Innovation is not an option

Due to Information Technology (IT) budget freeze, innovation in companies is impacted as well as the role of the CIO. Innovation however is not an option in the times we’re living in but a source of competitive advantage. The CIOs are asked to do more with less which is why innovation plays an important role in TI departments. They are forced to innovate and apply these innovations to the benefit of the companie’s business. IT departments can rely on major trends like mobility including the BYOD concept (Bring Your Own Device), externalization through Saas (Software As a Service), TaaS (Testing As A Service), IaaS (Infrastructure As A Service), Big Data and the specialized profesional services to become a real asset for the organization. Nowadays, TI managers are too much focused in maintenance and cost-saving projects, laying aside innovation. This is what prevails in most organizations. For the past 2 to 3 years, the TI strategy has consisted in keeping things up and running. In recesion time, spendings rise while incomes lower and many TI departments focus on cutting costs and solve day to day issues. Therefore, innovation was not a priority. But today, as TI departments reached a limit in cost savings, they are no longer asked to optimize the existing infrastructure but to be a part of the business and to innovate bringing new strategic solutions. They are now working on evolution (of functions, implementation, solutions) which makes innovation a key aspect for the future of these departments. In the spanish market, CIOs are reluctant to implement such unstoppable trends as the BYOD of the cloud services. I really consider it as a cultural issue that has to do with the restrictive politics that are in place in spanish organizations. But it is also important to take into account other aspects such as possible security breaches and the complexity to manage multiple platform systems for BYOD that prevent CIOs from adopting these new trends. On the other hand, companies should foresee that these concepts are useful for any organization’s final users. BYOD or social colaboration environments for instance are key hiring incentives for companies. Young talents which are starting their profesional career now are used to chose which online platforms, social networks and devices they want to use. A restrictive IT environment can lead them to pick another company with more flexibility.