Better Business-Technology Integration Needed: IBM Study

In a recent study done by IBM, a majority of Indian CEOs have expressed discontent over the integration between the business and technology in their respective organizations.

Nearly 86% of the CEOs interviewed for IBM’s “India CIO Study”, rated ‘business and technology integration’ to be of great importance, but only 52% of them felt that their organizations were integrated enough.

The study, which interviewed more than 44 leaders based in India, was aimed at bridging the gap between business and IT and exploring the innovative agility of Indian CIOs.

Some of the key findings of the study include:

- Deep business model innovation is critical to creating new and differing value for an organization.

- Innovation can be ignited by business and technology integration, technology must be linked to business and marketing insights in order to effectively enable and drive innovation.

- External collaboration is indispensable, successful collaboration among employee and internal organizations is just one consideration, partnering outside the organization results in higher revenue growth and innovation solutions.

Stressing on the need for Indian CIOs to play an integral role in innovation initiatives, Nipun Mehrotra, director, IBM Global Technology Services, stated, “After years of cost-cutting and efficiency campaigns, business leaders in companies of every size and across the industry spectrum are refocused on top-line growth and they’re seeing innovation as the means to achieve it. The role of the CIO should be focused on establishing the right infrastructure, culture and climate for business model innovation. CIOs should lead by example and make the IT organization a role model for the rest of the organization.”

The study also underlined the need for CIOs to become customer-centric and a credible business partner for CEOs by creating a flexible, responsive infrastructure that is better equipped to answer the needs of an innovative organization.

It further stressed that CIOs should be proactive in creating deep partnerships and forming alliances that extend beyond traditional boundaries. They need to help create a culture and climate that encourage innovation and reward innovative thinking and the results achieved.

CIOs in India need to be a business executive first and technologist second and they need to close the gap between business and IT by building the hybrid skill sets that enable IT professionals to understand the needs of the business, stated IBM.

“CEOs know that the success of their organization’s innovation efforts isn’t just about aligning business and IT; today it’s about being totally in sync and driving business value together,” concluded Mehrotra.