2020 TBM Council CXO Forum and the Next Generation CIO

It was a pleasure to recently participate in the Technology Business Management (TBM) Council’s CXO Forum. The annual event covered important findings and presentations, including the state of the TBM market, optimizing technology investments, fostering innovation, and what it’s going to take to be a “Next Generation CIO.” 

As companies of all sizes and across industries undertake significant digital transformation journeys, TBM offers a strategic framework for “running IT as a business.” Here are some key points from the CXO Forum that specifically address our current and future challenges as organizations lean into transformation.

Key takeaways from “Next Generation CIO” presentation with Charlie Feld, The Feld Group Institute

  • In a transition to the Digital Era, there is a need to find and partner with game changers. 
  • As technology is reshaped, the next generation CIO must be a Chief Integration Officer and work to get people on the same page and framework.
  • Our technology, our workforce, and how we plan investments need to evolve. To aid in this shift, people must gather around a common perspective, common language, and common facts.
  • Agility is the only strategy as business and IT transformation become faster, more flexible, architected, and secure.

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Exploring 2020 IT Spending Survey with Matt Butterworth, Associate Partners at Bain & Company

Bain and the TBM Council launched a survey to understand how organizations are adjusting their technology spending during an unprecedented period of economic uncertainty. The survey included 100 technology and finance leaders’ responses from across industries and geographies. Their findings included:

  • 80% of organizations fell into one of two distinct technology spending patterns: “Spenders” and “Savers.”
  • Spenders – Continue their history of technology investments and anticipate that it will continue through the downturn as efforts are accelerated around digital transformation and customer experience.
  • Savers – Optimize technology expenditures and expect further technology budget reductions, which may present a significant barrier to launching new initiatives in 2021.
  • The war for talent is only increasing so companies will need to find new ways to acquire, develop, and engage employees.
  • Spenders should ask questions to prepare for 2021, including “What is your talent strategy?” “Are your development processes effective and efficient?” and “How will you demonstrate business value?”
  • Savers should ask questions to prepare for 2021, including “Are there untapped near-term savings opportunities?” “How will you lay the foundation for future savings?” “Who do you need to watch?”

Looking forward in “State of the TBM Market” with Sunny Gupta, CEO at Apptio

Initiatives that are top of mind for technology leaders:

  1. Re-forecast and re-plan – strategic financial planning
  2. Cost optimization – actionable insights
  3. Cloud acceleration – cloud financial management (80% of organizations will overshoot their SaaS budget due to a lack of cloud financial management practices – Gartner)
  4. Drive digital transformation

Anticipating what the future holds:

  1. Simplicity in new user experiences and modern reporting
  2. Advanced planning for agile project and demand-driven scenarios
  3. Cloud enhancement with more recommendations, cloud providers, and mitigation support
  4. An enhanced platform that includes new reporting, commenting, data capabilities, and insights

Click here for upcoming TBM events. If you are interested in joining the TBM Council and looking for actionable insight into how to incorporate it into your organization’s digital transformation journey, here is a recent article I wrote for the National CIO Review: “Creating an IT Revolution.”