Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 25 | Page 46

CIO opinion CIO OPINION “ A COMMON PERCEPTION LATELY IS THAT IT TEAMS ARE NOT SKILLED ENOUGH TO MEET THE NEW CHALLENGES OF RISING DATA LEVELS. ////////////////// Steve Blow, UK Systems Engineering Manager at Zerto Measuring and overcoming technology disruption Attracting and retaining skilled employees is imperative to business success and technology downtime can seriously impact staff morale above any financial or business loss. Steve Blow, UK Systems Engineering Manager at Zerto, discusses the correct strategy and approach for a CIO to best avoid losing top- talent employees. E nsuring that all technology throughout an organisation is working properly – no matter which team uses it – is ultimately the job of the CIO. This means both setting the strategy for technology growth within the organisation, as well as how that impacts the people, processes and products delivered by the business. Unfortunately, it also means dealing with the fallout when a tech-related disruption occurs. In these situations, the first thought for most is: ‘how is this going to impact the business and affect us financially?’ This is not surprising as 37% of organisations impacted by disruption could trace a direct loss in revenue to the event. However, more than just money or data can be lost after an incident and it’s imperative for CIOs to have a comprehensive view of problems that 46 INTELLIGENTCIO arise from all angles, including the human impact of downtime, an aspect that can often be overlooked. The problems, beyond IT Tech-related disruptions come in many forms, ranging from ransomware and cybersecurity attacks to natural disasters that take down a data centre, or plain and simple human error. Following these types of incidents, organisations reported that in 53% of cases, employees had to work overtime, and 50% of the time there was a loss of productivity. All of this can seriously affect staff morale, on top of any financial or business losses. According to EY, three of the top six factors that full-time workers give for quitting their jobs is to do with supporting a better work–life balance, with excessive overtime hours being the third most commonly www.intelligentcio.com