design and

BT Advise, and Chief Information Officer, BT Global Services

“Digital innovation will require IT to ideate, or dream the digital dream, and execute in close partnership with colleagues, in an exploratory way, with understanding of the potential of new trends.”

Taming the Digital Dragon: The 2014 CIO Agenda Insights From the

2014 Gartner CIO Agenda Report, Gartner Group 2014

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‘Nexus of forces’ creates win-win for CIOs

Gartner’s ‘nexus of forces’ describes the convergence and mutual reinforcement of

four trends: social interaction, mobility, cloud, and information, which “empower

individuals as they interact with each other and their information through well-

designed ubiquitous technology”4.

While such a nexus of forces is undoubtedly a challenge for CIOs, it also carries

within itself the solution. IT decision makers identify three technologies - mobility

(68%), unified communications (66%) and the cloud (65%) - as critical to delivering

commercial results for the business. And in a win-win for the CIO, these very same

technologies (mobility 75%, unified communications (72%) and the cloud 72%) are

also viewed as those that most help him or her unlock creativity.

The more CIOs are creative in their application of mobility, unified communications

and the cloud, the more likely they are to fulfil the expectations of their board for

innovation, creativity and commercial performance.

Unified communications

Cloud

Big data

Mobility

Those selecting very critical for “To what extent are thefollowing IT trends seen as critical to your CIO for delivering real business results?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Internet of Things

Machine to machine

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Bring Your Own Applications (BYOA)

Unified communications

Cloud

Big data

Mobility

Those selecting helping for “To what extent do you think theserecent or emerging trends are helping/hindering CIOs’creativity?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Internet of Things

Machine to machine

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Bring Your Own Applications (BYOA)

4 http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/nexus-of-forces/

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The right technology partners can help the CIO deliver creative solutions

CIOs need not go it alone, as they set out to meet corporate expectations for

innovation. Their IT partners can help.

Nine out of ten (91%) IT decision makers consider their technology partners to be

creative, and a similar majority (92%) say that the creativity of a technology partner

makes them more likely to work with that supplier.

However, although more than eight out of ten (84%) agree that working with such

vendors encourages the CIO to be creative, only three in ten (29%) say that their CIO

actually approaches vendors for creative solutions. There is clearly scope for both

CIO and vendors to collaborate more around innovation. Part of the problem may

be a lack of time and money. Three in ten (31%) IT decision makers say the changing

role leaves the CIO with less time for developing creative solutions for the business.

Deloitte’s 2014 CIO survey5 found that although more than half of CIOs considered

innovation to be important, there was little in the IT budget earmarked for it.

CIOs should look more to their IT partners for innovation and fresh thinking. Even

when the CIO’s ideas are still half-formed, vendors can often suggest a wholly

original way of using technologies to take the business forward.

“Do you consider the technology partners you work with to be creative?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Yes, the majority of our technology partners are creative

Yes, but only some of our technology partners are creative

No

Don’t know

“To what extent do you agree that working with creative technology partners encourages the CIO to also be creative?”, asked to all respondents (799)

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

5 http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GB/uk/services/consulting/technology/cio-survey-2014/index.htm

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Quick customer response during power interruptions

is a priority for Western Power in Australia. When

outages struck, inbound calls soared from 2,000 to

260,000 calls per day and call waiting times

expanded. Ben Oxford, director of customer service,

had a without-the-box idea. Now, a BT cloud-based

contact centre enables agent resource optimisation

and geographically accurate recorded

announcements. Customers quickly learn when the

lights will be back on. In an emergency, they’ve

instant access to a rapid response team. It’s been

recognised as one of the best-performing customer

service centres in the world.

“A CIO’s mission is to find the most appropriate solution from ever-changing technologies to contribute to business development. To do so, CIO needs to have a broad intelligence network in order to provide the most appropriate solutions and to suggest how technology developments can be used for the business. It is important to build trust and have relationship with the partners who provide ideas, propose solutions, and help develop and execute the solution.”

Toshihiro Kitanobo, Senior Executive Officer,

Head of System Headquarters, JCB Co. Ltd

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The organisation needs to recruit/train the next generation of CIOs

Finally, what does this requirement for innovation and creativity mean for the next

generation of CIOs?

The digital business will need creative minds in the IT department and creative IT

minds in the boardroom. It is perhaps time to update the CIO job description and

person specification and understand how the role works alongside newer senior

roles such as chief digital officers and chief data officers.

Today’s CIOs are a homogenous group. Unsurprisingly, IT graduates dominate. The

majority of CIO level respondents (72%) received their highest level of qualification

in an IT-specific subject; humanities and the arts account for only three per cent and

one per cent respectively.

In a world where smart companies ‘hire for attitude and train for skills’, boards might

consider recruiting from a wider range of backgrounds and adding broader commercial

and high end creative skills training to their IT leadership development programmes.

“Make sure you are adapting to the changing environment. Don’t leave a leadership vacuum. The danger is that the business needs to run at speed and if the traditional CIO cannot keep up, then the business will find another way to do what it wants.”

Ashish Gupta, President, Portfolio & Service Design and BT Advise,

and Chief Information Officer, BT Global Services “Hire for attitude, train for skills.”

“What subject was your highest level of qualification received in?”, asked to all respondents (799)

IT-specific

Maths

Science

Humanities

Arts

Other

The role of the CIO is changing for good, giving positive opportunities for those who

respond with creativity and who deliver results that matter to the business.

The creative CIO has a new mindset. He or she can:

• connect with boardroom colleagues and business units, and provide visionary

leadership for the digital business

• imagine new ways of using technology that deliver amazing commercial results

• understand that the very same technologies that deliver great business

outcomes are also those which support creativity

• tap into the creativity of IT partners, nurture relationships with suppliers and be

open to their ideas and innovations

• take responsibility for the next generation and add creativity into recruitment,

training and succession planning for the IT team

CIOs who adapt successfully to changing expectations will be in pole position to

lead their colleagues and their organisation into the digital future.

“All industries in all geographies are being radically reshaped by digital disruption — a ‘digital dragon’ that is potentially very powerful if tamed but a destructive force if not. It’s a CIO’s dream come true, and also a career-changing leadership challenge.”Taming the Digital Dragon: The 2014 CIO Agenda Insights from the

2014 Gartner CIO Agenda Report, Gartner Group 2014

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Last word: the creative CIO mindset

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“The technologies that are critical to delivering commercial results are also those which help the CIO unlock creativity.”

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7 November 2014

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