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Technology is moving and changing fast all around us. Every facet of life and business is wrapped up in this revolution. But what are the professionals at the very centre of this changing world concerned about? We looked at some of the key challenges that Chief Information Officers are looking to solve in 2017. 

Some of the big topics that technology has been driving over the last number of years include:

• IoT
• Big Data
• Virtual Reality
• AI

But what are some of the company specific issues? The everyday challenges that businesses face? We have taken 5 that are high on the agendas of corporate CIOs.

Keeping up with the changing security landscape:

Hacking is no doubt still a huge challenge for businesses. With the IoT, security will become even more important and even more challenging. Getting on top of and staying ahead of the security challenge is on every CIOs to do list.

Digital Transformation:

There is mass acceptance that digital business is a reality and not a prediction. There isn't a business that hasn't been touched and that will continue to change with increased pace as a result of technological advances. This means that the digital transformation will put technology at the heart of how businesses differentiate and develop competitive advantage. How these businesses harness themselves around technology to create this advantage will be really interesting to observe.

The talent war:

For every business, whether it's a start up or an established company, getting the best talent is a barrier to success. Finding and retaining talent is now critical to enable your business to not only keep up but to be better than your competition. As the technology changes continues, the skills gap will widen. You need great people working within a culture of learning and development. CIOs need to be invested in this process and ensure that the type of business they project will entice the next generation of IT leaders.

Get on top of data:

Getting access to data has been an issue. But that is improving with faster better cloud services. But turning data into meaningful information that can be useful to a business is still a challenge. Technology developments such as chatbots will help drive companies into getting a handle on their data as these types of services are totally data driven. 

A centre of innovation:

In the medium and long term the CIO and his/her department or function have to step up to the plate and become leaders and innovators within their businesses. Hence proper resources have to be put behind innovation. If you consider that over 50% of NAM CIOs in companies with more than 500 employees allocate less than 10% of their budget to innovation and development, you get a sense of the challenge presented here. 

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Posted in technology, IT challenges; Tagged digital challenges, digital strategy;