Two years of pandemic uncertainty and escalating business risk have sharpened the focus of corporate boards on a technology trend once dismissed as just another IT buzzword. “Digital transformation work has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic,” says Paul Martin, who wrapped up a decade as CIO of Baxter International in October 2020 and now…
Flexible work environments that were precipitated by the pandemic are most certainly here to stay and work will not return to pre-pandemic norms. These days it’s all about what workers do and how they do it, not where they do it. Access to technology dictates where a worker chooses to work. Providing a consistent experience…
Microsoft has begun migrating its internal SAP systems to S/4HANA under the RISE with SAP umbrella. In choosing RISE, Microsoft is making SAP responsible for the licensing, technical management, hosting and support of its SAP applications under a single SLA — although ultimately Microsoft will host its S/4HANA instances in its own Azure cloud, and…
Sonny Sonnenstein is not a mainframe guy. “I’m a banking technologist,” says the CIO for retail, business, and digital banking at M&T Bank. But it is safe to say that Sonnenstein understands something about investment risk and when it’s time to double down on a strong hand. He’s doing just that on the bank’s IBM…
A chief digital officer (CDO) is a leader who combines business acumen with digital expertise to help organizations drive digital transformation via an enterprise-wise digital vision and strategy. At many companies, the chief digital officer is a customer-facing role that signals a commitment to a digital future. At others, the chief digital officer’s main responsibility…
Established by the UK Parliament in 2001 to settle complaints about financial-services companies, the Financial Ombudsman’s Service (FOS) has served an increasing number of consumers, recently dealing with more than a million people a year. Heightened demand through the COVID-19 pandemic has put even more pressure on FOS, whose services are free to the public,…
With the accelerated pace of digital transformation, coupled with the unprecedented arrival of the pandemic pushing enterprises towards a hybrid work culture, IT leaders have played a key part in keeping business afloat these last two years. The resulting redefinition of their role is influencing their priorities as they prepare for the 2023 financial year.…
Digital transformation goes beyond implementing technological resources — it also requires change in thinking and strategy. In this Q&A, Roula Gharios Zahar, deputy general director of Mount Lebanon Hospital since 1997, discusses technology challenges and successes for the country healthcare sector, as well as hurdles presented for change management. CIO MIddle East: How would you…
Businesses for some years now have had initiatives in place for diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) work environments. While some progress has been made, the pandemic certainly caused setbacks, including for DEI in the tech sector. Women lost their jobs at a much higher rate than men. And they earned less due to lockdown regulations,…
“The 4 P’s of Customer Engagement” is a concept I coined a couple years ago that summarizes what companies need to prioritize to create experiences that matter. For a customer interaction to embody the 4 P’s, it must be personal, predictive, proactive, and pervasive. Here’s what I mean by this: Personal: We all know the more personal…