CIOs and their teams will need a change management strategy that embraces the can-do attitude and agile approaches that got employees working remotely in a timeframe never experienced before.

They will need a change management strategy to be future fit. This, according to Forrester, is a combination of being adaptive, resilient and creative. 

These are traits that have seen organisations not only survive previous crises such as the burst of the dot.com bubble in 2001-2002 and the global financial crisis of 2207-2008 but will also see them differentiate themselves as the winners, not losers, in this pandemic of 2020.

In this series of articles, I am going to explore what the change management strategy for IT  looks like and why it is needed.

The CIO as a change agent 

When COVID-19 hit, CIOs and their teams had to enact a digital transformation that had been subject to years of inertia due to red tape, bureaucracy, hyperbole, indecision and procrastination, in a matter of days.

They had to deal with the unknown unknowns. They may not have been wearing PPE, but they were amongst the first responders charged with looking after the health and safety  of the organisation’s employees.

This rapid digital transformation put the CIO and their teams at the centre of organisational change. They were not just introducing new technology but new ways of thinking and new ways of working.

They were change agents for the cultural shift that was needed for the transformation to be a success.

The role of the CIO and IT has fundamentally changed.  The CIO role is now four decades old. Now is the time for the CIO and IT to build on the transformation already underway.

This transformation, underpinned by a change management strategy, is the recognition that IT is not just about implementing technology, it is about driving organisational change through technology.

Leading change

The role of IT is to lead change. The pace of change is accelerating and as a result IT has to demonstrate leadership.

When faced with the enormity of technology advancement and disruption, IT has to lead the change.

The list of key advancements in technology seems endless. It includes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning; the internet of things (IoT); cloud and edge computing; big data and augmented analytics; robots and cobots; digital twins; natural language processing; block chains and distributed ledgers; and much more.

IT will not just deploy new technology - they will be fundamental in getting everyone on board with change and new ways of working.

Business leaders

No longer is the CIO a technology leader – they are a business leader. The change management strategy will see the CIO and IT as a business partner. They will co-own the employee experience with HR. They will co-own the customer experience with marketing.

IT will be educators, innovators and influencers. They will act quickly and decisively. They will be active contributors to business strategy.

The CIO is undergoing an evolution from technology expert to business strategist. This will require new skills and capabilities of both the CIO and their people.

Summary

COVID-19 has cemented the fact that every business is a technology business. The business relies on the CIO and IT to keep the business running.  

Now is the time for IT, with a change management strategy, to change the traditional mindset, challenge old perceptions and transform themselves into a core driver of business value. 

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