2020 was one for the record books in all kinds of ways. One bright spot for CIOs was seizing the opportunity to grow their leadership and influence on the business. Here is a look at the journey the Evanta CIO Community took this year.
CIOs told us in our proprietary Leadership Perspectives Survey that they started the year focused on these 3 critical priorities.
By March, the focus shifted to COVID, remote work, and business continuity. These were the top concerns at the start of the pandemic, according to our Community Pulse survey --
41% of CIOs said business operations continued, but at a reduced level
54% expected standard business operations to return to normal in less than 3 months
48% predicted a significant impact on business revenue
Our CIO communities got together virtually and discussed these topics with their peers:
In May town hall discussions, two leaders offered their thoughts on crisis response:
We basically enacted our emergency response approach. It pays to have risk management and a business continuity plan. It’s not just about IT. This is the time to make sure that as a company you have true, enterprise-wide risk management.
Healthcare EVP & CIO
Dallas CIO Community
Frequent communications and standups are business as usual – although I’ve spent more time with the CEO talking about IT operations than ever before. He gets a status update every couple of days.
Technology CIO
Dallas CIO Community
By summer, CIOs recognized this was a sustained period of uncertainty, according to our Pulse Survey.
24% cited keeping the business running as their primary business concern
44% were spending the majority of their time on leadership strategy
41% expected standard business operations to return to normal in 6 to 12 months
IT leaders began to return to their top 3 critical priorities in the fall:
In October, CIOs discussed how they could keep the IT leadership momentum going:
There has never been a better time to be a CIO or CTO in history. Because of the pandemic, those technology teams that adapted and responded the quickest are now leaned on -- not just to support business decisions, but to influence and solution them.
Financial Services EVP & CTO
Detroit CIO Community
The COVID crisis has helped illustrate the benefits of a solid technology strategy and implementation. We need to capitalize on the momentum this has generated and continue the course on our strategic framework.
Healthcare EVP & CIO
Seattle CIO Community
Throughout the year, CIOs recognized that with crisis comes opportunity. By rising to that challenge, CIOs have accelerated digital transformation initiatives and created a high profile for themselves and their perspectives on business issues.
Moving into 2021, here are 3 predictions about what CIOs will focus on next year:
by CIOs, for CIOs
6,340 IT leaders participated in 189 Evanta CIO discussions this year.
Keep the conversations going in 2021.
