In this week's news roundup for IT pros we bring you several articles on digital transformation with considerations for CIOs at all stages of their transformation journey.
Lessons from a digital transformation success story
With digital transformation a priority for business leaders, examples of successful transformations are a great place to turn for inspiration. Jason Bloomberg details Best Western Hotels and Resorts' recent $2 billion digital transformation in Forbes this week. The takeaways for other business leaders: focus on customers, identify and remove complexity that doesn't provide value, and technology performance is paramount. Bloomberg says, “In the final analysis, digital transformation is all about disruption – how changing customer preferences and behavior are disrupting enterprise technology decisions to be sure, but also how digitally savvy organizations can disrupt their own markets.”
Digital transformation + open source
Many businesses are exploring open source to find those disruptive opportunities. A recent roundtable discussion sponsored by MIT Technology Review Custom and EnterpriseDB (EDB) asked participants how open source has fueled their digital transformation efforts. Ritika Gunnar, VP at IBM, said, “The rapid adoption of open source technologies across organizations has provided a network-effect of reliability in resiliency, scalability, affordability and adaptability. Not only are these traits critical to open source technology, but they are also necessary for successful digital transformations in business.” Bryan Thompson, senior director at Rackspace, also added, “The ability to quickly experiment with new and emerging technologies in a model that does not require companies to make deliberate, long-term investments in proprietary technology has given companies the ability to be inherently more agile in their approach.”
A call for greater IT and HR collaboration
IT leaders shouldn't neglect the impact of digital transformation on their counterparts across the business, in particular, those within HR. This recent Harvard Business Review report on the IT talent crisis highlighted some of the hiring and talent management challenges brought about by new digital business models and the pace of technology change. But an article this week in Bloomberg BNA argues that there are seven business impacts of digital technology with corresponding effects on HR, including closer customer relationships, collaboration, and blurring organizational boundaries. The article stresses the need for change management, new leadership capabilities, and training and development opportunities, providing prime opportunities for collaboration between IT and HR.
More news for CIOs
GE Power’s CDO is transforming his company and an industry [CIO]
Del Monte picks insider as new CIO [Wall Street Journal]
If your next Airbus flight is uncomfortable, you can blame virtual reality [ZDNet]
