IT leaders must be hands-off helicopter parents
CIO panel agrees: Employees want IT to do everything, but they don't want to see it
Modern IT teams can no longer restrict themselves to just managing technology; they're part of every business process from finance to HR.
So said panellists at Computing's IT Heroes Roadshow in Birmingham this week, produced in partnership with Intel and Softcat.
Many IT leaders have enjoyed their increased influence post-pandemic. Senior executives are more likely to view the department as a centre for revenue, not costs - but with that has also brought more reliance on tech teams to solve business problems.
That goes beyond business inefficiencies; it's to the point where tech is used to attract new starters.
Nick Ioannou of Goodlord said he felt like "part of the HR team."
Jeff Kilford, client category director at Intel, said one of IT's responsibilities today is to "deliver these amazing experiences to attract people into the organisation," which makes especial sense in the context of hybrid working. Demand for a seamless experience, replicating what we get on personal devices, has never been higher.
IT leaders also need to keep doing what they were doing pre-pandemic, helping staff work "in ways where they don't feel the protective layers we're putting around them to protect their identity and their privacy - and then we're also protecting the IP of the company."
The hands-off helicopter parent
The effect is piling more pressure on senior IT figures, of a different type than the technical demands they're familiar with.
Kelly Calver, Softcat's workspace services senior team leader, described it as: "'Protect me - but I don't want to see it. Help me innovate - but don't make me work too hard. Give me access to everything everywhere - but please don't call me after 5pm.‘"
She added, "You do have those added pressures, and the poor IT director is the harried parent, trying to keep everyone wrapped in cotton wool but give them every possible opportunity they have."
IT leaders must be hands-off helicopter parents
CIO panel agrees: Employees want IT to do everything, but they don't want to see it
Modern IT teams can no longer restrict themselves to just managing technology; they're part of every business process from finance to HR.
Stop talking about digital transformation
Joanna Smith, interim CIO at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, highlighted a problem with the language used around business transformation.
"We should stop talking about digital transformation. It's just transformation. So to that point, suddenly everyone's looking to the IT director, the CIO - and actually it's business change and business transformation…
"You can't drive business change just through putting a new piece of hardware or new software in. It's all about the business."
Dealing with the pace of change
New tech tools are released thick and fast, and what's suitable today might hold you back next year.
It's something every IT leader with purchasing power needs to keep in mind.
"When I see poor decisions based on the device, where they're looking at just adequately running the workloads of today and not legislating for the unknown workloads of two years, three years, however long the asset's got to live - that's when I see really big problems creeping in in a very short timeframe," said Jeff.
The organisations that thrive, year after year, are the ones that choose an "appropriate" device that combines "protect and unleash."
Nick agreed, adding that he always tries to over-spec.
"Don't buy just to get across the line, really look at where you're going to be [in the future]. Is the operating system going to grow in two years? Of course it will. Will it be nearly twice the size? Possibly."
Recent Computing research shows that employees lose up to a whole workday each year, just waiting for an old device to boot up.
"Spending £1,000 [on a new laptop] is an easy win. It's much better to get people their time back, if you can, through hardware," he added.
The whole panel discussion contained many more insights into the lives of modern IT decision makers - a topic we'll be discussing next month at the IT Leaders Summit. This free event takes place in Down Hall Hotel, near Stansted, and Computing is paying for everything. Click here to find out more.