The major challenges CIOs face in 2022 and beyond

The disruptions caused by COVID-19 over the past two years have been challenging for leaders in most every business. In 2022, CIOs, in particular, will be expected to manage shifting operational and funding needs brought about by a combination of remote work, distributed systems, and digital-first consumer preferences.

The pandemic continues to accelerate the pace of digital transformation, with businesses speeding the migration of applications to the cloud. At the same time, investments in digital-first technology keep growing in response to consumer preferences and demand. And none of these pressures show any sign of decreasing. For businesses to thrive this year and beyond, they’ll need a CIO that understands how these combined challenges are changing the role of enterprise IT. While every business may have its own, unique dynamics, forward-thinking CIOs should keep the following four priorities top-of-mind.

1.?????Expanding IT responsibilities from systems management to strategic problem-solving

The volume of applications migrating to cloud environments increased significantly over the past two years and is expected to remain high. That’s because many enterprise IT departments historically focused on building and maintaining on-premises systems and bespoke applications faced difficulties adapting these systems for remote or hybrid working models. Moving these applications to the cloud, however, offloaded much of the day-to-day maintenance to an as-a-Service vendor, reducing the resources required to maintain those legacy systems and changing the nature of the work that enterprise IT staff do daily.

But this change is not unwelcome. Our recent survey of global IT executives and managers found that “60% expect digital transformation will result in more streamlined work, which will allow them to be more creative, cooperate more with other departments, and spend less time on administrative tasks.”

Instead of maintaining system architecture, CIOs have the opportunity to redeploy IT efforts to other areas of the enterprise so IT staff can spend more time collaborating to solve problems and build for the future. The greatest beneficiaries will be the business side of operations, and IT professionals that bring industry experience to a project will be valued and in demand.

2.????Centrally managing workflow and governance

As enterprise apps and workforces continue to become more distributed, it’s important that CIOs remain focused on a centralized approach to decision-making, governance, and oversight to reduce risk. Evolving markets and technologies, combined with an increase in distributed teams, translates to more projects and greater frequency of product releases.

Many enterprises are enlisting citizen developers to help solve for the volume of work. However, low-code application development capabilities that enable the collaboration of IT and business on enterprise projects can also introduce shadow IT if not managed correctly. Projects built outside of IT’s knowledge and governance or business-led development with unsanctioned low-code tools can leave organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks and compliance violations. CIOs will need to refocus staff efforts on establishing rules and a governance framework so the ever-increasing number of distributed teams can develop and implement new capabilities in a way that is aligned with enterprise business rules and requirements.

This is one of the reasons the interest in platform technology remains high. CIOs managing decentralized teams are looking for solutions that help bring visibility to workloads and standardization to the development and release of new apps and products. Platforms that can integrate with enterprise systems and apps, provide centralized access to information, and require work to adhere to a common set of business rules, give CIOs and their staff better management and control.

3.????Retaining, reskilling, and recruiting talent

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in computer and information and technology jobs will grow 13% from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. CIOs that are already struggling to find and retain talented professionals will also need technical professionals with soft skills, such as problem solving and team leadership, as a collaborative workplace becomes the standard. In fact, our survey respondents said the most important competencies for IT staff over the next two years are digital and computational (43%), leadership (38%), and problem solving (37%), with competencies in data management and coding becoming much less important.

To close the hiring gap, CIOs should think first about creating opportunities for staff whose tasks are being automated or roles are being outsourced. Those who understand AI-based technologies and other digital tools, and who can develop essential soft skills, will thrive.

4.????Increasing budget demands

Securing annual funding and managing departmental budgets are always a challenge, however as-a-Service outsourcing, digitization of operations, and competition for talent are all putting fiscal pressure on CIOs. Of the senior and executive VPs in our survey, 36% admit they are struggling to match their budgets to their IT requirements. Realistically, as IT staff become embedded within other business functions, and with a digital-first approach to business imperative for success, enterprise IT funding will need to be decentralized to allow for mission-critical work.

The outlook: CIO responsibility will continue to grow

Changes in enterprise IT are happening at a head-spinning pace as technologies and IT’s role continue to evolve. CIOs and CTOs in our survey said their responsibilities have already progressed to include transformational tasks, such as keeping current with the latest tech (41%) and innovating on new products and solutions (35%). As IT staff become essential collaborators for problem-solving and innovation, expect CIO responsibilities to continue to change and their power to grow within the enterprise.

Note: This article originally appeared in?Forbes France.