Dive Brief:
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Technology is changing in the enterprise, with business leaders increasingly acknowledging its strategic role. In a new survey of 350 U.S. businesses, CompTIA found four in 10 companies say technology enables business processes and helps to drive business outcomes.
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Responsibilities that once solely belonged to the IT team are now often a collaboration between IT and the company’s lines of business, according to CompTIA. The rise of cross-department collaborations has showcased a "dramatic shift" from traditional technology roles, where IT used to play a supporting, underlying role in businesses.
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With IT now a strategic part of the business, the relevance of IT has increased, CompTIA says. Now business unites realize there is more to IT than what was "initially assumed." Now, more than one-third of companies are redefining business because of technology.
Dive Insight:
As tech becomes more of a strategic initiative for many companies, IT leaders have a unique opportunity to affect change and drive innovation.
Those that take advantage of the opportunity can drive competitive differentiation, but doing so in today’s environment is not easy. CIOs must first determine their most strategic needs and narrow in on department priorities to really capitalize on their role.
No matter what way business choose to use technology, a status quo approach won’t work, because digital transformation doesn’t appear to be going anywhere soon. Today, the typical CIO spends 18% of the budget on digitization, but by 2018 that number will increase to 28%, according to a recent study from Gartner.
