In their 2021 European Predictions, Forrester share their expectation that leading CIOs will embrace cloud-first and platform strategies for speed and adaptiveness, eschewing stovepipes for end-to-end solutions: “Interviews with leading CIOs found that they are collaborating more across organisations, objectives, and budgets, extending IT-business partnerships into enterprise-level shared accountability.
They will also invest aggressively in employees, breaking down old ideals and resolving resistance within the organisation. In fact, CIOs focused on employee experience (EX) will help their businesses attract, develop, and retain talent that can provide competitive advantage in a critical year. They will make the investments to foster social collaboration, make information easier to find and use, and provide less distracting security. CIOs who are slow or unable to adapt will become mired in short term fixes that lead to digital sameness, not differentiation, and their top talent will get frustrated and leave for more visionary pastures” (Source: Forrester).
Wayne Gratton, Director, Business Development and Marketing Operations at the Nuvias Group commented on this trend and its significance for the Channel:
The role of the CIO is constantly evolving. With IT skills gaps showing no sign of easing up, forward thinking CIOs are increasingly focusing on employee experience (EX) to help their businesses foster an environment that attracts new talent, resulting in a competitive edge.
In 2021, partners need to react to this change and market products not just on their impact on cost savings and revenue generation but also on what they deliver in terms of EX. The top CIOs see themselves as enabling and protecting the business as a whole; partners who position their solutions in terms of overall business benefits will stand above competitors who focus on product and tech talk. Helping CIOs make their businesses standout for talent recruitment, opens up a whole host of new opportunities and conversations for the Channel.
