Ctg sit23 hub banner.jpg

'Five or six years ago, I would have said the CIO was fighting for a seat at the table. That's now changed': Logicalis' Bob Bailkoski

The most important changes in procurement, and how it's impacting budgets

The CIO role has expanded to more directly include business strategy responsibilities such as security, digital transformation, customer employee experiences and sustainability, says Logicalis' CEO Bob Bailkoski.

"If you'd have asked me five or six years ago, I would have said that the CIO was fighting for a seat at the table.

"That's now changed."

Bailkoski told Computing's sister site CRN that the changes are having a tangible impact on end user procurement, and is a shift MSPs need to adapt to.

Logicalis commissioned a survey of 1,000 CIOs to try to find out more.

"What we found was that back in 2016, the role of CIOs was threatened by shadow IT," he said.

"The IT team back then were basically tasked with keeping the lights on, keeping the machines operating and the network running smoothly.

"Then in 2018, 61% of CIOs said they were measured by how much money they could save,"

Fast-forward to today, and 41% of respondents said they have some level of core responsibility around business strategy.

Eighty one per cent said they are spending more time on innovation for the businesses' growth plans.

And over three quarters (77%) are spending more time selling ideas to the board.

For Bailkoski, this in particular means that CIOs are now more important to driving channel spend than ever before.

One of the key things that's really helped the CIO elevate its role is the pandemic

"77% of companies are continuing to invest in digital transformation, which means that it's still a hot topic on everyone's agenda. It's a continuous journey.

"So, the relationship between the channel and CIOs has really improved over the last few years in terms of helping support those activities."

He added: "One of the key things that's really helped the CIO elevate its role is the pandemic. CIOs have really stepped up to the plate during the pandemic, helping organisations deliver transformation in record time, getting organisations working remotely."

Despite lockdowns in Europe being behind us, Logicalis' boss says the lessons learned by end users during Covid will remain influential.

"The context of pandemic is a critical feature of the CIOs role. And that will continue to be something that drives business between the channel and CIOs.

"If you think about the massive amount of spending that has been on security tools over the last five years, it's really incredible for me to know that over half of the CIOs that we surveyed, are increasing their spending or risk management."

The relationship between CIOs and partners

Some of the other critical issues that CIOs will have to face going forward are perennial challenges around the skills gap and recruitment.

"And there are budget pressures that are bubbling up all the time," said Bailkoski. "For CIOs, they need to be more efficient in what they do.

"So, those things are sort of slightly at odds with each other because the resources are becoming more expensive and expensive as time goes on. It becomes scarcer anyway. And you've got to find ways to make your environment more efficient."

To tackle this, 74% of CIOs expect an increase in spending on partnerships with managed services providers.

Half of respondents also argued that if they engage effectively with a managed service provider, it will them free up resources.

The sustainability challenge

Sustainability was also singled out as an important focus for CIOs.

Almost half of respondents said they review carbon output and energy efficiency as part of the process of choosing new suppliers.

"There's also a broader business awareness understanding in this area, because 92% of CIOs said they see a clear link between sustainability and enterprise value business value overall."

Whether it's business strategy or sustainability drives, the rise of the CIO is a trend that Bailkoski sees as positive for the channel, overall.

"In our view, that relationship between an MSP and customer will only become stronger. It's good for business.

"In our survey, 33% of CIOs said that they were already working with MSPs today to try and harness the benefits of the digital services that they offer... and we in the channel have those skills."

'Five or six years ago, I would have said the CIO was fighting for a seat at the table. That's now changed': Logicalis' Bob Bailkoski

The most important changes in procurement, and how it's impacting budgets

The CIO role has expanded to more directly include business strategy responsibilities such as security, digital transformation, customer employee experiences and sustainability, says Logicalis' CEO Bob Bailkoski.

The relationship between CIOs and partners

The sustainability challenge

Components

Tata's UK gigafactory project takes major step forward

Public Sector

National Grid is turning analogue to digital - Ctrl Alt Lead podcast

Green

Peter Cochrane: Energy and resources are no longer free