Enter Technology, Exit Bits and Bytes

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

By Tom Goorman, Managing Partner, Brussels

Changes in the ICT segment under the magnifying glass…

Checking your recent forecast via your iPhone’s "app"... Saving your data in the cloud. Reducing your cost of ownership by using business software as a service, monitoring your customer’s behavior on social media…

More than ever technology has brought tangible advantages to every day business life. The return on technological investment has become more and more visible in the corporate strategy of companies around the globe. This causes CIO’s to move out of the technical comfort zone to a business strategic "twilight" zone. Goals changed, business language changed, innovations lead the way to competitiveness… but how to deal with it?

Recent studies showed the four domains which occupy the minds of today’s CIO’s; flexibility, risk management, cost control and gapping the bridge with business stakeholders. On the pure technical level, they see themselves challenged on data storage/management, investigating the cloud and above all mobility. Deduction to be drawn from this evolution, is that sticking to the pure technical side of the story will thus cause ICT companies to miss the boat…

Moreover, the ICT landscape is nowadays less diversified through continuous consolidation of companies, resulting in fewer choice of technological partners in a market driven by the giants. Furthermore, technology as such has been changing rapidly; there is a strong convergence of the communications sector towards the Information Technology segment. Smartphones have affected the mobile communication segment, making them move to a data aware and content driven strategy. Communication companies enter the infrastructure sector, broadening their services in the cloud/storage environment. Major IT services companies have taken a firm stand in the business consulting area. Social Media are causing a partly similar wave of changes in corporate communication, as once email did. The pure technical barriers have been fading over the years, leaving ICT companies with an opportunity to diversify on other levels. The ICT biotope has become one where the best adapted will survive.

But what is the way to adapt? Listen, understand, dare to change. Positioning of technology as a solution to specific business challenges within the new context of flexibility and manageable risks at optimal cost of ownership. Abandon the pure technical discussion is key for ICT companies.

As ICT companies will have to talk business with their clients, understanding corporate strategies and endeavors , so will Executive Search firms have to talk business with their clients in technology. The changed ICT landscape urges Technology companies to develop or attract new competence within their talent pool. If we can understand their challenges in corporate strategy, and if we can adapt our approach, we will have a common goals as our clients: growing to be a trusted business partner for our clients. Before we look…we listen, understand and adapt!

 

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