15 December 2016
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NetScout VP Michael Segal
Also: IT security job availability to rise in 2017 as digital change accelerates
The CIO's role "will become more important than it's ever been" in 2017, according to NetScout area vice president of strategy Michael Segal.
"Digital transformation is touching all aspects of business, and as a result enterprises need to be aware that every system upgrade, connection, or third-party application added to existing IT infrastructure will increase service delivery complexity, scale, and operational risk," said Segal, stating that the CIO or IT director's position and knowledge are now key to overseeing these increasingly significant rollouts.
"It's a situation that's not only going to create headaches for IT teams, but could also have serious implications for the successful running of any business," said Segal.
"In this environment it's down to the CIO to manage the transition, maintain a sense of order, and lay the foundations for the future. The CIO is uniquely placed to supervise any enterprise digital transformation strategy due to their unique understanding of IT infrastructure and how it can evolve to better serve business growth."
Segal said that IT infrastructure is "what the digital economy depends on 24/7", and managing this is "highly strategic" for business and IT leaders, with service performance "one of the most important transformational metrics".
"This has always been the case, but as we move into 2017 enterprises will recognise the increasing value of business assurance. Doing this the wrong way, relying on incoherent data and silo-specific tools, will cost companies a lot of money when they are faced with service disruptions, sometimes running into millions of dollars an hour.
"On the flipside, businesses will also recognise how accelerating digital transformation and assuring a consistent service delivery relies on a real-time information platform that supports comprehensive IT visibility, capable of producing unique insights into operations."
Digital transformation and its associated automation, Segal also pointed out, will begin to cause a noticeable "shift" in the jobs market come 2017.
"[Digital transformation] has already had a profound impact on the factory floor and the number of jobs lost to automation over the past 30 years has now ticked over the 6 million mark in the US alone," he warned.
However, on the bright side, Segal says he expects a healthy hike in cybersecurity jobs in 2017 as the changing threat landscape demands more assistance in coping.
