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CONVERT TECHNOLOGY INTO BUSINESS VALUE
TRENDS LIKE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE WAR FOR TALENT ARE HAVING A DRAMATIC IMPACT NOT ONLY ON ORGANIZATIONS, BUT ALSO ON THE CIO’S ROLE IN GUIDING THESE CHANGES. TO HELP CIOS IN THEIR ROLE AS BUSINESS LEADERS, GARTNER HAS CREATED THE EXECUTIVE PROGRAM, WHICH SEES EXECUTIVES WITH REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE SUPPORTING CIOS. ONE OF THEM IS BART DE VLEESCHAUWER.
By: Marco van der Hoeven
“Virtually my whole career has been about gearing up for my current role at Gartner,” says Bart de Vleeschauwer, Executive Partner at Gartner. “Not intentionally of course, but it just worked out like that.” After graduating from university, where he obtained a doctorate in computer science and networking, he held a number of technical roles in telecoms. “I’ve led research teams working on new technological innovations.
At Telenet, I managed an architecture team. Working with the business teams and understanding the customer was always essential if we wanted to create added value.” His most recent role before Gartner was Corporate Strategy Manager at Telenet, a Belgian cable network company. “There I was responsible for strategy, so setting out the broad direction for business and making decisions for the company’s future alongside senior management. In a lot of these decisions, technology played a central role. Turning technology into business value was my main driving force throughout my career.” “One of the key trends I see in customers on the Gartner Executive Program is that technology has become a vital part of the business. The trick is to draw on Gartner research and our hands-on experience to help our customers make an impact on key priorities at their company. It’s about a much broader context than IT alone, because technology has become more and more central in the business.”
CONTINUOUS CHANGE
One constant in technology is the continuous change that happens in different places at the same time. “The business world is now evolving faster than ever. This is driven by new technologies, but also by new methodologies: looking at the corporate culture and structure to make the most of this technology.” “I have steered through that change at different times in my career, and it’s also my ambition to do so again at Gartner. For organizations, it’s essential to build on and adapt to ongoing technological developments. We no longer live in a world where you can learn everything ahead of time. In today’s world, you need to have the right mindset to be able to change constantly. Gartner also plays a key role in providing the right data and insights.”
THE ROLE OF THE CIO
One of the skills a CIO needs is the ability to tell a story. “The CIO is not only the business enabler, but the person who sets the organization’s course. Stakeholder management and storytelling are essential to this. It is about translating complex technology concepts for stakeholders into an easy-to-follow story that makes the essential trade-offs crystal clear. That way, the CIO’s colleagues and the board will be able to make the right decisions. Certainly with the high inflation, talent shortages and supply chain challenges we’re seeing now, making the right decisions when it comes to technology will be essential for companies to succeed.” “The board’s decisions on digitalization have far-reaching consequences on evolving business models, future growth, costs, security, and risk. The CIO is seen as the one who can explain the impact of the various options, assess and explain the risks, and help the board reach decisions.” De Vleeschauwer is seeing this change to the role of CIO in practice at more and more organizations. “A bank or an insurer today isn’t like a bank or insurer ten years ago, but one that is fundamentally changing through digital transformation. The CIO is the one who needs to explain what the possibilities are and what these mean in terms of technology. Within the government sector, digital transformation also represents a major change in the way ‘customers’ – or rather citizens – access services.”
WAR FOR TALENT
One theme De Vleeschauwer believes is sure to crop up this fall is the war for talent – the huge shortage on the labor market that organizations face. “We’re seeing there’s a strong need for talent on the one hand, and on the other hand some people
BART DE VLEESCHAUWER
are looking at work and lifestyle in a different light after COVID. As a company, it’s really important to provide a clear and holistic employee value proposition.” “You could describe that as the way a company positions itself to employees, with an offer that goes far beyond just a salary and paid leave, for example. It is about an all-encompassing way of looking at employment, where growth opportunities, corporate culture, working from home, work-life balance, empowerment, ESG, diversity, and so on are paramount. A solid employee value proposition is important both to combat loss of talent and to recruit the right people on the labor market.”
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS
Finally, one trend that De Vleeschauwer believes links digital transformation and the quest for talent is the shift toward multidisciplinary teams. “In the past, the technology used was often up to the teams, who structured themselves around certain technology domains. But now, there is more of a shift to multidisciplinary teams, and technology is being integrated into the business. In these teams, business and technology work very closely together to bring about change, achieve business objectives, and create value. This is essential not only for shaping digital transformation effectively, but also for bringing about a change in culture; plus, it makes a business more attractive to the right talent.”
Gartner IT Symposium
These trends will be discussed at the Gartner Symposium in Barcelona. “Business Leadership is one of the core themes of the event. It’s high up on the agenda of every CIO, and it’s good that we are giving them the opportunity to talk to each other at the Gartner Symposium and share their experiences in workshops and peer connect sessions. Naturally, the symposium will cover the key technological trends and insights such as cloud, security, hyperautomation, ERP, data, and artificial intelligence. These technological evolutions are so significant, but we shouldn’t forget the other aspects that are high on a CIO’s agenda to succeed and get the right impact on the business.”
