Advances in mobile connectivity and the technological advances this has enabled a digital transformation affecting the way consumers view the world and what they expect from the businesses that serve them.
Consumers have been given access to instant information and the ability to control almost every aspect of their lives from their smartphone. Fueling demand for speed and convenience and real-time customer support that is disrupting traditional business models.
CIOs are leading this technological transformation as they innovate and adapt to the opportunities and threats that the transformation has created.
Delivering this transformation has required a new way of thinking, not just in how businesses interact with their consumers, but also the infrastructure and processes that support it.
Business is now able to be agiler with their infrastructure, using the cloud to reduce the need for capital expenditure while focusing on efficiency and customer outcomes in the new technology they implement.
Digital Transformation In Finance & Beyond
Smartphones and app-based technology are the centrepieces that are driving digital transformation with consumers. Mobile apps and the advances using the internet of things can now be leveraged to monitor daily activitieslike home security and energy consumption, to process payments. In the UK mobile apps have already become the leading way that consumers manage their finances, overtaking service delivery models such as the traditional branch network. Last year alone there were more than 9.6m account logins per day. This is the tip of the iceberg; financial technological change is disrupting the entire industry. Bitcoin and payment processors are challenging the existing banking model while contactless payment systems are changing the way consumers pay for goods and services, increasing the demand for business services oriented to increase experience and smart products as customer experience is becoming the only competitive differentiator. The financial services industry has to innovate and deliver new sources of value to customers faster.
The Role of The CIO
New technologies represent an enormous opportunity for IT leaders to play a leading role as drivers of transformational change. This disruption and how they position their businesses to adapt and innovate is vital to the future success of the organisation. CIOs need to establish cross-functional collaboration around the digital initiative, fostering a culture of innovation, focusing not only on these new operational requirements but also on capabilities, like keeping legacy IT services within limited budgets while also increasing digital transformation. Taking their role beyond the operational excellence and working on issues such as process improvements and developing strategic architecture plan, taking charge of the innovation pipeline.
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