Latest Episode
Join best-in-class technology leaders to learn how today’s top companies are driving digital transformations and maintaining an innovative edge amid a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.
Our agenda is below. CIOs and other technology leaders, register here to reserve your spot today, and stay tuned for more updates.
Noon
Welcome
Welcome and introduction to the Metis Strategy team.
Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
12:10 – 12:25
Fireside Chat: Barbara Lavernos, Deputy CEO, L’Oréal
Barbara shares lessons from the company’s remarkable transformation, which has fused science and technology to create cutting-edge beauty products and design new digital journeys for customers.
Barbara Lavernos, Deputy CEO for Research, Innovation, and Technology, L’Oréal
12:25 – 12:45
Panel: Digital Acceleration and Innovation in Times of Uncertainty
By all accounts, the global pandemic has further accelerated the already rapid pace of digital transformation and increased the urgency for more robust business capabilities across all aspects of organizational operating models and business ecosystems. In this context, many organizations have found ways to strengthen business capabilities for the benefit of all stakeholders. The global CIOs of Corteva Agriscience and Johnson & Johnson will share how their teams have found unique ways to innovate, achieve higher levels of agility, and build sustainable resilience in the face of ongoing uncertainty.
Debra King, SVP, Chief Information Officer and Chief Transformation Officer, Corteva Agriscience
Jim Swanson, EVP & Enterprise CIO, Johnson & Johnson
Moderated by Alex Kraus, Vice President and East Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
12:45 – 1:00
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Mickey Boodaei, Transmit Security
Just weeks ago, Transmit Security raised $543 million in Series A funding and had a pre-money valuation of $2.2 billion, marking the largest Series A in the history of cybersecurity and one of the highest valuations for a bootstrapped company. In this fireside chat, Transmit Founder and CEO Mickey Boodaei the evolution of identity and authentication as the world moves toward a post-password future.
Mickey Boodaei, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Transmit Security
Moderated by Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
1:00 – 1:20
Panel: How Fifth Third Bancorp Drives a Culture of Innovation
Fifth Third Bancorp is among the largest money managers in the Midwest, with $483 billion in assets under management as of June 30. Greg Carmichael, the company’s President, Chairman, and CEO, joined the company in 2003 as Chief Information Officer. In this discussion, he shares lessons learned on his path to the CEO role and chats with the company’s current CIO about the company’s investments in FinTech and its continued push to build world-class digital capabilities for its customers.
Greg Carmichael, Chief Executive Officer, Fifth Third Bank
Jude Schramm, Chief Information Officer, Fifth Third Bank
1:20 – 1:35
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Ed Jennings, Quickbase
The CEO of Quickbase describes how automation, low-code and no-code platforms are enabling organizational agility and the role of Citizen Automation in the future of work.
Ed Jennings, Chief Executive Officer, Quickbase
1:35 – 1:55
Panel: IT-Led Breakthroughs and the Digital Shift in Insurance
Technology leaders from two major insurance companies will discuss the role of IT in defining and enabling the future of work, IT-led digital breakthroughs, and the foundational changes that digital capabilities are bringing to the insurance industry.
Lisa Davis, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Blue Shield of California
Mike Shadler, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Pacific Life
Moderated by Chris Davis, Vice President & West Coast Lead, Metis Strategy
1:55 – 2:15
Panel: A People-Focused Approach to Transformation
Organizations increasingly acknowledge that creating an outstanding customer experience requires enabling an equally outstanding employee experience. In this session, technology leaders will discuss how digital efforts focused on people are driving engagement and enabling the development of new capabilities.
Mike Giresi, Chief Digital Technology Officer, Molex LLC
Tim Dickson, Chief Information Officer, Generac
Moderated by Steven Norton, Co-Head Executive Networks, Research, and Media, Metis Strategy
2:15 – 2:30
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Bernadette Nixon, Algolia
Algolia processes more than 1.5 trillion searches per year across more than 10,000 business customers. In this session, CEO Bernadette Nixon discusses what’s next for search and the growing role that APIs play in delivering seamless customer experiences.
Bernadette Nixon, Chief Executive Officer, Algolia
2:30 – 2:50
Panel: Combining AI and IoT to drive digital processes
Companies today rely on a rapidly evolving combination of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things applications as they modernize their operations for the digital age. In this discussion, technology leaders share their insights on successfully scaling and monitoring these digital processes to drive efficiency and product innovation.
Vagesh Dave, GVP & Chief Information Officer, McDermott International
Danielle Brown, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Whirlpool
Moderated by Michael Bertha, Managing Director and Central Office Lead, Metis Strategy
Click here for highlights from our last Digital Symposium, or view the panel discussions on YouTube.
In June, Sanjib Sahoo was named executive vice president and chief digital officer of Ingram Micro. He takes on this role with the company at an inflection point in its digital journey, as well as at a time of changing ownership for the company. Platinum Equity announced that it completed the acquisition of Ingram Micro from HNA Technology Co., Ltd, a part of HNA Group, on July 7, 2021 for a total enterprise value of $7.2 billion, in a transaction that includes $5.9 billion of equity value.
Ingram Micro’s CEO Alain Monie noted his excitement in Sahoo’s arrival at the company. “In his first few weeks in his new role as Chief Digital Officer, Sanjib has already proven to be an excellent fit to lead the continuation of Ingram Micro’s digital journey,” said Monie. “We are fortunate to gain a leader with a diverse and global background, tremendous technical depth, and a passion for creating an exceptional digital experience at this critical juncture in our digital evolution. He has been tasked with shaping and creating global competitive advantage and differentiation for our Technology Solutions and Cloud businesses through the development of innovative, world-class customer and user experiences.”
Monie also noted that Sahoo’s mandate includes leading the company’s current e-commerce platform IMOnline’s digital transformation to ensure the company’s customers can transact with Ingram Micro easily and intuitively.
Monie has tasked Sahoo with several initiatives related to building world-class user experience and platforms, including focusing on building changing consumption models and billing engines and leading modernization of the company’s legacy systems, which primarily serve the Technology Solutions business. “Data and machine learning is a critical component of where we are focused on building an insight-driven organization with the power of data,” said Sahoo. “Today, the vast majority of our revenues are derived from our Technology Solutions business and one of my big priorities is to focus on even better e-commerce execution through creating an integrated customer experience that is more self-service and enables solution-based selling through our platforms. There is a lot of work to lead digital transformation in a complex $49 billion annual revenue organization like Ingram Micro, but I am proud to be called on to continue the great journey that the company started few years ago.” In addition to platform innovation and e-commerce experience, Sahoo indicated that process automation will be an additional area of focus.
Sahoo joins Ingram Micro from XPO Logistics, where, for more than four years, he was the chief information officer of the Transport business. He was responsible for digital innovation, transformation, and overall technology operations including brokerage, intermodal, last mile, truckload, expedite, managed transport, and freight forwarding. Prior to his time at XPO Logistics, he was the chief information officer and chief technology officer of tradeMONSTER.
Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has written two bestselling books, and his third, Getting to Nimble, was recently released. He also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.
With all the ways digital innovation has enabled companies to remain productive during the pandemic, one of the most positive outcomes is improved collaboration across traditional business silos. In my new book, Getting to Nimble: How to Transform Your Company into a Digital Leader, I discuss how enterprises have made these silos more permeable, creating greater partnerships along the way.
Consider the following five examples and how they could apply to your digital transformation efforts.
Talented technologists are in high demand at most organizations, tasked with helping teams in other divisions figure out the digital implications of their ideas and strategize accordingly. In many cases, these ideas come from the technologists themselves. Companies that provide such “T-shaped” career paths offer an enormous advantage, developing leaders with great breadth and depth of experience. When they ascend to “chief” roles, they do so with a much clearer understanding about how value is created within the enterprise.
Agile methodology has been a boon for collaboration across the enterprise.
The traditional “waterfall” method of development involves someone from the business side (outside of IT) placing an order with the IT department. The IT team then develops this order, with little input from the business side until the project is completed months later.
In contrast, agile development includes the intended audience or user of the project in development from ideation through completion. With each iteration, the user validates value, and features are amplified or turned off accordingly. In some cases, the entire project may even be scrapped as a result of what the team learns.
DevOps blends two traditionally siloed parts of the technology and digital domain: development and operations. In a traditional project development model, developers take a project from ideation through completion, and the operations team then moves it forward. There is often a moment in the lifecycle when the project is “thrown over the wall” from development to operations (even this phrase highlights the distance and disconnects between the activities of the two groups).
DevOps instead makes delivery teams responsible for production issues and fixes, whether legacy or new, drawing them into the lifecycle earlier. Greater levels of involvement and accountability make for better work products.
The migration from a project to a product orientation is another area that benefits from greater collaboration. Internal “products” are also good examples of this – think order-to-cash, onboarding new hires, or creating a mobile customer experience.
These products potentially involve great value, and the product teams are typically cross-divisional or cross-discipline: They might include tech and digital, marketing, sales, operations, and any other division to which the product is relevant. A product leader should lead the cross-functional team, and that team should be prepared to remain intact for a longer period of time than the typical project.
An early example of this type of project orientation comes from Atticus Tysen, Chief Information and Security Officer at Intuit. When Tysen became CIO, he brought with him a product orientation, defining products for IT to drive. By developing in long-term teams, each team member was able to develop a higher level of expertise in the product area than they would have in a more traditional project structure.
Data strategy has also driven more cross-functional thinking. Done well, all strategy should invite greater collaboration across traditional silos since value is truly driven at the intersection of the disciplines. Data strategy should apply everywhere data is gathered, secured, synthesized, and analyzed – across the entire company.
Many companies have found it useful to have a leader who drives data strategy on the company’s behalf. To do this effectively, that leader (whether the CIO, the chief data officer, or another IT role) should engage leaders in other parts of the company to ensure that the data strategy is as comprehensive and useful as possible.
These are just a few areas where stronger collaboration is happening across industries and geographies. Companies that fail to take advantage of these trends risk falling behind more nimble players in their industry.
Peter A. High is the author of GETTING TO NIMBLE: How to Transform Your Company into a Digital Leader (Kogan Page, Spring 2021) and President of Metis Strategy, a management and strategy consulting firm focused on the intersection of business and technology. He has advised and interviewed many of the world’s top CIOs and leaders at multi-billion-dollar corporations like Gap, Bank of America, Adobe, Time Warner Inc., Intuit, and more.
Subway restaurants announced that Donagh Herlihy has joined the company as of May 3 as its new Global Chief Digital and Information Officer. In his new role, Herlihy will oversee the company’s global technology teams and initiatives to deliver modern, timely and effective platforms for Subway franchisees and guests.
Herlihy has held technology, digital and e-commerce executive roles at companies like Bloomin’ Brands, Avon Products and the Wrigley Company. His expertise includes digital innovation and strategy, guest-facing technology and international growth.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Donagh to the Subway team,” said Subway Chief Executive Officer John Chidsey. “His extensive knowledge and understanding of QSR brands and restaurant technology will allow us to accelerate our digital transformation, ultimately resulting in a better guest experience as well as revenue growth and operating efficiency for our franchisees.”
Herlihy left his prior post as Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer at Bloomin’ Brands in February of 2020, and had been spending time on a portfolio of activities from investing in start-ups and serving on the boards of various companies. He was lured back into a full time role as a technology and digital executive because of Subway’s transformation story which is unfolding, including significant improvements to the digital experience for both guests and franchisees, enhancements to the Subway App & Delivery, the company’s loyalty program, and other digital platforms that will allow Subway to personalize guests’ experience over time. “My most immediate goal, in partnership with the technology leadership team and the broader organization, is to plot that path forward to ensure we meet the needs of our evolving business,” said Herlihy. “That being said, we also need to remain focused on simplifying and reinforcing the core systems that enable our Franchisees to run a smooth and efficient operation—that in itself is a significant effort given that we have nearly 40,000 stores in our system.”
Furthermore his interregnum between full-time roles started at the beginning of the pandemic through to last week. That gave him an opportunity to analyze the reset in consumer behaviors that has happened during the pandemic. As a result, he is a believer in serving Subway customers when, where and how they like, while equipping franchisees with the tools they need to drive traffic to their restaurants. “Before I arrived at Subway, the team drove incredible growth in our digital business with sales increasing over 115% year-over-year, and this momentum has continued as consumer behavior evolves even further,” noted Herlihy. “One component of this growth was the launch of Contactless Curbside Pick Up at over 14,000 of our Subway locations nationwide, at the pace of 1,800 restaurants per week—a massive undertaking from both a technology and broader operations perspective.”
When asked about his plans for the future, he noted that the company’s digital roadmap is focused on the guest with the priority of meeting customers where they are. “That means exciting non-traditional programs in the pipeline, efforts to bolster our loyalty program, which grew considerably in 2020 to more than 27 million, and significant enhancements to the ordering experience that are making it even easier for guests to enjoy their favorite Footlong,” said Herlihy by way of offering examples.
Herlihy has been based in Florida since joining Bloomin’ Brands. He will maintain a home there and split his time between is home office and the company’s headquarters in Milford, Connecticut.
While CIOs continue to prioritize the shift to product-oriented operating models in 2021, companies still struggle to create empowered product teams throughout their organizations. One significant inhibitor is often the lack of progress and investment in DevOps.
Amazon Web Services defines DevOps as “the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity.” In this setup, “development and operations teams are no longer siloed… [and] engineers work across the entire application lifecycle, from development and test to deployment and operations”.
DevOps can significantly enable product operating model transformations. It brings agile processes to life through technical enablement, turning processes into automation. Put simply, this often means automating the software development process from start (continuous integration / CI) to finish (continuous deployment or delivery / CD) while also creating empowered developers with a pulse on customer needs.
A successful DevOps transformation enables teams to react quickly to shifting market demands and reduces risk by decreasing the time it takes to get working software out the door. For example, an empowered product team that releases new features daily or hourly can iterate and innovate securely much faster than in the past, allowing for constant validation of product strategy and the ability to scale when they find something that works.
DevOps, Agile, and product operating model shifts are closely linked in successful digital companies. Through our work with some of the largest organizations in the world (both digital natives and digital immigrants), we have found that leaders who closely couple DevOps transformation efforts with Agile and product management transformations are significantly more successful in realizing their goals. Below are four tips to help you do so successfully:
In future posts, we will go into more detail about how to kickstart your DevOps transformation, from examining the key dimensions of the transformation process to exploring creative ways to fund DevOps efforts. Drop us a note if you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions for future topics to cover!
What separates the companies that have succeeded for decades from those that have faded? Successful companies built nimbleness into their DNA.
As established firms face tougher competition from digital natives and an ever-increasing pace of change, fostering that nimbleness is critical. To do so, companies must modernize practices related to people, process, technology, ecosystems, and strategy. This conference will highlight the stories of companies who have done all of the above best, including Capital One, FedEx, Novant Health, and The Washington Post.
The full agenda is below. If you are a technology executive interested in attending, please email steven.norton@metisstrategy.com. We look forward to welcoming you!
Noon – 12:15
Welcome: Getting to Nimble
Metis Strategy President Peter High will share introductory remarks and outline the concept of nimbleness as it relates to digital transformation.
12:15 – 12:30
The Importance of Adaptability featuring General Stanley McChrystal
Drawing on his experience as a general in the United States Army and leader of the Joint Special Operations Command, Gen. McChrystal will discuss how a common purpose, trust, and individual empowerment can help organizations break down traditional silos and move with the speed and agility of their most nimble competitors.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, retired four-star general, US Army, and leader of Joint Special Operations Command
12:30 – 12:50
People: The Key to Success
Talented and motivated people are crucial to any successful transformation effort. This panel will explore how two leading companies have driven foundational change in IT by rethinking roles, recruiting strategies, and retention efforts.
Rob Alexander, Chief Information Officer, Capital One
Kimberly Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, Fannie Mae
Moderated by Peter High, Metis Strategy
12:50 – 1:05
Entrepreneur Spotlight: The Future of Authentication
This conversation will explore the ways in which companies are moving beyond passwords and re-thinking identity and access management in the post-pandemic world.
Rakesh Loonkar, co-Founder and President, Transmit Security
1:05 – 1:25
Process: An Opportunity to Define your Company’s Future
For many companies, processes are inadequately mapped out and have not been updated to reflect changing times. In this session, we will discuss how process modernization efforts can engage a diverse array of contributors across organizations and literally define the future of work.
Shamim Mohammad, Chief Information and Technology Officer, CarMax
Melanie Kalmar, CIO and Chief Digital Officer, Dow
1:25 – 1:40
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Overcoming Increasingly Nimble Adversaries
As companies grow nimbler, so do the actors who may wish to exploit them. In this entrepreneur spotlight, George will discuss his career in the cybersecurity industry and explore the biggest cybersecurity threats facing enterprises today.
George Kurtz, President, CEO, and co-Founder, CrowdStrike
1:40 – 2:00
Strategy: Harnessing Strategic Alignment to Drive Growth
Without a clear strategy, the advances made by cultivating your people, process, technology, and ecosystem will be difficult to realize. In this session, we will explore how technology leaders can drive strategic alignment across the enterprise.
Shailesh Prakash, CIO and Chief Product Officer, The Washington Post Company
Chintan Mehta, CIO and Head of Digital Technology and Innovation, Wells Fargo
2:00 – 2:20
Technology: Building the Foundation for a Nimble Enterprise
Sprawling technical debt and outdated legacy systems often signal a company that hasn’t built nimbleness into its DNA. This conversation will focus on leaders who addressed technical debt head-on and embraced new technologies and platforms that deliver speed and flexibility.
Rob Carter, Chief Information Officer, FedEx
Steve Randich, Chief Information Officer, FINRA
2:20 – 2:35
Entrepreneur Spotlight: The Rise of Zero Trust
In this discussion, Jay will discuss the rise of Zero Trust architecture and share his perspective on the changing security landscape as we prepare for a world of cloud, IoT, and 5G.
Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman, and Founder, Zscaler
2:35 – 2:55
Ecosystems: Sources of Insight and Innovation
The network you cultivate has the power to shape both the direction of your organization and your evolution as a leader. This panel will explore best practices for cultivating strong and lasting relationships with peers, customers, recruiters, venture capitalists, and other partners.
Angela Yochem, Chief Transformation and Digital Officer, Novant Health
George Llado, CIO, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
2:55 – 3:00
Closing Remarks
Peter High, Metis Strategy
On January 26 at Noon EST, global technology executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and CEOs will gather virtually to discuss topics that are top-of-mind for CIOs in 2021. Our conversations will explore how firms can maintain digital momentum and develop innovative cultures amid a new world of work, scale their data and analytics efforts to deliver meaningful business growth, and create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable technology industry.
Please see the agenda below. To learn more or request an invitation, please email steven.norton@metisstrategy.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
Noon ET
Welcome and introductions
12:10 pm – 12:30 p.m. ET
Rethinking Employee Experience for a New World of Work
As companies continue to move toward “hybrid” working models that blend in-office and distributed work, they are simultaneously re-examining what it means to deliver an outstanding employee experience. This discussion will explore how technology leaders are enabling employees to do their best work no matter their physical location.
Rick Rioboli, CIO, Comcast
Richard Cox, CIO, Cox Enterprises
12:30 pm – 12:50 p.m. ET
Digital Customer Experience and Innovation
The global pandemic is widely recognized as a digital accelerator and a major factor shaping the future of work. The combination of novel digital capabilities and innovative ways to collaborate will shape employee and customer experiences for the foreseeable future. In this panel discussion, CIOs from Stanley Black & Decker and Verizon will share how they have turned pandemic-induced challenges into opportunities to make lasting improvements that benefit employees and customers alike.
Shankar Arumugavelu, Global CIO, Verizon
Rhonda Gass, VP and Chief Information Officer, Stanley Black & Decker
12:50 p.m. – 1:05 p.m. ET
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Ashok Reddy, Digital.ai
In this fireside chat, Ashok will discuss his journey from firms such as Broadcom, CA Technologies, IBM and Honeywell to his current role at Digital.ai. He’ll also share thoughts on how connecting software development and delivery to strategic business outcomes can help companies achieve their digital transformation goals.
Ashok Reddy, CEO, Digital.ai
1:05 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. ET
Creating a Diverse and Equitable Workforce
Diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts rose to the top of many CIO agendas in 2020. In this panel, we will discuss strategies for developing diverse talent pipelines, creating inclusive and equitable organizations, and becoming an agent for positive organizational change. We will also discuss TechPACT, an initiative that aims to increase underrepresented communities in technology and “create a world where anyone with a passion for technology will have the opportunity to succeed.”
Janet Sherlock, CIO, Ralph Lauren
Earl Newsome, Americas CIO, Linde
Moderated by Steven Norton, Co-Head of Research, Media, and Executive Networks, Metis Strategy
1:25 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. ET
How Data and AI are Transforming Health Care
After a year of massive change in the health care space, leaders will discuss how advanced analytics and other technologies will enable greater transformation in the year ahead.
Ramkumar Rayapureddy, Global CIO, Viatris
Mark Hill, Chief Digital Information Officer, CSL Behring
1:45 p.m. – 2:05 p.m. ET
Behind the Scenes: Data-Driven Operations
We’ve all heard the saying that “data is the new oil,” but what does that mean in practice? This panel will explore how technology executives are embedding data and analytics across their organizations to enable a culture of innovation, unlock new efficiencies, and deliver differentiated products and services.
Shaleen Devgun, CIO, Schneider National
Atif Rafiq, President of Customers, Commercial & Growth, MGM Resorts International
Moderated by Chris Davis, Vice President and West Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
2:05 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.
Technology and Innovation in Financial Services
Megan Crespi of Comerica and Catherine Zhou of HSBC discuss the technology trends shaping the finance industry in the year ahead.
Megan Crespi, Chief Operations & Technology Officer, Comerica Bank
Catherine Zhou, Global Head of Venture, Digital Innovation and Partnerships, HSBC
2:25 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Security in Unprecedented Times
Peter and Shawn will discuss the implications of the SolarWinds attack on large companies, as well as the threats and trends that are shaping today’s cybersecurity landscape.
Shawn Henry, President, CrowdStrike Services and CSO, former FBI Executive Assistant Director
2:40 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. ET
Fireside chat with Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Daniela will share her thoughts on the evolution of AI in the enterprise and shine a light on some of the latest research coming out of MIT, including an initiative to build self-driving cars and enable mobility on demand.
Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
We are so thankful to all who took their time to participate in the 2020 Metis Strategy Digital Symposium. During this period of heightened uncertainty, it was especially encouraging to hear perspectives from global CIOs, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and investors about not only about how they are navigating the current challenges, but also how they are seizing the tremendous opportunities that have arisen.
Here are a few takeaways from the event:
The digital acceleration goes beyond the #WFH pivot. The pandemic forced many companies into to speed up their digital initiatives as they pivoted to remote work, bolstered cybersecurity measures, and began to automate a broader range of business processes.
In a poll of roughly 100 global CIOs who attended the Symposium, 42% said their digital initiatives have accelerated significantly, while 30% said they saw some acceleration. We have heard many CIOs say that digital projects that would have taken years under normal circumstances were completed in a matter of weeks, if not faster.
That acceleration appears poised to continue. CIOs noted that their firms have an increased appetite for transformation as they think about how technology can prepare them to emerge from the pandemic in a position of strength, armed with the digital tools that allow them to seize future opportunities.
This transformation requires more than automating tasks or cutting costs, however. Teams are now thinking about the broader changes across people, process, and technology that will make these transformation efforts stick.
People come first. Speakers noted that it is critical for leaders to openly acknowledge the human element of the crisis and the fact that people at every level of the organization are facing new challenges. Leaders continue to focus on ensuring their teams’ safety while working to create a sense of belonging.
It is critical for leaders to be visible and lead their teams with empathy, speakers noted. Overcommunicating – even to the point of sounding like a broken record – is essential, particularly while managing a largely remote workforce.
As the crisis wears on, many CIOs are also thinking about how to keep their teams motivated and productive, remove obstacles, and unleash their ability to innovate. That includes providing employees with the technologies they need to work productively and creating opportunities to gain skills that will help them thrive in the new normal.
Let customer needs guide new initiatives. A common refrain during our sessions was the need to focus relentlessly on the customer. This is particularly true in IT, where technology sometimes is deployed for its own sake rather than solving a particular customer need. CIOs noted that when they allowed customer needs to be a beacon for new initiatives, payoffs were often more immediate. They reiterated that a solution doesn’t need to be sexy to be effective, as long as it solves a key customer issue.
A customer obsession at the enterprise level, particularly with strong buy-in from the CEO and the rest of the C-suite, can also help break down organizational silos and provide a common cause for teams to rally around. CIOs noted that driving this customer-centric mindset requires a culture shift and new governance structures, but that the work is paying off.
Get the basics right. The quick and massive shift to remote work amid the pandemic changed the way many CIOs think about business continuity and scenario planning. It also created a heightened focus on security and spurred new discussions around the technology needed for employees to do their jobs effectively.
These discussions have driven home the need for companies to have a solid foundation in order for new digital initiatives to thrive. As companies plot their paths forward, many CIOs are seizing the opportunity to make sure the basics are as good as they can be. That includes reassessing enterprise architecture and evaluating systems and partner ecosystems.
Adaptability is a new core competency. Many CIOs noted the remarkable speed and adaptability shown by their teams as they pivoted to work from home and quickly shifted business processes to adapt to the new business landscape. Facing an uncertain future, the ability for organizations to quickly assess changing market needs and shift gears accordingly is becoming a must-have skill.
CIOs noted that in many cases their teams are more productive and moving faster than they ever thought possible. A key question now is how to maintain that momentum in a sustainable manner and ensure teams are chasing the initiatives that help the company meet its strategic goals. To that end, extreme focus and ruthless prioritization are critical, as is broad alignment across the enterprise.
As one CIO noted, it is important that technology leaders gain alignment with the rest of the organization rather than chasing new revenue opportunities for revenue’s sake. A shift to product-centered operating models is helping to drive that alignment, dissolve organizational barriers, and increase agility.
Look for the silver linings. While executives expect it will be many months before a return to some version of normalcy, speakers underscored a number of silver linings, including a renewed focus on strategic imperatives, an openness to new ways of working, and an increased appetite among corporate leadership to drive growth through digital.
While it is difficult to know with certainty what the weeks and months ahead will bring, there is nevertheless a strong push to identify and seize new opportunities.
Chris Boyd co-wrote this article.
Leading digital transformations is the CEO’s top priority for CIOs, according to the 2020 IDG State of the CIO study. Doing so effectively requires an IT operating model that allows business and IT to work together to navigate a dynamic competitive landscape, a seemingly infinite set of digital tools and shifting stakeholder demands.
In our work with Fortune 500 companies, we have found IT organizations that use the traditional “plan, build, run” operating model struggle to conceptualize, launch and maintain momentum on digital transformations. To bolster their transformation capability, IT organizations across industries and geographies are shifting toward product-oriented operating models, or “product-based IT”. When done right, organizations experience increased agility, happier customers and more successful transformations.
A product is a capability brought to life through technology, business process and customer experience that creates a continuous value stream. Examples of products are eCommerce, supply chain, or HR. An operating model defines how an organization positions its people, process and technology to deliver value to both internal and external customers.
A product-oriented operating model, then, is one in which IT resources are organized around business capabilities or “products” instead of specific IT systems (e.g. SAP, CRM) or functions (QA, Engineering, Infrastructure). In this model, each product team works as if they are managing a market-facing product such as a consumer electronics device. They develop a product strategy and roadmap in lockstep with the business that clearly articulates how they will mature the product to better meet customer needs and optimize competitive positioning. Every feature on the roadmap is aligned with a measurable business outcome and goes through a rapid discovery phase to validate value, usability and feasibility before it is slotted in a sprint to achieve a minimum viable product.
Most organizations have honed their ability to deliver when the scope and desired outcome are static, but struggle when next steps aren’t defined or are painted with a broad brush. Several leading IT organizations have turned to product-based IT to cut through this ambiguity and elevate their role from service provider to business partner.
Art Hu, the global CIO of Lenovo, is one of the pioneers in the shift from project-to-product. He noted in a recent conversation that his organization grappled with the question of what to work on next after completing a series of legacy ERP integrations resulting from acquisitions. “The fundamental paradigm shift for us was that the level of uncertainty had changed when there was no longer one single imperative,” he said, referring to the ERP project. “When we took that away, it was a totally different world and traditional waterfall didn’t make sense anymore. Until we as an organization realized that, the business teams and my teams struggled.” Product-based organizations rely on continuous customer engagement to remove guesswork from the prioritization process, which often leads to better business outcomes and increased agility.
CIOs have targeted key behavioral changes to jumpstart the shift to a product-based operating model:
Project plans developed with fixed deliverables and timelines encourage predictability but rarely equate to business outcomes. This plan-driven work is increasingly yielding to continuous discovery and delivery, which seeks to answer two questions on a recurring basis: what should we build, and how should we build it? A discovery track intakes opportunities, ideas and problems to solve. Teams then engage with customers to validate that those ideas create value (desirability), will be used once released (usability) and are feasible in the current business model (feasibility/viability).
“Great companies that have built a product orientation start with desirability and leverage design thinking to have empathy-based conversations to get to the core of problems,” Srini Koushik, the CIO/CTO of Magellan Health, said during a recent product management panel. Ideas that make it through discovery are added to a product backlog and are slotted into sprints for delivery based on relative business priority. Discovery and delivery tracks operate concurrently to ensure that a steady stream of validated ideas and a working product that drives business outcomes is delivered at the end of each sprint.
In a recent strategic planning session, one CIO stated that “transformation is not a part time job,” noting that dedicated teams are critical for both digital transformation and building a product orientation in IT. Teams that are formed on a project-by-project basis spend valuable time ramping up subject matter expertise and building chemistry, but then are disbanded just when they start to hit their stride. Product-based IT organizations, on the other hand, favor dedicated teams that own a product from introduction until sunset, including the execution of discovery, delivery, testing and maintenance/support. In this model, the dedicated teams become true experts on the domain and avoid pitfalls resulting from intraorganizational handoffs and revolving resources.
The increased frequency and quality of customer interactions is a hallmark of product-based IT. Ideally, customers are engaged during the discovery phase to validate ideas and prototypes, and then provide feedback at regular intervals after the product is released. If your end customer is a business unit, you should strive to have even more interactions. Some organizations have business stakeholders participate in daily stand ups, and some may even have their product owners sourced directly from the business instead of IT.
Atticus Tysen, the Chief Information Security, Anti-Fraud and Information Officer at Intuit, is another pioneer in the shift from project to product. At the 2019 Metis Strategy Summit, he emphasized that true product organizations reflect on key questions that demonstrate their strong relationships with customers. For example, do you really know who your customers are, and are you organized around serving them? Do you have metrics to measure customer happiness and show you are working with them in the correct way? “You have to have customers if you’re going to have a product organization,” Tysen said. “Product managers in a lot of ways are relationship managers.”
To achieve the benefits of a product-centric operating model, the funding model must shift as well. Rather than funding a project for a specific amount of time based on estimated requirements, teams instead are funded on an annual basis. Also known as perpetual funding, this setup provides IT product teams with stable funding that can be reallocated as the needs of the business change. It also allows teams to spend time reducing technical debt or improving internal processes as they see fit, which can improve productivity and quality in the long run.
Here are a few key steps to begin the journey…
Organizations should first and foremost target business impact when shifting to product-based IT. For example, one Fortune 500 client chose to measure Net Promotor Score to assess business satisfaction, product team velocity to assess speed to market and the number of critical defects per product to assess quality. It is also prudent to create metrics that track the adoption of key aspects of the working model. For example, you may track the percentage of product teams that have developed strategic roadmaps, or survey product teams on a regular basis to see how many feel like they have the skills needed to succeed in the product-based operating model.
Start by identifying the highest-level customer-facing and internal capabilities in the organization, such as Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, HR and Finance. At the highest level, these are your Product Groups, or “Level 1.” If your organization is smaller and has a relatively simple technical estate, you may not need to break this down any further.
However, we have found most enterprises with multiple business units and geographies need to do so. Inside the Sales group at a SaaS company, business processes would likely include steps such as Discovery, Lead to Cash and Customer Success (which includes activation, adoption, expansion and renewals). These may become your product groups since each of these steps involves different business stakeholders, targeted KPIs and technology components. However, the way you design your product teams will ultimately depend on the intricacies of your organization.
Absent a one-size-fits-all approach, we suggest the following guiding principles:
A key to product-based IT is building cross-functional teams that have the business and technical skills needed to accomplish most tasks inside their teams. The most important role in your product team will be the Product Owner (or Product Manager). Referred to as unicorns by some, these individuals possess the unique blend of business (strategy, competitive analysis), technical (architectural vision, technical project management) and leadership (decision-making, stakeholder management) skills and are responsible for driving the product vision and strategy and leading execution.
To fill this role, many organizations will conduct a skill assessment with their organizations to determine the skills needed to be successful, gather an inventory of available skill sets and shape a training program to fill gaps. As you structure the rest of the product team, think about how the skills of other team members can complement the product owner skill set so you are creating a strong blend of business, technical and leadership skills in the team. Beyond the Product Owner, you may have a Business Analyst that serves as a Junior Product Owner and supports detailed data and process analysis. A Scrum Master would drive Agile ceremonies, a Technical Lead would create a solution architecture and orchestrate technical activities, and an Engineering/QA team would ensure delivery of a high-quality product.
Think about IT services that are BU agnostic, needed across all product teams and in demand only on a part-time basis by the product group. These are your Shared Services. Shared Services cut horizontally across the product groups and teams. Just like products, these specialized groups endeavor to mature and develop new capabilities and empower their customers (in this case the product teams themselves).
Typical Shared Service groups include Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure & Cloud, Security, DevOps, Customer/User Experience, Data & Analytics, Integration, Program/Vendor Management and IT Operations/Support. The Office of the CIO is an increasingly prevalent Shared Service that is responsible for defining the enterprise IT strategy, setting metrics and measuring success. Each Shared Service should publish a service catalog detailing their offerings and processes for engagement with a bias towards self-service (where possible). Shared service resources can be “loaned” to product teams if there is demand for an extended period.
IT often starts with feasibility and viability, approaching desirability only if the former two boxes are checked. Product managers need to start with desirability and build the ability to adapt their storyline based on the audience. Avoiding technical speak and endless strings of three letter acronyms will also go far in building this rapport.
Shifting to product-based IT is a major cultural and operational change. When done well, it can result in better relationships with customers and business partners, increased agility and improved business outcomes.
