FEATURE : STATE OF THE CIO

The role and responsibilities of the CIO have changed somewhat over recent months , with the catalyst being the pandemic which caused a fundamental shift in the way businesses operate . Marcelo Di Rosa , Founder and CEO of Atlantic Technologies , discusses some of the changes to the role of the post-pandemic CIO and what ’ s required to ensure they continue contributing to shaping the future of tech .

Today , the business world tends to think more about the cloud , than simply the Internet and it is a key technology in today ’ s Digital Transformation projects .

In recent years , the CIO has played a greater role than ever before in helping organisations to address the business challenges of the day , while also accelerating broader strategic digitisation efforts . In recent years , we have been through some testing times and now find ourselves in a new economic and social environment , where the CIO is being recognised as the real strategic business driver , not just technologist , that we ’ ve always known them to be .

It ’ s no longer a question of deciding which technology a company needs , but of fully understanding the business strategy and anticipating new market trends to increase the competitiveness of the business – and then translating it into a technology roadmap . Today and looking forward , companies need CIOs who are agile , visionary , interactive and enablers of new business opportunities .

CIOs are considering new investments that will deliver the efficiency , speed and productivity needed to operate a hybrid workplace as part of this new environment . This is just one example of the challenge of planning for the future .

Taking on this new role will demand new skills of the CIO ; complementing technical and leadership skills with communication and relationship qualities . This will be an essential element in delivering technology solutions that employees and customers can embrace . Choosing those technology solutions is rarely easy , however . Today ’ s CIO not only needs to be abreast of today ’ s technology , but looking to those that are evolving to decipher what they mean and how they can be applied to the business strategy .

At Atlantic , we too have faced many of these challenges as we worked to help our customers achieve their Digital Transformation goals . Understanding the technology is one thing , but we have created new teams and working practices to ensure we can advise customers on how to reach their own business goals through the technology available .

Priorities and emerging technologies

Current and emerging technologies are not only going to help businesses build the resilience and agility they need , but they will also be enablers for vastly improved customer experiences . Here is my take on the technologies CIOs need to embrace in order to remain agile and adaptive to ever-changing external business influences .

Cloud technology

Cloud-based systems may be nothing new , but the richness of capabilities and proven reliability means that businesses can use them extensively to

42 INTELLIGENTCIO EUROPE www . intelligentcio . com