This is part of the FirstRain Persona Series.
Many may not recognize the title, “Chief Strategy Officer,” as part of the C-Suite, as the role has recently become popular, but will recognize a CSO’s duties. People have come to know the CSO as the “enforcer”, or a “mini-CEO” because of their main focus: to implement the vision of the CEO and company.
No one likes to be the “tough guy”, but many companies have already recognized a need for a Chief Strategy Officer such as Deloitte, IBM, Citrix, Intuit, Cloudera, Oracle and Cisco. CSO’s are usually recruited from veteran roles in management where they have a proven track record of successfully leading teams. Often their titles are coupled with CTO, Head of Corporate Development, and VP of Strategic Alliances.
Today, the CSO works closely with the CEO and bears the challenge of rapidly implementing a strategy that will drive a company to meet end goals and objectives. They understand the importance of being able to influence and mentor people to meet industry demands.
So what does the chief strategy officer do? Some CSO’s act more like a strategist while others are “doers”, and others, facilitators, but regardless of their implementation style, they must effectively oversee the entire company’s strategic plan.
A top priority for a CSO is bringing cohesiveness across the company and making sure that everyone is on board with the company’s strategic goals. Not everyone is apt for change, but working together is necessary to effectively move a company forward. A lot of a CSO’s time is spent working closely with upper management to communicate clearly the next stages a company must make. Their message must be clear-cut and definitive to create an immediate response from these teams.
Setting concrete plans, and goals are necessary to meet long-term visions. With a dynamic list of priorities, a CSO must be mindful of change. In today’s hyperactive digital business world, strategies must account for market changes. Successful CSO’s are not reacting to market trends and changes, they are preparing for them.
Acting pre-emptively to threats, competitors and all the other bumps on the road, will be key to the success of the office of the CSO. Today’s CSO must leverage business intelligence tools that are responsive to market trends and changes and, therefore, able to focus on facilitating strategy as the company’s “Strategy Orchestrator”.
For example in the financial industry, a CSO might be responsible for mitigating risk and growth opportunities. They must be aware of mergers and acquisitions, competitors, global economic changes and especially disrupting technologies in FinTech. This can be overwhelming and can deter a CSO away from enabling a strategic plan. Enterprise business intelligence platforms are fulfilling the need of identifying risk within markets. Companies like FirstRain identify market trends and provide their users with actionable insights to better prepare for market changes, competitors and opportunities.
In Industrial Manufacturing, for example, a CEO’s plan might require rapid growth to stay afloat, and this will require a Chief Strategy Officer to work closely with Sales and Marketing to implement a strategy that will require sales teams to work more effectively. For a sales team to drive results, they must be supplied with technology that prioritizes clients and presents actionable insights for new opportunities that help fulfill the corporate strategy. CRM intelligence software helps prioritize tasks that meet short-term goals, mid-term goals, and successfully steers a company to growth.
Regardless of the industry, a Chief Strategy Officer plays a key role as a leader who understands the mechanics of getting things done. The role often demands the CSO to drive a company through market change, growth, or disruptions, but at end of the day, the CSO must be influential in facilitating change and bringing a vision to live.
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This is part of the FirstRain Persona Series.
The role of a CIO has evolved. Now, the responsibilities demand a CIO wear many hats; to be a chameleon and a visionary.
Today’s CIO must be able to lead, adapt quickly, be a pioneer with an innovative and competitive perspective. And let’s not forget, a CIO bears the challenge of finding business technology that embodies all of these traits.
A core challenge for the modern CIO is finding fundamental technology that can be productive, predictive and proactive across the many divisions of a company and accessible through many platforms. She/he is responsible for creating fluidity for internal and external business information.
Chief Strategy Officer of Adjuvi , Dion Hinchlcliffe confirms, “While yesterday’s IT could be somewhat siloed, today’s modern enterprise must have an open architectures, from data to APIs, to search and discovery, that makes it possible for the knowledge that flows within the organization to find its way to wherever it needs to be, and to do it all securely as well.”
CIOs face the challenge of finding enterprise solutions that transmit a cohesive streamline of information throughout a business network. In the past, the role was focused on precision in the implementation of effective IT departments. Now, the role demands much more.
CIOs must pioneer a digital business strategy that will address the needs of transitioning legacy software into Cloud, SaaS platforms. According to CIO.com, many companies are still struggling with software updates with significant IT costs and CIOs are challenged with mitigating the risk of moving too fast or moving too slow.
CIOs are aware of the transition that is taking place. They know that they must implement a digital strategy that meets the demands of day-to-day processes and future enterprise goals.
A CIO must service the key responsibility of providing teams with internal and external access to intelligence technology, both equally important and crucial for business development.
Within the company, internal information management technology must be productive and sensitive to existing legacy software. Business technology companies are addressing these enterprise needs and have built platforms and services that are scalable with easy plug-and-play implementations offering an array of accessible platforms. For example, companies like Salesforce, Oracle and Microsoft, offer their customers enterprise cloud based platforms that meet the needs of today’s CIO.
Today’s CIO must understand the sensitivity in moving legacy software to a digital world, and must also act like a CMO, a sales hustler and must understand the importance of staying competitive as a global business.
Access to external information should not only be predictive it must be actionable to stay competitive. For example, a CIO in the manufacturing sector requires industry analysis that draws meaningful connections between current business relationships, and the global economy. New technology is doing just this.
Business intelligence software companies are fulfilling the need of identifying the intricacies of products, vendors, markets and the global economy. They offer market insights and competitive intelligence tools that address risk and opportunity.
For example, FirstRain, an enterprise leader of data analytics, provides access to a dynamic platform, that delivers target market analysis of emerging events, market trends, management changes and strategy developments so a CIO can help his/her teams stay competitive and engaged.
As global business technology becomes hyperactive and continues to evolve, so does the role of a CIO. Today, the CIO must be a CMO, a sales leader, a CFO and successfully sail the enterprise to meet the goals of the CEO and board of advisors. Connecting teams to the right technology can drive results, and this is why the role of a CIO continues to be pivotal.
If you want to learn more about how transformational CIO’s are using the FirstRain platform please visit our website or contact us!
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