每位首席信息官（CIO）必须回答的10个数字化转型问题

数字化转型已成为企业成功的重要组成部分。然而，组织仍在努力做到正确。

根据 TEKsystems 的 2023 年数字化转型状况，41% 的组织数字化转型 （DX） 计划未能实现预期结果。另一项名为《2023 年智能信息管理行业现状》的研究也得出了类似的数字，发现三分之一的公司尚未在数字化转型方面取得重大成功。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

那些达不到要求的人可能错过了表明需要采取并设定新路线的迹象。但对于那些花时间去看的人来说，迹象就在那里。

为此，CIO.com 请了六位长期的IT领导者——现任和前任首席信息官以及顾问和执行顾问——分享他们认为首席信息官应该问自己的问题，以确定他们是在走向成功还是即将冲上岩石。他们想出了以下 10 个。

一、这项举措是关于优化还是关于增长和颠覆？

“很多时候，当有人被问及他们正在为转型做些什么时，他们会说，’我要把我的工作负载迁移到云’或’我要转向云原生开发’。这不是数字化转型。数字化转型是指您帮助公司发展和颠覆，“云服务公司Infosys Cobalt的执行副总裁Anant Adya说。数字化转型网szhzxw.cCXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

例如，一项计划应该使公司能够增加收入，或者应该改善客户和员工体验，Adya说。

因此，首席信息官需要明确他们的计划将带来的结果，并且他们能够以顶线和/或底线数字来衡量和报告这些结果。

作为一个例子，Adya 引用了医疗保健付款人采取的转型计划，他们希望增加更多客户以实现增长。该公司利用技术将新客户入职所需的时间从大约九个月缩短到仅两个月，从而实现了更快的增长。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

二、我是否使用数据来推动我的转型战略？

或者换句话说：“我是否有一个数据驱动的流程来识别和优先考虑数字化转型计划？阿迪亚问道。

阿迪亚说，许多高管的回答是否定的。数字化转型网szhzxw.cCXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

尽管领导团队呼吁数据驱动，但研究发现大多数团队都不是。印孚瑟斯的《数字雷达 2023》报告发现，目前只有 5% 的企业拥有或正在实施实时数据方法。

因此，Adya 说，大多数高管都有一种从众心理，例如，“每个人都在转向 Kubernetes，所以我也应该这样做。

“他们应该问，’这对我的组织或公司来说是正确的吗？这只能通过数据来回答，“阿迪亚说。“使用你拥有的数据，并尝试具体地理解你试图解决的问题。

Adya再次指出医疗保健付款人，该公司分析了10年的数据，确定了实现新客户收入所需的时间长度，并将其与加入他们所需的时间联系起来。数字化转型网szhzxw.cCXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

三、我的策略是围绕要解决的问题还是技术来组织的？

哥伦比亚商学院教员、《数字化转型路线图》（2023 年）和《数字化转型手册》（2016 年）的作者大卫·罗杰斯（David Rogers）说，围绕要解决的问题组织转型工作流的首席信息官们走在正确的轨道上。

“我见过的每一次成功的数字化转型都是围绕要解决的战略问题或增长机会组织的，”他补充道。

罗杰斯解释说，这个想法是让一个常设团队致力于对企业持续挑战的领域，这样团队就可以真正专注于转型，随着时间的推移带来改进。例如，全渠道零售商希望团队围绕订单履行进行组织，在这个领域，零售商不断面临挑战，以更好地满足客户期望，并在这样做方面超越竞争对手。然后，团队可以不惜一切代价解决这一领域的问题，罗杰斯说，“无论是提出新的流程、人员、培训、机器人技术，还是任何可以改进它的东西。这为团队提供了要实现的业务成果，而不仅仅是要交付的 IT 功能。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

四、我是否让前线人员制定数字化转型计划？

根据罗杰斯的说法，答案应该是肯定的。

“你需要一线人员，因为业务部门每天都有人与客户交谈，”他说，并补充说，虽然最高管理层对转型的支持至关重要，但较低层员工提供的一线视角是那些能够确定需要变革的地方并能够真正影响业务的观点。

“你的转型不应该完全由领导团队从高层规划，”他解释道。“您需要组织转型，以提出和支持来自业务部门、面向客户的团队和人力资源等职能部门的新数字计划的想法。”CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnzhzxw.c

五、我是否确定并使用正确的业务指标来衡量进度？

大多数首席信息官已经超越了使用传统的 IT 指标（如正常运行时间和应用程序可用性）来确定技术驱动的计划是否成功。尽管如此，不能保证首席信息官使用最合适的指标来衡量DX计划的进展，数字支持合作伙伴Randstad Digital的首席执行官Venu Lambu说。

“将技术 KPI 与业务成果相关联非常重要，”他解释道。如果您的企业希望加快上市时间、提高客户参与度或提高客户保留率，那么 CIO 应该衡量这些标准来确定成功。

其他人也同意。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnhzxw.c

“要问的问题是，’我是否在衡量价值，我是如何做到的？’”ServiceNow公共部门全球负责人、前美国陆军首席信息官Raj Iyer说。“数字化转型就是衡量价值，它是根据对业务重要的事情来衡量价值。”

六、DX预算和完成时间表吗？

对其中任何一个的肯定答案都表明存在问题，因为专家强调，转型不是一项需要承担和完成的任务，而是一项运营和战略要求，应该融入组织所做的一切。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnzhzxw.c

罗杰斯承认其中的挑战，他说：“转型的恒定性对公司来说是最困难的事情。对于成熟的组织来说尤其如此，由于其规模和复杂性，它们不擅长变革。

罗杰斯说，这就是为什么许多数字原生公司在成功的DX方面不再拥有曾经的优势。

“现在不是公司（开始）前数字时代而不是数字原生代。今天，这是关于成熟公司与非成熟公司，“他补充道。

这不是一个无法克服的局面。罗杰斯在他的新书中介绍了DX领导者的老牌公司，并确定了它们的共同点。

“他们对自己要去哪里、为什么，以及为什么他们应该走这条路有一个明确的愿景。他们有选择最重要的问题的纪律，他们擅长迭代验证企业，“他说。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnxw.c

其他区别：DX不被视为具有自己预算的项目，甚至不被视为由CIO领导的IT计划。

Rogers 说：“我看到它工作的地方是它真正由业务部门领导的地方，IT 是一个关键的支持功能，或者两者密切合作的地方。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

七、转型是全公司范围的吗？

首席信息官们同样应该检查转型是在整个组织中发生，还是只发生在口袋里。

“运营功能障碍或功能孤岛经常阻碍企业范围的成功转型。我们经常看到公司投资于某些职能的数字化转型，而不是其他职能，这导致能力和经验差距对客户、利益相关者和内部都很明显，“专业服务公司毕马威美国咨询全国管理负责人 Atif Zaim 解释道。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

“想象一下，你使用一个无缝的、用户友好的应用程序来购买新产品，但当你需要退货时，却有一个具有挑战性和过时的客户服务体验，”扎伊姆说，并指出对于公司来说，“这种增量方法产生了渐进式创新，并以最小的投资回报率增加了成本。

这是一种常见的情况。他引用了 KMPG 的 2022 年报告《企业创新：愿景与执行的差距》，该报告发现 69% 的受访者将运营功能障碍归咎于“孤立的创新心态”。

“首席信息官必须采取整体方法来了解组织中可能存在的障碍或挑战。转型可能从他们的 IT 团队开始，但他们必须让整个企业的团队参与进来，以促进新想法、提供资金并庆祝成功，“他说。“首席信息官还可以问问自己，他们在提高非IT领导者的数字敏锐度方面的作用。当数字化熟练程度超越领导层以IT为中心的角色时，数字化转型的好处就更加明显。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

八、我所有的才能都准备好了吗——我在这方面是否采取了正确的行动？

首席信息官应该首先问问自己，他们是在招聘具有推动变革的思维方式和背景的人，还是只是在招聘技术技能？

罗杰斯说，首席信息官需要那些乐于与自己不同的人合作，根据数据做出决策，并在模棱两可的情况下工作的人。

“这些不是技术技能，所以如果你只专注于获得正确的技术技能，你产生影响的能力就会受到限制，”他补充道。

与此同时，兰布表示，首席信息官仍然需要他们的员工具备当前和未来数字化转型计划所需的技术技能，并且必须认识到提升技能的需求与转型本身一样恒定。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

此外，首席信息官必须以比过去快得多的速度进行持续培训，他说，并补充说，技术领导者还必须确认他们的合作伙伴正在采取类似的方法，以确保所有支持公司的供应商都同样有能力跟上步伐。

Taffet Associates的管理合伙人兼首席信息官Greg Taffet对此表示同意，但更进一步，称首席信息官应确保合作伙伴带来的技能与他们的内部技能相辅相成。

例如，Taffet说，首席信息官通常会选择实施合作伙伴，假设他们会带来必要的技能，然后在实施过程中培训IT人员。但首席信息官可能会高估技能或员工的可用学习时间。供应商也可能错误地估计了现有的内部技能，并低估了他们需要为参与带来哪些技能。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

“因此，在一开始就匹配[谁带来了什么技能]对于任何转型计划的成功都至关重要。否则，您将无法100%拥有所需的技能，“塔夫特补充道。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

9. 我有多少时间才能成功？

Laserfiche首席信息官托马斯·菲尔普斯（Thomas Phelps）这样说：“我想问的问题是，’我有多少跑道可以用于这项计划，竞争压力是什么？因为这个问题导致了预算问题和资源问题。如果我需要在六个月而不是两年内到达那里，这会影响我需要分配的预算和资源，以及组织在文化上是否可以足够快地改变以实现这一目标。在转型工作中，最糟糕的事情是低估所需的资源水平。这就是为什么在某些情况下，有开始和停止或计划没有回报或失败。

菲尔普斯也是技术领导组织Innovate@UCLA的执行主席，他继续说道：“重要的是要了解为什么，围绕时间表和计划目标的背景，并提出对组织来说现实的事情。然后，作为首席信息官，您可以为执行发起人和利益相关者提供选择。

是什么阻碍了DX？

专家说，这个问题可以揭示很多问题。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

例如，组织可能在IT或其他职能领域制定过时或过于严格的政策，从而阻碍数字化转型或速度。这些政策可能会限制安全措施或繁琐的审批，以试点生成式人工智能等新技术。

“你必须有让你答应的政策，”ServiceNow的Iyer说。

Iyer在担任陆军首席信息官时遇到了这种情况，他指出这些政策使共享数据变得困难，从而减缓了变革。因此，陆军修改了数据保护政策，并实施了改进的身份和访问控制。这些变化“使数据更加自由和可用”，同时确保所需的隐私和安全标准。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Taffet说，利益相关者也可能成为阻碍的来源，并解释说，他与一家公司合作，其中单个利益相关者的需求被证明不可能在现有计划中解决。

“增加这个要求会淘汰许多其他功能，”塔夫特说，并补充说利益相关者的要求是抵制变革，专注于他部门的需求，而不是公司的战略目标。CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

在这种情况下，首席信息官可以为整个管理团队列出业务方面的权衡，显示为了满足这些需求而将失去什么。

“这是关于指导选择是什么，并让其他人通过决策，”塔夫特说。“作为首席信息官，我们需要提供正确的信息，以便他们能够确定什么是正确的前进方式。

英文原文：

10 digital transformation questions every CIO must answer

Impactful DX requires a business-centric approach supported by the right skills, culture, and strategy. Here’s how to assess whether your digital journey is on the path to success.

Digital transformation has become an essential part of business success. Yet, organizations still struggle with getting it right.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

According to TEKsystems’ 2023 State of Digital Transformation, 41% of organizations’ digital transformation (DX) initiatives have failed to achieve their desired outcomes. Another study, the 2023 State of the Intelligent Information Management Industry, turned up similar numbers, finding that one-third of companies have yet to achieve significant success with their DX efforts.

Those who are falling short may have missed signs indicating the need to tack and set a new course. But the signs are there, for those who take the time to look.

To that end, CIO.com asked a half-dozen longtime IT leaders — current and former CIOs as well as consultants and executive advisers — to share the questions they think CIOs should ask themselves to determine whether they’re sailing to success or about to dash onto the rocks. They came up with the following 10.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

1. Is this initiative about optimization or about growth and disruption?

“A lot of times when somebody is asked what they’re doing for transformation, they say, ‘I’m moving my workloads to cloud’ or ‘I’m moving to cloud-native development.’ That’s not digital transformation. Digital transformation is when you’re helping the company grow and disrupt,” says Anant Adya, an executive vice president of cloud services company Infosys Cobalt.

For example, an initiative should enable the company to grow its revenue or it should improve customer and worker experiences, Adya says.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Consequently, CIOs need to be clear on the outcomes their initiatives will deliver and that they can measure and report on those outcomes in top- and/or bottom-line figures.

As a case in point, Adya cites a transformation initiative undertaken by a healthcare payor, who wanted to add more customers to grow. The company used technology to cut the time it took to onboard new customers from about nine months to just two, thereby enabling much more rapid growth.

2. Am I using data to drive my transformation strategy?

Or put another way:“Do I have a data-driven process for identifying and prioritizing digital transformation programs?” Adya asks.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Adya says many executives answer no.

Despite leadership teams calling to be data-driven, studies find that most are not. Infosys’ Digital Radar 2023 report found that only 5% of enterprises currently have or are implementing a live data approach.

Consequently, Adya says most executives have a herd mentality, thinking, for example, “Everyone is moving to Kubernetes, so I should, too.”CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Consequently, CIOs need to be clear on the outcomes their initiatives will deliver and that they can measure and report on those outcomes in top- and/or bottom-line figures.

As a case in point

As a case in point, Adya cites a transformation initiative undertaken by a healthcare payor, who wanted to add more customers to grow. The company used technology to cut the time it took to onboard new customers from about nine months to just two, thereby enabling much more rapid growth.

The idea, Rogers explains, is to have a standing team working on areas that are persistently challenging to the enterprise so the team can truly focus on transforming it, bringing improvements over time. An omnichannel retailer, for example, would want a team organized around order fulfilment, an area where retailers are constantly challenged to do better to meet customer expectations and best their competitors at doing so. The team can then work on whatever it takes to solve the problems in this area, Rogers says, “whether it’s coming up with new processes, people, training, robotics, anything that can improve it.” That gives the team a business outcome to reach, not merely IT functionalities to deliver.

“They should be asking,‘Is this the right thing to do for my organization or my company?’ And that can only be answered by the data,” Adya says. “Use the data you have and try to be specific to understand the problem you’re trying to solve.”CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Adya again points to the healthcare payor, which analyzed 10 years’ worth of data, identifying the length of time it took to realize revenue from new customers and linking it back to the time it took to onboard them.

3. Is my strategy organized around problems to solve, or technologies?

CIOs who organize transformation workstreams around problems to solve are on the right track, says David Rogers, a faculty member at Columbia Business School and author of The Digital Transformation Roadmap (2023) and The Digital Transformation Playbook (2016).

“Every successful digital transformation I’ve seen is organized around a strategy problem to solve or a growth opportunity,” he adds.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

4. Am I engaging people on the front lines to formulate DX plans?

According to Rogers, the answer should be yes.

“You need people on the front lines, because it is the business units who have people out there talking to customers every day,” he says, adding that while C-suite support for transformation is crucial, the front-line perspectives offered by lower-tier employees are those that can identify where change is needed and can truly impact the business.

“Your transformation should not be planned entirely from the top by the leadership team,” he explains. “You need to organize your transformation to both surface and support ideas for new digital initiatives that are coming from business units, from customer-facing teams and from functions like HR.”

5. Am I identifying and using the right business metrics to measure progress?

Most CIOs have moved beyond using traditional IT metrics like uptime and application availability to determine whether a tech-driven initiative is successful. Still, there’s no guarantee that CIOs use the most appropriate metrics for measuring progress on a DX program, says Venu Lambu, CEO of Randstad Digital, a digital enablement partner.

“It’s important to have the technology KPIs linked to business outcomes,” he explains. If your business wants to have faster time to market, improved customer engagement, or increased customer retention, those are what CIOs should measure to determine success.

Others agree.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

“The question to ask is, ‘Am I measuring value and how am I doing it?’” says Raj Iyer, global head of public sector at ServiceNow and former US Army CIO. “Digital transformation is all about measuring value, and it’s about measuring value in terms of what matters to the business.”

6. Do I have a DX budget and completion timeline?

An affirmative answer to either of those indicates a problem, as experts stress that transformation isn’t a task to undertake and complete but an operational and strategic imperative that should be woven into all the organization does.

Rogers acknowledges the challenges of that, saying “the constancy of transformation is the hardest thing for companies.” That’s particularly true for established organizations, which aren’t good at change due to their size and complexity.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

That’s why, Rogers says, many digital-native companies no longer have the advantage they once had when it comes to successful DX.

“Now it’s not companies [which started] pre-digital era versus digital natives. Today it’s about established companies versus not,” he adds.

This is not an insurmountable situation. Rogers in his latest book profiled established companies that are DX leaders and identified elements they have in common.

“They have a defined vision of where they’re going and why, and why they in particular should pursue that path. They have the discipline of picking the problems that matter most, and they’re good at validating ventures iteratively,” he says.

Other distinguishing points: DX is not treated as a project with its own budget, or even an IT program led by the CIO.

“Where I’ve seen it work is where it’s really led by the business and IT is a critical supporting function or where it’s the two in close partnership,” Rogers says.

7 Is transformation companywide?

CIOs should similarly be examining whether transformation is happening across the organization or is it only occurring in pocketsCXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnc

“Too often operational dysfunction or functional siloes get in the way of successful, enterprise-wide transformation. We often see firms invest in digital transformation for some functions but not others as quickly, which results in a capability and experience gap that can be evident to customers, stakeholders, and internally as well,” explains Atif Zaim, national managing principal for advisory at professional services firm KPMG US.

“Imagine you use a seamless, user-friendly app to purchase a new product, but then have a challenging and outdated customer service experience when you need to make a return,” Zaim says, noting that for the company “this sort of incremental approach yields incremental innovation and increases cost with minimal ROI.”

It’s a common scenario. He cites KMPG’s 2022 report Enterprise Innovation: The vision-execution gap, which found that 69% of respondents blamed operational dysfunction on “a siloed innovation mentality.”

“CIOs must take a holistic approach to understanding where roadblocks or challenges might exist in an organization. A transformation might start with their IT team, but they must engage teams from across the business to promote new ideas, provide funding, and celebrate success,” he says. “CIOs also can ask themselves about their role in enhancing the digital acumen of non-IT leaders. When digital proficiency extends beyond IT-focused roles at the leadership level, the benefits from digital transformation are more pronounced.”

8: Is all my talent ready — and am I making the right moves on this front?

CIOs should first ask themselves whether they’re hiring people with the mindset and background to drive change or just hiring for tech skills?CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Rogers says CIOs need people who are comfortable collaborating with those different than themselves, making decisions on data, and working with ambiguity.

“Those aren’t technical skills, so if you’re just focused on acquiring the right tech skills, you’ll be limited in your ability to deliver impact,” he adds.

At the same time, Lambu says CIOs still need their workers to have the tech skills required for current and future DX initiatives and must recognize that the need to upskill is as constant as transformation itself.

Moreover, CIOs must enable that continuous training at a much faster pace than in the past, he says, adding that tech leaders must also confirm that their partners are taking a similar approach to ensure all vendors supporting the company are equally capable of keeping pace.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Greg Taffet, managing partner and CIO with Taffet Associates, agrees, but goes one step further, saying CIOs should ensure the skills brought by their partners complement their in-house skills.

For example, Taffet says, CIOs typically select implementation partners assuming they’ll bring the necessary skills and then train the IT staff during the implementation process. But CIOs may overestimate the skills or the staff’s available time for learning. The vendors, too, may miscalculate the existing in-house skills and underestimate what skills they need to bring to the engagement.

“So matching up [who brings what skills] at the very beginning is critical to the success of any transformation initiative. Otherwise, you won’t have 100% of the needed skills,” Taffet adds.

9. How much time do I have to be successful?

Laserfiche CIO Thomas Phelps puts it this way: “The question I’d ask is, ‘How much runway do I have for this initiative, and what are the competitive pressures?’ Because that question leads to the budget question and the resource questions. If I need to get there in six months versus two years, that impacts the budgets and resources I need to allocate and culturally whether the organization can change fast enough to get there as well. The worst thing to do in a transformation effort is to underestimate the level of resources needed. That’s why there are situations where there are starts and stops or initiatives that don’t pay off or fail.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnc

Phelps, who is also executive chair at Innovate@UCLA, a technology leadership organization, continues, saying, “It’s important to understand the why, the context around the timeframe and the objectives of the initiative and to propose what’s realistic for the organization. Then as CIO you can give the executive sponsor and stakeholders options.”

10. What’s holding up DX?

This one question could uncover a lot of issues, experts say.

For example, the organization may have policies — either in IT or in other functional areas — that are outdated or too restrictive and thus hindering the transformation or the speed of DX. Those policies could be constricting security measures or cumbersome approvals for piloting new technologies such as generative AI.

“You’ve got to have policies that get you to yes,” ServiceNow’s Iyer says.

Iyer came across such scenarios when he was Army CIO, pointing to policies that made sharing data difficult and, thus, slowed down change. So the Army revamped data protection policies and implemented improved identity and access controls. Those changes “made the data much freer and available” while ensuring required privacy and security standards.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

Stakeholders can also be sources of holdup, Taffet says, explaining that he worked with one company where a single stakeholder’s requirement demand was proving impossible to address within an existing initiative.

“Adding this one requirement would have knocked out a lot of other functionality,” Taffet says, adding that the stakeholder’s demand was about resisting change and focusing on his department’s needs rather than the company’s strategic goals.CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cn

The CIO in such situations can lay out for the whole management team the tradeoffs in business terms, showing what will be lost in order to meet such demands.

“It’s about mentoring on what the options are and getting others through the decision-making,” Taffet says. “As CIOs, we need to supply the right information so they can determine what’s the right way to go forward.”CXO UNION CXO联盟 cxounion.cnxw.c

本文由CXO UNION-CXO联盟（cxounion.cn）转载而成，来源于cio.com；编辑/翻译：CXO UNIONCXO联盟小C。

如需加入CXO UNION（CXO联盟）高管社群，请联系社群小伙伴哦~

免责声明: 本网站(http://www.cxounion.cn/)内容主要来自原创、合作媒体供稿和第三方投稿，凡在本网站出现的信息，均仅供参考。本网站将尽力确保所提供信息的准确性及可靠性，但不保证有关资料的准确性及可靠性，读者在使用前请进一步核实，并对任何自主决定的行为负责。本网站对有关资料所引致的错误、不确或遗漏，概不负任何法律责任。

本网站刊载的所有内容(包括但不仅限文字、图片、LOGO、音频、视频、软件、程序等) 版权归原作者所有。任何单位或个人认为本网站中的内容可能涉嫌侵犯其知识产权或存在不实内容时，请及时通知本站，予以删除。