Canadian CIOs discuss driving digital transformation at a rapid pace

According to the State of the CIO, 2024 research “79% of heads of IT say that CIOs have a strong educational partnership with the CEO/board of directors “and “88% of CIOs say that their role is becoming more digital and innovation focused”. 

I moderated roundtables across Canada from Vancouver to Ottawa in the fall of 2023 and early 2024 hosted by CIO and IDC and sponsored by IBM and TD SYNNEX.  At the roundtables CIOs and senior technology leaders gathered to discuss legacy systems, transformation to the cloud, leading and planning with the C Suite, and building sustainability and cybersecurity plans. Throughout these vibrant conversations, CIOs also discussed managing teams and leadership.

Consistently across all conversations the senior technology leaders agreed that Canadian CIOs are actively participating with the CEO and leadership teams leading technology, digital transformation, and innovation as the core of business growth. Many felt that businesses in Canada have pivoted to becoming technology first, with technology driving business outcomes.

Other topics of discussion included digital modernization, working with vendors, and upskilling and leading teams.

Digital Transformation through modernization of legacy systems

It was clear that modernization of legacy systems was top of mind for these leaders. Many agreed that moving data into the cloud was prominent in their business plans. Yet, some of the challenges they faced included understanding the cost of moving data to the cloud and having the time to understand legacy systems.  One CIO mentioned accessing certain data on a legacy system required hardware that was no longer available. This was an added stress on planning his data and cloud strategy. Another CIO mentioned that planning and moving data to the cloud required deep collaboration with vendors to build an assessment for licensing, workloads and migration costs.

The CIO as a C Suite leader

Most of the CIOs agreed that the CIO is an important part of the leadership team. Technology was no longer considered a service to the business but a valuable and strategic part of accelerating business both functionally and financially.  This required CIOs to not only lead teams, assess team skills, work with vendors, but additionally be an integral part of the budget and planning process.  As one CIO said, they are navigating a greater interaction with the CEO and board of directors to build both internal and external excellence.

Working with vendors

There was a keen interest in working collaboratively with vendors. Many CIOs mentioned that in this very fast evolving pace of technology, they often turn to vendors to provide expertise and information on best practices. One CIO mentioned that he works so closely with his key vendors that he provides them with his strategic plan so that vendors can collaborate more effectively together with the business.

At all of the roundtables across Canada, it was clear that meeting in person, knowledge exchange and networking is key to learning and leadership development for technology leaders. CIO and IDC were thankful to host and be a part of this discussion, which was sponsored by IBM and TD SYNNEX.