Digital Transformation lessons for CIOs from legacy companies

Technology transformation is almost never centerpiece for most traditional or legacy organizations, but rather one of many considerations facing business leaders looking to modernize. In the absence of its inclusion in a business’s overall strategic intent, IT can become merely a back office or secluded department expected to simply keep the lights on.

Being left out of the strategy-setting makes the work of a CIO much harder. We spoke to top Indian CIOs from traditional enterprises to get insights into the challenges they have confronted and the strategies they employed to overcome them.

IT not seen as transformational

Tata Motors (formerly Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) was founded in 1945, long before the digital revolution began. Such traditional companies have witnessed a growth wave without necessarily riding on technology. Top management, therefore, has often assumed that what brought success in the past would continue to deliver in the future.

“To expect growth in the absence of IT becomes a part of the leadership’s belief system,” says Jagdish Belwal, who served as the CIO of Tata Motors from 2009 until 2017. 

“A major chunk of their time is spent on aggressive marketing, channel building, etc. The IT department is not viewed as transformational and, therefore, not accorded importance.”

With low levels of confidence in internal IT, Tata Motors tended to lean heavily on outsourcing. Applications were farmed out to one partner and infrastructure to another, while the CIO was expected to simply sign the bills of technology partners.

Digital Transformation