Flat World CIOs: Speeding Up In A Slowdown
So everybody from Ben Bernanke http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7357595 to your neighborhood grocer is talking about a potential recession in the US Markets and its potential impact on the rest of the world. Consumer confidence and business confidence in the US have been the lowest in February. However, US export numbers are holding up and the trade deficit is narrowing. There are mixed signals from retailers as well. CFOs of decently performing companies are exercising caution as they go about planning the year’s budgets. It’s easy in such times to cut down on IT spending and capital investments in technology. Ever wonder in such times, what happens to our visionary dynamic Flat World CIO. With new IT budgets that are either flat for the year or have decreased marginally is it a good time for the CIO to lay low until things change…. or is it time to stand up and be counted?
As the Infosys Retail, CPG & Logistics vertical is now global, I get the opportunity to meet CIOs not only across the US but also across the UK and Europe on a regular basis. In one of my recent Europe visits I read a very powerful ad punch line “Disruption is inevitable; who gets to be the disrupter is up for grabs”. From my conversations with select CIOs, I can see some of them choosing to be disrupters in uncertain times, choosing to make a difference with flat and lower budgets, choosing to adapt to the Flat World faster, winning in the turns.
Let me provide some examples
A senior IT executive of a large firm in the Benelux region remarked to me last week “I see the slowdown as an opportunity. I have been trying to create the case for automating a lot of our internal data cleansing, data massaging and data management efforts that are manual today. But because of various internal political reasons, I have not been able to do so. Now, the business case is more compelling than ever. We need to use technology to automate these efforts.”
Another global CPG firm is beginning an SAP rollout in the European region. Before they embark on the expensive and risk-prone journey, they have set aside 4-6 weeks to brainstorm with their best creative thinkers (internal and partners) on unique ways to cut costs and crash timelines for this implementation. Partners are tripping over each other to provide the most breathtaking wild ideas to achieve the same. It will take just one idea out of several to make a difference. It’s a unique approach but one that was conceived by the CIO for these difficult times.
Private equity firms recently are trying hard to get the CIOs of their portfolio companies to adopt modern technology and outsourcing trends faster than they would typically do. The CIOs I have seen are eager to embrace these trends especially in these times.
In trying times like this, several companies are looking at international expansion as an important option to grow top-line sales. Again, CIOs are leading the charge as they invest in developing, implementing and rolling out systems that will work in new countries and continents.
It is CIOs like the above that allow companies in tough times to win in the turns. Automation, outsourcing, new business ideas, innovation, etc. are best explored in a slowdown and a recession. That’s when your competitors are sleeping. That’s what we call “winning in the turns” – an important Flat World shift. CIOs, more than anybody else, are in a good position to leverage such shifts and guide their companies through the storm.
