THE IT SYMPOSIUM/XPOTM WILL PROVIDE THE TOOLS NEEDED FOR INSIGHT, INSPIRATION, AND ACTION

Interview with Jan-Martin Löwendahl, Chair of the Gartner IT Symposium/XpoTM

Jan-Martin Löwendahl: ‘The IT Symposium/XpoTM will provide the tools needed for insight, inspiration, and action’

GARTNER IS LOOKING AHEAD TO GARTNER EMEA’S GARTNER IT SYMPOSIUM/XPOTM FROM 8 TO 11 NOVEMBER 2021, UNDER THE THEME OF REACH BEYOND. CIOS AND OTHER IT DECISION-MAKERS WILL GET THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE MOMENTUM GENERATED BY THE CORONA IRUS ANDEMIC IT HAS RO EN THROUGHOUT THE ANDEMIC UST HOW CRITICAL IT IS FOR COM ANIES TO CARRY ON O ERATING DURING A DISRU TION SAYS GARTNER S AN-MARTIN L WENDAHL NOW WE WANT TO RO IDE GUIDANCE THAT ENABLES CIOS TO TAKE THE LEAD BUILDING A DIGITAL BUSINESS STRATEGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE BASED ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY.’

By: Martijn regting

Jan-Martin wendahl’s day job is Research Vice resident at Gartner, but he has also been Chair of Gartner’s IT Symposium poTM in EMEA since . In this second role, wendahl serves as a liaison o cer between Gartner and the event organizer responsible for the content of the schedule and the presentations. His first year was a jump straight into the deep end – to put it mildly – all thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘It was the first time Gartner went fully digital for such a big event. We had so many more attendees, and that’s the advantage of a virtual event. The disadvantage is that the interaction between speakers and visitors, and among visitors themselves was rather limited. This year, we had long hoped to have a hybrid event. But we recently decided to keep our landmark IT event completely virtual this year; we’re now focusing on how best to do this, based what we learned from organizing it in .’

STEEP LEARNING CURVE

The pandemic and resulting virtual event in created a steep learning curve in what works best digitally to provide CIOs with advice, information, and food for thought, says wendahl. ‘We’re not quite there when it comes to the best formats for presentations. Half-hour breakout sessions are actually still too long, for example. But we are learning to be more modular in how we structure the event. Some subjects take up more time or call for more interactivity than others. And at lunchtime, you don’t have to offer that many digital modules, because people tend to want to have a quiet lunch to themselves.’

A second crucial lesson is about how interactive the sessions should be. This year, Gartner is committed to providing its analysts with many more opportunities to vary the interaction with virtual visitors at their own discretion and to enable more peer-to-peer interaction. Visitors – whether virtual or physical – also want to be able to talk to each other about what they’re ge ng out of a session.

‘Unfortunately, there’s no way to completely replicate a physical location. In Barcelona, we had an array of possibilities for all kinds of meeting rooms and plenary sessions. You’d think the possibilities with a digital event are endless, but there are technical limitations when it comes to managing the pla orm and quality.’

And that’s a shame, thinks wendahl, because the Gartner IT Symposium poTM is also meant to help people really connect with one another. ‘We’ve had half a million virtual meetings with clients over the past year, so scalability is no problem. But meeting in person is often more productive, because you’re together in the

AN-MARTIN LOWENDAHL

same physical environment. We hope that this year, or by 2022 at the latest, we’ll be able to scale up.’

REACH BEYOND: LOOKING AHEAD

With the theme of Reach Beyond, this year’s focus is on the business outcomes of technology. In terms of content, the theme already underlines the need for CIOs to look ahead to a postCOVID IT strategy: technology leadership in a world disrupted. In terms of the format, Löwendahl also hopes to set a new standard for the symposium in 2022.

This year, virtual visitors can expect thirteen topics within three main tracks: technological innovation, leadership, and business strategy. ‘Technology still dominates agenda at , but that’s down from . Much more attention has been paid to questions like: do you have the right strategy and IT leaders to make that technology work for your organization? There’s no point having the technology if you, as a CIO, can’t convince executives and employees how to get the most out of it for the business.’

BUILD ON MOMENTUM

eople are tired of coronavirus now, notes wendahl. They want to cast any fears aside and look ahead. ‘For CIOs and other IT decision-makers, this means building on the momentum generated by the pandemic push toward digital. As a CIO, you’ve seen how interested the board is in this, demonstrating how IT has managed to overcome the disruption to society and business caused by COVID-19. Now, we want to give them the tools to build on this, so they can... reach beyond.’

The leadership track is intended to help CIOs harness relationships built up inside and outside their own organization over the past eighteen months to maximize momentum and drive IT to the next level. How you do that to improve the support of the business is a core part of the well-established business strategy track. You’ll see that reflected in Gartner’s vision of a composable business and a composable enterprise.

COMPOSABLE BUSINESS

The idea of a composable business rests on four basic principles: more speed through discovery, greater agility through modularity, better leadership through orchestration, and resilience through autonomy. ‘Companies that work with these basic principles can seize business opportunities faster more revenue and profit , run fewer risks, and reduce their operating costs,’ wendahl outlines. ‘You can then respond more quickly to changing market conditions with your organization, your processes, and your employees.’

And these conditions are changing faster and faster. The coronavirus is a perfect example of this, according to the chemist by education. ‘We’ve known how to make an mRNA-based vaccine for ten years. The problem was always how to administer it and how to scale it up quickly. The pandemic has greatly accelerated research into this, but that required a rapid shift for all the organizations involved, from pharmacists to municipal health services.’

GROWING CORRELATION

IT has long supported an organization’s mission and its processes. However, there is a growing correlation between business and digitalization. Technology is growing in importance, so there are many that the three tracks tie in with one another. The keynote of the symposium – technology leadership in a world disrupted – will also address the interrelationships between IT leadership, technological innovation, and business strategy.

Gartner also wants to convey the message that IT is no longer a barrier to business challenges and opportunities. IT has proven that technology facilitates communication and collaboration all over: create everywhere, connect anywhere.

wendahl continues, ‘The obstacle is now helping people discover those opportunities and overcoming the challenges: in essence, it’s about empowering people. imitation is in the culture of organizations, in the mindset of managers and employees. All this – how we capitalize on technology and IT leadership to achieve business goals and ambitions – culminates in the theme of Reach Beyond.’

THREE TAKEAWAYS

What does Löwendahl hope CIOs and other IT decision-makers will take away from the Gartner event? He concludes with three points:

• First of all, insight into the business outcomes of technology for their sector and their organization. • Second, it’s about inspiration for CIOs, showing them that they really can have an impact on how their organization can take new steps after the pandemic to face the future with confidence. • Third, and this is often the most di cult part for both organizers and visitors: Give CIOs the tools to deliver real concrete actions: ‘This is what I will do on the Monday after the symposium. I know that we can demonstrate what the business outcomes are, and I know we can inspire CIOs. I hope that this year we can really help translate insight and inspiration into concrete actions.’