Build a Better Manager

Support IT success with a solid management foundation.

Analyst Perspective

Training that delivers results.

Ninety-eight percent of managers say they need more training, but 93% of managers already receive some level of manager training. Unfortunately, the training typically provided, although copious, is not working. More of the same will never get you better outcomes. How many times have you sat through training that was so long, you had no hope of implementing half of it? How many times have you been taught best practices, with zero guidance on how to apply them? To truly support our managers, we need to rethink manager training. Move from fulfilling an HR mandate to providing truly trainee-centric instruction. Teach only the right skills – no fluff – and encourage and enable their application in the day to day.

Jane Kouptsova Research Director, People & Leadership Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

When it comes to manager training, more is not more. Attending training is not equal to being trained. Even good information is useless when it doesn’t get applied. If your role hasn’t required you to use your training within 48 hours, you were not trained on the most relevant skills.

Effective managers drive effective departments by engaging their teams

Engaged teams are: 52% more willing to innovate* 70% more likely to be at the organization a year from now** 57% more likely to exceed their role’s expectations** Engaged teams are driven by managers: 70% of team-level engagement is accounted for by managers***

*McLean & Company; N=3,395; **McLean & Company; N=5,902; ***Gallup, 2018

Despite the criticality of their role, IT organizations are failing at supporting new managers

87% of middle managers wish they had more training when they were first promoted

98% of managers say they need more training

Source: Grovo, 2016

IT must take notice:

IT as an industry tends to promote staff on the basis of technical skill. As a result, new managers find themselves suddenly out of their comfort zone, tasked with leading teams using management skills they have not been trained in and, more often than not, having to learn on the job. This is further complicated because many new IT managers must go from a position of team member to leader, which can be a very complex transition.

The truth is, many organizations do try and provide some degree of manager training, it just is not effective

*Grovo, 2016; **Chief Executive, 2016

Info-Tech’s Management & Governance Diagnostic, N=337 CIOs

There are three key reasons why manager training fails

1. Information Overload

Seventy-five percent of managers report that their training was too long to remember or to apply in their day to day (Grovo, 2016). Trying to cover too much useful information results in overwhelm and does not deliver on key training objectives.

2. Limited Implementation

Thirty-three percent of managers find that their training had insufficient follow-up to help them apply it on the job (Grovo, 2016). Learning is only the beginning. The real results are obtained when learning is followed by practice, which turns new knowledge into reliable habits.

3. Lack of departmental alignment

Implementing training without a clear link to departmental and organizational objectives leaves you unable to clearly communicate its value, undermines your ability to secure buy-in from attendees and executives, and leaves you unable to verify that the training is actually improving departmental effectiveness.

Overcome those common training pitfalls with tactical solutions

This research combats common training challenges by focusing on building habits, not just learning ideas

Info-Tech Insight

When it comes to manager training, stop thinking about learning, and start thinking about practice. In difficult situations, we fall back on habits, not theoretical knowledge. If a manager is only as good as their habits, we need to support them in translating knowledge into practice.

This research focuses on building good management habits to drive enterprise success

Set up your first-time managers for success by leveraging Info-Tech’s training to focus on three key areas of management:

• Managing people as a team
• Managing people as individuals
• Managing yourself as a developing leader

Each of these areas:

• Is immediately important for a first-time manager
• Includes practical, tactical skills that can be implemented quickly
• Translates to departmental and organizational benefits

Info-Tech Insight

There is no such thing as “effective management training.” Various topics will be effective at different times for different roles. Delivering only the highest-impact learning at strategic points in your leadership development program will ensure the learning is retained and translates to results.

This blueprint covers foundational training in three key domains of effective management

Effective Managers

• Self
  • Conflict & Difficult Conversations
  • Your Role in the Organization
  • Your Role in Decisions
• Team
  • Communication
  • Feedback & Coaching
  • Performance Management
• People
  • Master Time
  • Delegate
  • Accountability

Each topic corresponds to a module, which can be used individually or as a series in any order.

Choose topics that resonate with your managers and relate directly to their day-to-day tasks. Training on topics that may be useful in the future, while interesting, is less likely to generate lasting skill development.

Info-Tech Best Practice

This blueprint is not a replacement for formal leadership or management certification. It is designed as a practical, tactical, and foundational introduction to key management capabilities.

Info-Tech’s training tools guide participants through successful skill building

Measure the effectiveness of your manager training with outcomes-focused metrics

Linking manager training with measurable outcomes allows you to verify that the program is achieving the intended benefits, course correct as needed, and secure buy-in from stakeholders and participants by articulating and documenting value.

Use the metrics suggested below to monitor your training program’s effectiveness at three key stages:

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Guided Implementation

What does a typical GI on this topic look like?

A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series

of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

A typical GI is 1 to 3 calls over the course of several months, depending on training schedule.

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative for more information.
workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

Pool of topics:

• Master Time
• Accountability
• Your Role in the Organization
• Your Role in Decision Making
• Manage Conflict Constructively
• Effective Communication
• Performance Management
• Coaching & Feedback

Phase 1

Prepare to facilitate training

Outcomes of this phase:

• Training facilitation deck customized to organizational norms
• Training workbook distributed to participants
• Training dates and facilitator finalized

1.1 Select training modules

1-3 hours

1. Review the module descriptions on the following slides.
2. Identify modules that will address managers’ most pressing development needs.
   To help make this decision, consult the following:
   • Trainees’ development plans
   • Trainees’ supervisors

Effective Communication

Effective communication is the cornerstone of good management

Effective communication can make or break your IT team’s effectiveness and engagement and a manager’s reputation in the organization. Effective stakeholder management and communication has a myriad of benefits – yet this is a key area where IT leaders continue to struggle.

There are multiple ways in which you communicate with your staff. The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

1. Understand communication styles. Every staff member has a predisposition in terms of how they give, receive, and digest information. To drive effective communication new managers need to understand the profiles of each of their team members and adjust their communicate style to suit.
2. Understand what your team members want communicated to them and how. Communication is highly personal, and a good manager needs to clearly understand what their team wants to be informed about, their desired interactions, and when they need to be involved in decision making. They also must determine the appropriate channels for communication exchanges.
3. Make meetings matter. Many new managers never receive training on what differentiates a good and bad meeting. Effective meetings have a myriad of benefits, but more often than not meetings are ineffective, wasting both the participants’ and organizer’s time. This training will help you to ensure that every team meeting drives a solid outcome and gets results.

Benefits:

• Better buy-in, understanding, and communication.
• Improved IT reputation with the organization.
• Improved team engagement.
• Improved stakeholder satisfaction.
• Better-quality decision making.
• Improved transparency, trust, and credibility.
• Less waste and rework.
• Greater ability to secure support and execute the agenda.
• More effective cooperation on activities, better quality information, and greater value from stakeholder input.
• Better understanding of IT performance and contribution.

Effective Communication

Effective manager communication has a direct impact on employee engagement

35% Of organizations say they have lost an employee due to poor internal communication (project.co, 2021).

59% Of business leaders lose work time to mistakes caused by poor communication (Grammarly, 2022).

$1.2 trillion Lost to US organizations as a result of poor communication (Grammarly, 2022).

Effective Communication

Effective communication is crucial to all parts of the business

Effective Communication

The Communicate Effectively Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Understand Communication Styles
• Tailor Communication Methods to Activities
• Make Meetings Matter

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become a better communicator across a variety of personal styles and work contexts.

Key objectives:

• Reaffirm why effective communication matters.
• Work with people with different communication styles.
• Communicate clearly and effectively within a team.
• Make meetings more effective.

Info-Tech Insight

First-time IT managers face specific communication challenges that come with managing people for the first time: learning to communicate a greater variety of information to different kinds of people, in a variety of venues. Tailored training in these areas helps managers focus and fast-track critical skill development.

Performance Management

Meaningful performance measures drive employee engagement, which in turn drives business success

Meaningful performance measures help employees understand the rationale behind business decisions, help managers guide their staff, and clarify expectations for employees. These factors are all strong predictors of team engagement:

Performance Management

Clear performance measures benefit employees and the organization

Performance Management

The Performance Management Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Develop Meaningful Goals
• Set Meaningful Metrics

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become proficient in setting, tracking, and communicating around performance management goals.

Key objectives:

• Understand the role of managers and employees in the performance management process.
• Learn to set SMART, business-aligned goals for your team.
• Learn to help employees set useful individual goals.
• Learn to set meaningful, holistic metrics to track goal progression.
• Understand the relationship between goals, metrics, and feedback.

Info-Tech Insight

Goal and metric development holds special significance for first-time IT managers because it now impacts not only their personal performance, but that of their employees and their team collectively. Training on these topics with a practical team- and employee-development approach is a focused way to build these skills.

Coaching & Feedback

Coaching and feedback are effective methods to influence employees and drive business outcomes

1. Administrative Sciences, 2022

2. International Review of Management and Marketing, 2020

3. Current Psychology, 2021

4. Quantum Workplace, 2021

5. Issues and Perspectives in Business and Social Sciences, 2022

6. Sustainability, 2021

Coaching & Feedback

The Coaching & Feedback Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• The 4 A’s of Coaching
• Effective Feedback

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Get prepared to coach and offer feedback to your staff as appropriate.

Key objectives:

• Understand the difference between coaching and feedback and when to apply each one.
• Learn the importance of a coaching mindset.
• Learn effective coaching via the 4 A’s framework.
• Understand the actions that make up feedback and the factors that make it successful.
• Learn to deal with resistance to feedback.

Info-Tech Insight

First-time managers often shy away from giving coaching and feedback, stalling their team’s performance. A focused and practical approach to building these skills equips new managers with the tools and confidence to tackle these challenges as soon as they arise.

Your Role in the Organization

IT managers who understand the business context provide more value to the organization

Managers who don’t understand the business cannot effect positive change. The greater understanding that IT managers have of business context, the more value they provide to the organization as seen by the positive relationship between IT’s understanding of business needs and the business’ perception of IT value.

Source: Info-Tech Research Group

Your Role in the Organization

Knowing your stakeholders is key to understanding your role in the business and providing value to the organization

To understand your role in the business, you need to know who your stakeholders are and what value you and your team provide to the organization. Knowing how you help each stakeholder meet their wants needs and goals means that you have the know-how to balance experience and outcome-based behaviors. This is the key to being an attentive leader.

The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

1. Know your stakeholders. There are five key stakeholders the majority of IT managers have: management, peers, direct reports, internal users, and external users or customers. Managers need to understand the goals, needs, and wants of each of these groups to successfully provide value to the organization.
2. Understand the value you provide to each stakeholder. Stakeholder relationship management requires IT managers to exhibit drive and support behaviors based on the situation. By knowing how you drive and support each stakeholder, you understand how you provide value to the organization and support its mission, vision, and values.
3. Communicate the value your team provides to the organization to your team. Employees need to understand the impact of their work. As an IT manager, you are responsible for communicating how your team provides value to the organization. Mission statements on how you provide value to each stakeholder is an easy way to clearly communicate purpose to your team.

Benefits:

• Faster and higher growth.
• Improved team engagement.
• Improved stakeholder satisfaction.
• Better quality decision making.
• More innovation and motivation to complete goals and tasks.
• Greater ability to secure support and execute on goals and tasks.
• More effective cooperation on activities, better quality information, and greater value from stakeholder input.
• Better understanding of IT performance and contribution.

Your Role in the Organization

The Your Role in the Organization Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Know Your Stakeholders
• Understand the Value You Provide to the Organization
• Develop Learnings Into Habits

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Understand how your role and the role of your team serves the business.

Key objectives:

• Learn who your stakeholders are.
• Understand how you drive and support different stakeholder relationships.
• Relate your team’s tasks back to the mission, vision, and values of the organization.
• Create a mission statement for each stakeholder to bring back to your team.

Info-Tech Insight

Before training first-time IT managers, take some time as the facilitator to review how you will serve the wants and needs of those you are training and your stakeholders in the organization.

Decision Making

Bad decisions have tangible costs, so managers must be trained in how to make effective decisions

To understand your role in the decision-making process, you need to know what is expected of you and you must understand what goes into making a good decision. The majority of managers report they have no trouble making decisions and that they are good decision makers, but the statistics say otherwise. This ease at decision making is due to being overly confident in their expertise and an inability to recognize their own ignorance.1

The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

1. Effectively communicate decisions. Often, first-time managers are either sharing their decision recommendations with their manager or they are communicating a decision down to their team. Managers need to understand how to have these conversations so their recommendations provide value to management and top-down decisions are successfully implemented.
2. Provide valuable feedback on decisions. Evaluating decisions is just as critical as making decisions. If decisions aren’t reviewed, there is no data or feedback to discover why a decision was a success or failure. Having a plan in place before the decision is made facilitates the decision review process and makes it easier to provide valuable feedback.
3. Avoid common decision-making mistakes. Heuristics and bias are common decision pitfalls even senior leaders are susceptible to. By learning what the common decision-making mistakes are and being able to recognize them when they appear in their decision-making process, first-time managers can improve their decision-making ability.

20% Of respondents say their organizations excel at decision making (McKinsey, 2018).

87% “Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions” (Upskillist, 2022).

86% of employees in leadership positions blame the lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures (Upskillist, 2022).

Decision Making

A decision-making process is imperative, even though most managers don’t have a formal one

1. Identify the Problem and Define Objectives
2. Establish Decision Criteria
3. Generate and Evaluate Alternatives
4. Select an Alternative and Implement
5. Evaluate the Decision

Managers tend to rely on their own intuition which is often colored by heuristics and biases. By using a formal decision-making process, these pitfalls of intuition can be mitigated or avoided. This leads to better decisions.

First-time managers are able to apply this framework when making decision recommendations to management to increase their likelihood of success, and having a process will improve their decisions throughout their career and the financial returns correlated with them.

Decision Making

Recognizing personal heuristics and bias in the decision-making process improves more than just decision results

Employees are able to recognize bias in the workplace, even when management can’t. This affects everything from how involved they are in the decision-making process to their level of effort and productivity in implementing decisions. Without employee support, even good decisions are less likely to have positive results. Employees who perceive bias:

Decision Making

The Decision Making Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Effectively Communicate Decisions
• Provide Valuable Feedback on Decisions
• Avoid Common Decision-Making Mistakes

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Understand how to successfully perform your role in the decision process.

Key objectives:

• Understand the decision-making process and how to assess decisions.
• Learn how to communicate with your manager regarding your decision recommendations.
• Learn how to effectively communicate decisions to your team.
• Understand how to avoid common decision-making errors.

Info-Tech Insight

Before training a decision-making framework, ensure it is in alignment with how decisions are made in your organization. Alternatively, make sure leadership is on board with making a change.

Manage Conflict Constructively

Enable leaders to resolve conflicts while minimizing costs

If you are successful in your talent acquisition, you likely have a variety of personalities and diverse individuals within your IT organization and in the business, which means that conflict is inevitable. However, conflict does not have to be negative – it can take on many forms. The presence of conflict in an organization can actually be a very positive thing: the ability to freely express opinions and openly debate can lead to better, more strategic decisions being made.

The effect that the conflict is having on individuals and the work environment will determine whether the conflict is positive or counterproductive.

As a new manager you need to know how to manage potential negative outcomes of conflict by managing difficult conversations and understanding how to respond to conflict in the workplace.

The tactics you will learn in this section will help you to:

1. Apply strategies to prepare for and navigate through difficult conversations.
2. Expand your comfort level when handling conflict, and engage in constructive conflict resolution approaches.

Benefits:

• Relieve stress for yourself and your co-workers.
• Save yourself time and energy.
• Positively impact relationships with your employees.
• Improve your team dynamic.
• Remove roadblocks to your work and get things done.
• Save the organization money.
• Improve performance.
• Prevent negative issues from reoccurring.

Manage Conflict Constructively

Addressing difficult conversations is beneficial to you, your people, and the organization

When you face a difficult conversation you…

• Relieve stress on you and your co-workers.
• Save yourself time and energy.
• Positively impact relationships with your employees.
• Improve your team dynamic.
• Remove roadblocks to your work
• Save the organization money.
• Improve performance.
• Prevent negative issues from reoccurring.

40% Of employees who experience conflict report being less motivated as a result (Acas, 2021).

30.6% Of employees report coming off as aggressive when trying to resolve a conflict
(Niagara Institute, 2022).

Manage Conflict Constructively

The Manage Conflict Constructively Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Know Your Ideal Time Mix
• Calendar Diligence
• Effective Delegation
• Limit Interruptions

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Effectively manage your time and know which tasks are your priority and which tasks to delegate.

Key objectives:

• Understand common reasons for difficult conversations.
• Learn Info-Tech’s six-step process to best to prepare for difficult conversations.
• Follow best practices to approach difficult conversations.
• Learn the five approaches to conflict management.
• Practice conflict management skills.

Info-Tech Insight

Conflict does not have to be negative. The presence of conflict in an organization can actually be a very positive thing: the ability to freely express opinions and openly debate can lead to better, more strategic decisions being made.

Master Time

Effective leaders spend their time in specific ways

Source: Info-Tech, N=85

Master Time

Signs you struggle with time management

Master Time

The Master Time Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Understand Communication Styles
• Tailor Communication Methods to Activities
• Make Meetings Matter

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Become a better communicator across a variety of personal styles and work contexts.

Key objectives:

• Understand how you spend your time.
• Learn how to use your calendar effectively.
• Understand the actions to take to successfully delegate.
• Learn how to successfully limit interruptions.

Info-Tech Insight

There is a right and wrong way to manage your calendar as a first-time manager and it has nothing to do with your personal preference.

Accountability

Accountability creates organizational and team benefits

Source: Forbes, 2019

Accountability

Accountability increases employee empowerment

Employee empowerment is the number one driver of employee engagement. The extent to which you can hold employees accountable for their own actions and decisions is closely related to how empowered they are and how empowered they feel; accountability and empowerment go hand in hand. To feel empowered, employees must understand what is expected of them, have input into decisions that affect their work, and have the tools they need to demonstrate their talents.

Source: McLean & Company Engagement Database, 2018; N=71,794

Accountability

The Accountability Facilitation Guide covers the following topics:

• Create Clarity and Transparency
• Articulate Expectations and Evaluation
• Help Your Team Remove Roadblocks
• Clearly Introduce Accountability to Your Team

Learning outcomes:

Main goal: Create a personal accountability plan and learn how to hold yourself and your team accountable.

Key objectives:

• Understand why accountability matters.
• Learn how to create clarity and transparency.
• Understand how to successfully hold people accountable through clearly articulating expectations and evaluation.
• Know how to remove roadblocks to accountability for your team.

Info-Tech Insight

Accountability is about focusing on the results of a task, rather than just completing the task. Create team accountability by keeping the team focused on the result and not “doing their jobs.” First-time managers need to clearly communicate expectations and evaluation to successfully develop team accountability.

Use the Build a Better Manager Participant Workbooks to help participants set accountabilities and track their progress

A key feature of this blueprint is built-in guidance on transferring your managers’ new knowledge into practical skills and habits they can fall back on when their job requires it.

The Participant Workbooks, one for each module, are structured around the three key principles of learning transfer to help participants optimally structure their own learning:

• Track your learning. This section guides participants through conducting self-assessments, setting learning goals, recording key insights, and brainstorming relapse-prevention strategies
• Establish your personal commitment. This section helps participants record the actions they personally commit to taking to continually practice their new skills
• Secure organizational support. This section guides participants in recording the steps they will take to seek out support from their supervisor and peers.

Info-Tech Insight

Participants should use this workbook throughout their training and continue to review it for at least three months after. Practical skills take an extended amount of time to solidify, and using the workbook for several months will ensure that participants stay on track with regular practice and check-ins.

Set your trainees up for success by reviewing these training best practices

Info-Tech Insight

Participants should use this workbook throughout their training and continue to review it for at least three months after. Practical skills take an extended amount of time to solidify, and using the workbook for several months will ensure that participants stay on track with regular practice and check-ins.

1.2 Customize the facilitation guides

1-3 hours

Prior to facilitating your first session, ensure you complete the following steps:

1. Read through all the module content, including the speaker’s notes, to familiarize yourself with the material and ensure the tactics presented align with your department’s culture and established best practices.
2. Customize the slides with a pencil icon with information relevant to your organization.
3. Ensure you are comfortable with all material to be presented and are prepared to answer questions. If you require clarification on any of the material, book a call with your Info-Tech analyst for guidance.
4. Ensure you do not delete or heavily customize the self-assessment activities and the activities in the Review and Action Plan section of the module. These activities are structured around a skill building framework and designed to aid your trainees in applying their new knowledge in their day to day. If you have any concerns about activities in these sections, book a call with your Info-Tech analyst for guidance.

1.3 Prepare to deliver training

1-3 hours

Complete these steps in preparation for delivering the training to your first-time managers:

1. Select a facilitator.
   • The right person to facilitate the meeting depends on the dynamics within your department. Having a senior IT leader can lend additional weight to the training best practices but may not be feasible in a large department. In these cases, an HR partner or external third party can be asked to facilitate.
2. Distribute the workbooks to attendees before the first training session.
   • Change the header on the workbook templates to your own organization’s, if desired.
   • Email the workbooks to attendees prior to the first session. There is no pre-work to be completed.

Phase 2

Deliver training

Outcomes of this phase:

• Training delivered
• Development goals set by attendees
• Action plan created by attendees

2.1 Deliver training

3 hours

When you are ready, deliver the training. Ensure you complete all activities and that participants record the outcomes in their workbooks.

Tips for activity facilitation:

• Encourage and support participation from everyone. And be sure no one on the team dismisses anyone’s thoughts or opinions – they present the opportunity for further discussion and deeper insight.
• Debrief after each activity, outlining any lessons learned, action items, and next steps.
• Encourage participants to record all outcomes, key insights, and action plans in their workbooks.

Phase 3

Enable long-term skill development

Outcomes of this phase:

• Attendees reminded of action plan and personal commitment
• Supervisors reminded of the need to support trainees' development

3.1 Email trainees with action steps

0.5 hours

After the training, send an email to attendees thanking them for participating and summarizing key next steps for the group. Use the template below, or write your own:

“Hi team,

I want to thank you personally for attending the Communicate Effectively training module. Our group led some great discussion.

A reminder that the next time you will reconvene as a group will be on [Date] to discuss your progress and challenges to date.

Additionally, your manager is aware and supportive of the training program, so be sure to follow through on the commitments you’ve made to secure the support you need from them to build your new skills.

I am always open for questions if you run into any challenges.

Regards,

[Your name]”

3.2 Secure support from trainees’ supervisors

0.5 hours

An important part of the training is securing organizational support, which includes support from your trainees’ supervisors. After the trainees have committed to some action items to seek support from their supervisors, it is important to express your support for this and remind the supervisors of their role in guiding your first-time managers. Use the template below, or write your own, to remind your trainees’ supervisors of this at the end of training (if you are going through all three modules in a short period of time, you may want to wait until the end of the entire training to send this email):

“Hi team,

We have just completed Info-Tech’s first-time manager training with our new manager team. The trainees will be seeking your support in developing their new skills. This could be in the form of coaching, feedback on their progress, reviewing their development plan, etc.

Supervisor support is a crucial component of skill building, so I hope I can count on all of you to support our new managers in their learning. If you are not sure how to handle these requests, or would like a refresher of the material our trainees covered, please let me know.

I am always open for questions if you run into any challenges.

Regards,

[Your name]”

Contributors

Brad Armstrong, Senior Engineering Manager, Code42 Software I am a pragmatic engineering leader with a deep technical background, now focused on building great teams. I'm energized by difficult, high-impact problems at scale and with the cloud technologies and emerging architectures that we can use to solve them. But it's the power of people and organizations that ultimately lead to our success, and the complex challenge of bringing all that together is the work I find most rewarding.

We thank the expert contributors who chose to keep their contributions anonymous.

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Improve Security Governance With a Security Steering Committee

Build an inclusive committee to enable holistic strategic decision making.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Our understanding of the problem

This Research Is Designed For:

• CIOs
• CISOs
• IT/Security Leaders

This Research Will Help You:

• Develop an effective information security steering committee (ISSC) that ensures the right people are involved in critical decision making.
• Ensure that business and IT strategic direction are incorporated into security decisions.

This Research Will Also Assist:

• Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC) members

This Research Will Help Them:

• Formalize roles and responsibilities.
• Define effective security metrics.
• Develop a communication plan to engage executive management in the organization’s security planning.

Executive summary

Situation

• Successful information security governance requires a venue to address security concerns with participation from across the entire business.
• Without access to requisite details of the organization – where we are going, what we are trying to do, how the business expects to use its technology – security can not govern its strategic direction.

Complication

• Security is still seen as an IT problem rather than a business risk, resulting in security governance being relegated to the existing IT steering committee.
• Security is also often positioned in the organization where they are not privy to the details of the organization’s overall strategy. Security leaders struggle to get the full enterprise picture.

Resolution

• Define a clear scope of purpose and responsibilities for the Information Security Steering Committee to gain buy-in and consensus for security governance receiving independent agenda time from the broader IT organization.
• Model the information flows necessary to provide the steering committee with the intelligence to make strategic decisions for the enterprise.
• Determine membership and responsibilities that shift with the evolving security landscape to ensure participation reflects interested parties and that money being spent on security mitigates risk across the enterprise.
• Create security metrics that are aligned with committee members’ operational goals to incentivize participation.
• Create clear presentation material and strategically oriented meeting agendas to drive continued participation from business stakeholders and executive management.

Info-Tech Insight

1. Work to separate the ISSC from the IT Steering Committee (ITSC). Security transcends the boundaries of IT and needs an independent, eclectic approach to make strategic decisions.
2. Be the lawyer, not the cop. Ground your communications in business terminology to facilitate a solution that make sense to the entire organization.
3. Develop and stick to the agenda. Continued engagement from business stakeholders requires sticking to a strategic level-focused agenda. Dilution of purpose will lead to dilution in attendance.

Empower your security team to act strategically with an ISSC

Establishing an Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC)

Even though security is a vital consideration of any IT governance program, information security has increasingly become an important component of the business, moving beyond the boundaries of just the IT department.

This requires security to have its own form of steering, beyond the existing IT Steering Committee, that ensures continual alignment of the organization’s security strategy with both IT and business strategy.

An ISSC should have three primary objectives:

• Direct Strategic Planning The ISSC formalizes organizational commitments to strategic planning, bringing visibility to key issues and facilitating the integration of security controls that align with IT and business strategy.
• Institute Clear Accountability The ISSC facilitates the involvement and commitment of executive management through clearly defined roles and accountabilities for security decisions, ensuring consistency in participation as the organization’s strategies evolve.
• Optimize Security Resourcing The ISSC maximizes security by monitoring the implementation of the security strategic plan, making recommendations on prioritization of effort, and securing necessary resources through the planning and budgeting processes, as necessary.

What does the typical ISSC do?

Ensuring proper governance over your security program is a complex task that requires ongoing care and feeding from executive management to succeed.

Your ISSC should aim to provide the following core governance functions for your security program:

1. Define Clarity of Intent and Direction How does the organization’s security strategy support the attainment of the business and IT strategies? The ISSC should clearly define and communicate strategic linkage and provide direction for aligning security initiatives with desired outcomes.
2. Establish Clear Lines of Authority Security programs contain many important elements that need to be coordinated. There needs to be clear and unambiguous authority, accountability, and responsibility defined for each element so lines of reporting/escalation are clear and conflicting objectives can be mediated.
3. Provide Unbiased Oversight The ISSC should vet the organization’s systematic monitoring processes to make certain there is adherence to defined risk tolerance levels and ensure that monitoring is appropriately independent from the personnel responsible for implementing and managing the security program.
4. Optimize Security Value Delivery Optimized value delivery occurs when strategic objectives for security are achieved and the organization’s acceptable risk posture is attained at the lowest possible cost. This requires constant attention to ensure controls are commensurate with any changes in risk level or appetite.

Formalize the most important governance functions for your organization

Creation of an ISSC is deemed the most important governance and oversight practice that a CISO can implement, based on polling of IT security leaders analyzing the evolving role of the CISO.

Relatedly, other key governance practices reported – status updates, upstream communications, and executive-level sponsorship – are within the scope of what organizations traditionally formalize when establishing their ISSC.

Despite the clear benefits of an ISSC, organizations are still falling short

83% of organizations have not established formal steering committees to evaluate the business impact and risks associated with security decisions. (Source: 2017 State of Cybersecurity Metrics Report)

70% of organizations have delegated cybersecurity oversight to other existing committees, providing security limited agenda time. (Source: PwC 2017 Annual Corporate Director Survey)

"This is a group of risk managers an institution would bring together to deal with a response anyway. Having them in place to do preventive discussions and formulate policy to mitigate the liability sets and understand compliance obligations is just powerful." (Kirk Bailey, CISO, University of Washington)

Prevent the missteps that make 9 out of 10 steering committees unsuccessful

Why Do Steering Committees Fail?

1. A lack of appetite for a steering committee from business partners. An effective ISSC requires participation from core members of the organization’s leadership team. The challenge is that most business partners don’t understand the benefits of an ISSC and the responsibilities aren’t tailored to participants’ needs or interests. It’s the CISO’s (or senior IT/security leader’s) responsibility to make this case to stakeholders and right-size the committee responsibilities and membership.
2. ISSC committees are given inappropriate responsibilities. The steering committee is fundamentally about decision making; it’s not a working committee. Security leadership typically struggles with clarifying these responsibilities on two fronts: either the responsibilities are too vague and there is no clear way to execute on them within a meeting or responsibilities are too tactical and require knowledge that participants do not have. Responsibilities should determine who is on the ISSC, not the other way around.
3. Lack of process around execution. An ISSC is only valuable if members are able to successfully execute on its mandate. Without well-defined processes it becomes nearly impossible for the ISSC to be actionable. As a result, participants lack the information they need to make critical decisions, agendas are unmet, and meetings are seen as a waste of time.

Use these icons to help direct you as you navigate this research

Use these icons to help guide you through each step of the blueprint and direct you to content related to the recommended activities.

This icon denotes a slide where a supporting Info-Tech tool or template will help you perform the activity or step associated with the slide. Refer to the supporting tool or template to get the best results and proceed to the next step of the project.

This icon denotes a slide with an associated activity. The activity can be performed either as part of your project or with the support of Info-Tech team members, who will come onsite to facilitate a workshop for your organization.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Improve Security Governance With a Security Steering Committee – project overview

	1. Define Committee Purpose and Responsibilities	2. Determine Information Flows, Membership & Accountabilities	3. Operate the Information Security Steering Committee
Best-Practice Toolkit	1.1 Tailor Info-Tech’s Information Security Steering Committee Charter Template to define terms of reference for the ISSC 1.2 Conduct a SWOT analysis of your information security governance capabilities 1.3 Identify the responsibilities and duties of the ISSC 1.4 Draft the committee purpose statement of your ISSC	2.1 Define your SIPOC model for each of the ISSC responsibilities 2.2 Identify committee participants and responsibility cadence 2.3 Define ISSC participant RACI for each of the responsibilities	3.1 Define the ISSC meeting agendas and procedures 3.2 Define which metrics you will report to the ISSC 3.3 Hold a kick-off meeting with your ISSC members to explain the process, responsibilities, and goals 3.4 Tailor the Information Security Steering Committee Stakeholder Presentation template 3.5 Present the information to the security leadership team 3.6 Schedule your first meeting of the ISSC
Guided Implementations	Identify the responsibilities and duties of the ISSC. Draft the committee purpose of the ISSC.	Determine SIPOC modeling of information flows. Determine accountabilities and responsibilities.	Set operational standards. Determine effectiveness metrics. Steering committee best practices.
Onsite Workshop	This blueprint can be combined with other content for onsite engagements, but is not a standalone workshop.
	Phase 1 Outcome: Determine the purpose and responsibilities of your information security steering committee.	Phase 2 Outcome: Determine membership, accountabilities, and information flows to enable operational excellence.	Phase 3 Outcome: Define agendas and standard procedures to operate your committee. Design an impactful stakeholder presentation.

Improve Security Governance With a Security Steering Committee

PHASE 1

Define Committee Purpose and Responsibilities

Phase 1: Define Committee Purpose and Responsibilities

ACTIVITIES:

• 1.1 Tailor Info-Tech’s Information Security Steering Committee Charter Template to define terms of reference for the ISSC
• 1.2 Conduct a SWOT analysis of your information security governance capabilities
• 1.3 Identify the responsibilities and duties of the ISSC
• 1.4 Draft the committee purpose statement for your ISSC

OUTCOMES:

• Conduct an analysis of your current information security governance capabilities and identify opportunities and weaknesses.
• Define a clear scope of purpose and responsibilities for your ISSC.
• Begin to customize your ISSC charter.

Info-Tech Insight

Balance vision with direction. Purpose and responsibilities should be defined so that they encompass your mission and objectives to the enterprise in clear terms, but provide enough detail that you can translate the charter into operational plans for the security team.

Tailor Info-Tech’s Information Security Steering Committee Charter Template to define terms of reference for the ISSC

A charter is the organizational mandate that outlines the purpose, scope, and authority of the ISSC. Without a charter, the steering committee’s value, scope, and success criteria are unclear to participants, resulting in unrealistic stakeholder expectations and poor organizational acceptance.

Start by reviewing Info-Tech’s template. Throughout the next two sections we will help you to tailor its contents.

• Committee Purpose: The rationale, benefits of, and overall function of the committee.
• Organization and Membership: Who is on the committee and how is participation measured against organizational need.
• Responsibilities and Duties: What tasks/decisions the accountable committee is making.
• RACI: Who is accountable, responsible, consulted, and informed regarding each responsibility.
• Committee Procedures and Agendas: Includes how the committee will be organized and how the committee will interact and communicate with interested parties.

Download the Information Security Steering Committee Charter to customize your organization’s charter

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your information security governance capabilities

INPUT: Survey outcomes, Governance overview handouts

OUTPUT: SWOT analysis, Top identified challenges and opportunities

1. Hold a meeting with your IT leadership team to conduct a SWOT analysis on your current information security governance capabilities.
2. In small groups, or individually, have each group complete a SWOT analysis for one of the governance areas. For each consider:
   • Strengths: What is currently working well in this area?
   • Weaknesses: What could you improve? What are some of the challenges you’re experiencing?
   • Opportunities: What are some organizational trends that you can leverage? Consider whether your strengths or weaknesses could create opportunities.
   • Threats: What are some key obstacles across people, process, and technology?
3. Have each team or individual rotate until each person has contributed to each SWOT. Add comments from the stakeholder survey to the SWOT.
4. As a group, rank the inputs from each group and highlight the top five challenges and the top five opportunities you see for improvement.

Identify the responsibilities and duties of the ISSC

INPUT: SWOT analysis, Survey reports

OUTPUT: Defined ISSC responsibilities

1. With your security leadership team, review the typical responsibilities of the ISSC on the following slides (also included in the templated text of the charter linked below).
2. Print off the following two slides, and in small teams or individually, identify which responsibilities the ISSC should have in your organization, brainstorm any additional responsibilities, and document reasoning.
3. Have each team present to the larger group, track the similarities and differences between each of the groups, and come to consensus on the list of categories and responsibilities.
4. Complete a sanity check: review your SWOT analysis. Do the responsibilities you’ve identified resolve the critical challenges or weaknesses?
5. As a group, consider the responsibilities and whether you can reasonably implement those in one year or if there are any that will need to wait until year two of the committee.

Add or modify responsibilities in Info-Tech’s Information Security Steering Committee Charter.

Typical ISSC responsibilities and duties

Use the following list of responsibilities to customize the list of responsibilities your ISSC may take on. These should link directly to the Responsibilities and Duties section of your ISSC charter.

Strategic Oversight

• Provide oversight and ensure alignment between information security strategy and company objectives.
• Assess the adequacy of resources and funding to sustain and advance successful security programs and practices for identifying, assessing, and mitigating cybersecurity risks across all business functions.
• Review controls to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks or information or data breaches involving company electronic information, intellectual property, data, or connected devices.
• Review the company’s cyberinsurance policies to ensure appropriate coverage.
• Provide recommendations, based on security best practices, for significant technology investments.

Policy Governance

• Review company policies pertaining to information security and cyberthreats, taking into account the potential for external threats, internal threats, and threats arising from transactions with trusted third parties and vendors.
• Review privacy and information security policies and standards and the ramifications of updates to policies and standards.
• Establish standards and procedures for escalating significant security incidents to the ISSC, board, other steering committees, government agencies, and law enforcement, as appropriate.

Typical ISSC responsibilities and duties (continued)

Use the following list of responsibilities to customize the list of responsibilities your ISSC may take on. These should link directly to the Responsibilities and Duties section of your ISSC charter.

Risk Governance

• Review and approve the company’s information risk governance structure and key risk management processes and capabilities.
• Assess the company’s high-risk information assets and coordinate planning to address information privacy and security needs.
• Provide input to executive management regarding the enterprise’s information risk appetite and tolerance.
• Review the company’s cyber-response preparedness, incident response plans, and disaster recovery capabilities as applicable to the organization’s information security strategy.
• Promote an open discussion regarding information risk and integrate information risk management into the enterprise’s objectives.

Monitoring & Reporting

• Receive periodic reports and coordinate with management on the metrics used to measure, monitor, and manage cyber and IT risks posed to the company and to review periodic reports on selected risk topics as the Committee deems appropriate.
• Review reports provided by the IT organization regarding the status of and plans for the security of the company’s data stored on internal resources and with third-party providers.
• Monitor and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the company’s technology security, capabilities for disaster recovery, data protection, cyberthreat detection and cyber incident response, and management of technology-related compliance risks.

Review the organization’s security strategy to solidify understanding of the ISSC’s purpose

The ISSC should consistently evolve to reflect the strategic purpose of the security program. If you completed Info-Tech’s Security Strategy methodology, review the results to inform the scope of your committee. If you have not completed Info-Tech’s methodology, determining these details should be achieved through iterative stakeholder consultations.

Draft the committee purpose statement of your ISSC

INPUT: SWOT Analysis, Security Strategy

OUTPUT: ISSC Committee Purpose

1. In a meeting with your IT leadership team – and considering the organization’s security strategy, defined responsibilities, and opportunities and threats identified – review the example goal statement in the Information Security Steering Committee Charter, and identify whether any of these statements apply to your organization. Select the statements that apply and collaboratively make any changes needed.
2. Define unique goal statements by considering the following questions:
   • What three things would you realistically list for the ISSC to achieve?
   • If you were to accomplish three things in the next year, what would those be?
3. With those goal statements in mind, consider the overall purpose of the committee. The purpose statement should be a reflection of what the committee does, why, and the goals.
4. Have each individual review the example purpose statement and draft what they think a good purpose statement would be.
5. Present each statement, and work together to determine a best-of-breed statement.

Alter the Committee Purpose section in the Information Security Steering Committee Charter.

Implement the Next-Generation IT Operating Model

The operating model for organizations embracing Exponential IT and transforming into technology-first enterprises.

Analyst Perspective

Be the organization that can thrive in an exponential IT world.

Carlene McCubbin Research Practice Lead CIO Organizational Transformation Practice Info-Tech Research Group	Brittany Lutes Research Director, CIO Organization Transformation Practice Info-Tech Research Group

IT leaders are increasingly expected to be responsible for understanding and delivering high-value customer experiences. This evolution depends on the distribution and oversight of IT capabilities that are embedded throughout the organizational structure.

Defining digital strategic objectives, establishing governance frameworks for an autonomous culture, and enabling the organization to act on insightful data are all impossible without a new way of operating that involves the oversight and accountability of advancing IT roles. Through exponential change, functional groups can lose clarity regarding their responsibilities, creating a sense of ambiguity and disorder.

But adopting a new way of working that supports an exponential IT organization does not have to be difficult. Leveraging Info-Tech Research Group's next-generation operating model, you can clearly demonstrate how the organization will collaborate to deliver on the various digital and IT services. This is no longer just an IT operating model, but a technology-first enterprise model.

Included in this blueprint:

Exponential IT Model

Defines how the Exponential IT model operates and delivers value to the organization.
This is done by exploring:

• Exponential IT cultural norms and behaviors
• Opportunities and risks of the Exponential IT model
• A breakdown of the embedded, integrated, and centralized aspects of the model
• Operating model value stream stages
• An assessment on whether the Exponential IT operating model is right for your organization

Changing Role of IT Leader

Defines how chief information officers (CIOs) can operate or elevate their role in this changing operating model.

• Identifies why the C-suite is changing – again
• How IT leaders should consider where they will add value in the new operating model
• Outlines examples of future organization-wide structures and where IT roles are positioned
• Supports IT leaders in developing themselves to operate in this structure

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

IT is challenged to change how it operates to better support evolving organizations. IT must:

• Consider the needs of customers, end users, and organization stakeholders simultaneously.
• Leverage resources strategically to support the various IT and digital services being offered.
• Create a digital services enablement office to design, monitor, and enhance services continuously.

While many organizations have projects that support a digital strategy, few have an operating model that supports this digital services strategy.

Common Obstacles

Organizations struggle to support the definition and ongoing maintenance of services because:

• The organization's Digital and IT services offerings are not clear.
• The functional team accountable to deliver on each IT or Digital service is ambiguous.
• There are insufficient resources to support all the IT and Digital services being offered.
• C-suite leaders required to support the services are missing or in the wrong role to effectively lead.
• Technology has not been standardized to ensure consistency and effectiveness.

Info-Tech's Approach

Embrace the IT operating model that focuses on the enablement and delivery of Digital and IT services by:

• Having technology stakeholders actively collaborate to decide on priorities and deliver on objectives.
• Leveraging data more effectively across the organization to understand and meet user needs.
• Ensuring technology architecture and security standards are well-established and followed by all throughout the organization.
• Allocating dedicated and skilled resources to ensure services can be continuously delivered.

Info-Tech Insight

The first IT operating model where customer engagement with IT and Digital Services is at the forefront.

What is an operating model?

An IT operating model is a visual representation of the way your IT organization will function using a clear and coherent blueprint. This visualization demonstrates how capabilities are organized and aligned to deliver on the business mission and strategic and technological objectives.

The should visualize the optimization and alignment of the IT organization to deliver the capabilities required to achieve business goals. Additionally, it should demonstrate the workflow so key stakeholders can understand where inputs flow in and outputs flow out of the IT organization. Investing time in the front-end to get the operating model right is critical. This will give you a framework to rationalize future organizational changes, allowing you to be more iterative and your model to change as the business changes.

From computerization to digitization to the new frontier in autonomization, IT has progressively matured, enabling it to actively lead this next stage of business transformation.

EXPONENTIAL RISK
Autonomous processes will integrate with human-led processes, creating risks to business continuity, information security, and quality of delivery. Supplier power will exacerbate business risks.

EXPONENTIAL REWARD
The efficiency gains and new value chains created through artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and additive manufacturing will be very significant. Most of this value will be realized through the augmentation of human labor.

EXPONENTIAL DEMAND
Autonomous solutions for productivity and back-office applications will eventually become commoditized and provided by a handful of large vendors. There will, however, be a proliferation of in-house algorithms and workflows to autonomize the middle and front office, offered by a busy landscape of industry-centric capability vendors.

EXPONENTIAL IT

Exponential IT involves IT leading the cognitive re-engineering of the organization with evolved practices for:

• IT governance
• Asset management
• Vendor management
• Data management
• Business continuity management
• Information security management

To learn more about IT's journey into autonomization, check out Info-Tech Research Group's Adopt an Exponential IT Mindset blueprint.

The IT operating model must evolve to respond to exponential change

• Ensuring customers are not an afterthought to IT leaders. Customers inform how and where IT leaders invest resources to realize organizational objectives.
• Adopting a formalized approach to service definition and delivery to eliminate silos.
• Leveraging data throughout the organization to better inform and enable the various digital services in meeting customer demands.
• Responding to employee demands for development and training opportunities by applying skills in new settings.
• Having cross-collaboration mechanisms built into the ways of operating to reduce silos across the organization.
• Enabling services through a strong set of governance and risk mandates and practices.
• Eliminating the need for IT capabilities to only be within an IT department.

IT can no longer be just a service provider:

78% of IT leaders with established digital strategies and 45% of IT leaders with emerging digital strategies are driven by customer experiences.
Source: Foundry "Digital Business Study,"2023

40% - The number of CIOs that are responsible for creating new products or services to support revenue generation.
Source: Foundry, "The State of the CIO," 2023

This change requires a breakdown of traditional IT-business divisions

CIOs must recognize that separating IT from the business is restrictive

• Many organizations have recently completed or are in the process of completing a digital transformation focused on enhanced employee and customer experiences.
• Post-transformation organizations must change how they operate to continue to deliver on those enhanced experiences, especially for the customer.
• There must no longer be a wall between IT and the business, but a unified organization offering digital services that include IT components. Already, 81% of work is being performed across the functional boundaries created in an organization (Deloitte, 2023).
• Effectively designing, delivering, and maintaining these services depends on a Digital Services functional layer, expanding IT's involvement into how the business delivers worthwhile experiences to customers.
• This Digital Services functional layer will consider whether the new services are better owned by the IT group or another area of the organization.
• CIOs need to be prepared to adopt a new way of operating or be left to manage a smaller subset of IT functions.

"I think we've done the IT industry a disservice by constantly referring to IT and the business, artificially creating this wedge."
– David Vidoni, VP of IT at Pegasystems
Source: Dan Roberts, CIO, 2023

Four trends driving an Exponential IT organization include:

Emerging Technologies

• 67% of respondents to KPMG's 2022 Global Tech Survey indicated they intend to embrace emerging platforms by the end of 2024.(1)
• The technology landscape is constantly shifting with artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, 5G cellular networks, and next-generation robotics. Each of these technologies requires new capabilities and a new way in which those capabilities are organized.

Enhanced Customer Experiences

• 24% of CIOs have been tasked by their CEO to increase the customer experience.(3)
• Organizations realize that to gain and retain customers, it has become necessary to consistently evaluate service offerings and identify opportunities for enhancement or new services.

Digital Trust

• 1/3 of CISOs plan to increase their GRC focus during the next year and 36% have already begun to implement Zero Trust components.(2)
• Risk and security capabilities mature focusing on defined enterprise accountability, consideration of ethics and inclusivity and proactive security controls.

Embedded Technology & Skills

• Spending on embedded software is expected to increase to $21.5 billion by 2027.(4)
• The technology strategy no longer resides solely within IT. The organization must take ownership of this strategy while they define their digital strategies. Technology services are also embedded.

(1) "Global Tech Survey," KPMG, 2022
(2) "Global Digital Trust Insights Report," PwC, 2023
(3) "State of IT Report," Foundry, 2023
(4) "Global surge in embedded software demand; here is why," DAC Digital, 2023

Application of the Four Key Trends on your Exponential IT operating model:

Adopting an Exponential IT operating model is typically influenced by resonating with the following drivers:

Section 1: The Next-Generation Operating Model

The Technology Value Trinity

All three elements of the Technology Value Trinity work together to deliver business value and achieve strategic needs. As one changes, the others must change as well.
How do these three elements relate?

• I&T Operating Model aligns resources, processes, measures, stakeholders, value streams, and decision rights to enable the delivery of your strategy and priorities. This is done by strategically structuring IT capabilities in a way that enables the organization's vision and considers the context in which the model will operate.
• Digital and IT Strategy tells you what you must achieve to be successful. For an Exponential IT organization, customer demands and digital service offerings would drive strategic decisions.
• I&T Governance is the confirmation of IT's goals and strategy, which ensures the alignment of IT and business strategy. This is the mechanism by which you continuously prioritize work so that what is delivered aligns with the strategy.

Strategy, operating models, and governance are too often considered separate practices – strategies are defined without clarity on how to support. A significant change to your strategy necessitates a change to your operating model, which in turn necessitates a change to your governance and organizational structure.

The Exponential IT operating model delivers value across seven components

Organizations adopting the Exponential IT Model will experience new norms and behaviors

Customer-Centric
Dedicated to the customer experience and making sure that the end customer is considered first and foremost.

"Yes" Approach
The organization can say yes to emerging technology and customer desires because it has organized itself to be agile in its digital service offerings.

Digital Service Ownership
Digital service offerings are owned and managed across the organization ensuring the continuous delivery of value to customers.

Employee Development
Resources are organized into pods based on specific skills or functions increasing the likelihood of adopting new skills.

Autonomization
Centralized and accessible data provides service owners autonomy when making informed decisions that support enhanced customer experiences.

Exponential IT is an embedded model approach

Info-Tech has identified seven common IT operating model archetypes. Each model represents a different approach to who delivers technology services and how. Each model is designed to drive different outcomes, as the way your organization is structured will dictate the way it behaves. The Exponential IT model is an emerging archetype which capitalizes on embedded delivery.

Centralized	Shifted	Embedded
Owned and operated by leadership within IT. IT takes full responsibility of the functional areas and maintains control over the outcomes.	Can be owned/operated by a variety of leadership roles throughout the organization. This can shift from IT ownership to other organizational leadership. Decisions about ownership are often made to enable quick response or mitigate risks.	Owned/operated by leadership outside of traditional IT. Another area of the organization has taken authoritative power over the outcome of this functional area for a quicker response.

Even as an embedded IT operating model, shifted and centralized IT functions as support

1. Embedded functions required for scaled autonomation
   Definition and oversight of the organization's strategic direction demonstrated through a customer-first culture, data insights, and a well-defined risk appetite.
2. Integrated design and optimization of the digital service offering
   Actively considers the customer experience and designs the appropriate services to be delivered. Considers all aspects in the design and delivery of services by exploring opportunities to integrate components to enhance customer experiences or architecting new service offerings to eliminate gaps.
3. Centralized standards for IT technology, security & resources
   Technology functions continue to deliver exceptional services to the enterprise including clear standards for technology and solution architecture, application of security requirements, and resources to enable various service offerings.

Opportunities and risks of the Exponential IT model

The Exponential IT operating model blends embedded, shifted and centralized delivery to balance agility & risk

The Exponential IT model commands a new placement and significance of IT capabilities

Using capabilities for the operating model

• Capabilities are focused on the entire system that would be in place to satisfy a particular need. This not only includes the people who are able to complete a specific task, but the technology, processes, and resources required to deliver.
• Focusing on capabilities rather than the individuals in organizational redesign enables a more objective and holistic view of what your organization is striving toward.
• Capabilities deliver on specific need(s) and how they are organized changes the way those needs are delivered.

1. Embedded functions required for autonomization

Overview of the function:

• Focuses on a single strategy and roadmap for the organization that actively includes technology.
• Governance, risk, compliance, and general oversight are defined and embedded throughout the organization.
• Ensures that quality data is being generated to help inform the defined digital service offering.
• Readies the organization to adopt emerging technology quickly and with minimal disruption to other digital service offerings.
• A team of technical experts that decides what information should exist for operational efficiency or service innovation.

2. Integrated design and optimization of the digital service offering

Overview of the function:

• Analyzes and responds to insights about the customer experience.
• Maintains the portfolio of the organization's digital service offerings.
• Considers what is necessary to operate efficiently as an organization while simultaneously exploring emerging technology to optimize new or existing digital services.
• Requires the expertise and involvement of both business-minded and technology-skilled resources.
• The differentiating factor from other IT operating models is how it holistically considers all the components throughout the organization and how they are connected.

3. Centralized standards for IT technology, security & resources

Overview of the function:

• Compared with other IT operating model archetypes, the Exponential IT model has fewer capabilities that are centralized within the technology function of an organization.
• Architecture and standards are the foundation of successful embedded delivery, ensuring reuse, improved integration, and a unified experience. This includes technology, risk, data, AI and security architecture, models, and standards.
• Employee resources are also organized in pods to be leveraged based on greatest need and skills availability.
• This lets the organization be more agile when innovating and implementing new digital service offerings.

Exponential IT explores new value stream stages

Customer Perspective		The organization is continually anticipating their wants and needs and establishing mechanisms to vocalize those needs.	Customer receives the right IT and digital services to respond to their needs.	The service is easy to use and continuously responds to wants and needs.	The service is meeting expectations or exceeding them.	There is a dedicated service owner who can hear demands and feedback, then action desirable outcomes.
Value Stream Stages
Organizational Perspective	Expected Outcome	Customers' wants and needs are understood and at times anticipated before the customer requests them.	Assess needs to determine if service is already offered or needs to be created. Design services that will enhance the customer experience.	Look for opportunities to integrate processes and resources to increase the performance of IT and Digital Services.	Ensure that the right employees with the right skills are working to develop or enhance service offering.	The service owner manages the ongoing lifecycle of the service and establishes a roadmap on how value will continue to be delivered.
	Critical Processes	Customer experience Research and innovation Stakeholder management	Research and innovation Service design & portfolio management	Performance management Continuous improvement Integration planning	Service management Resource planning and allocation	Service strategy & roadmap Service governance Service performance management
	Metrics	Customer satisfaction score Service-to-need alignment	Gaps in service portfolio Speed to design services	Service performance Service adoption	Time to resolve customer demand Frequency by which service requires enhancements	Service satisfaction Alignment of service strategy to organization strategy

1.1 Assess if the Exponential IT operating model is right for your organization

1 hour

1. Begin by downloading the Exponential IT Operating Model Assessment.
2. Review the questions within each of the operating model components. For each question, use the drop-down menu to determine your level of agreement.
3. The more your organization agrees with the statements, the more likely your organization is prepared to implement an Exponential IT operating model.
4. The less your organization agrees with the statements, the more likely you should adopt a different IT operating model.
5. For support implementing the Exponential IT or another IT operating model, explore the Visualize Your IT Operating Model blueprint (coming soon).

Input

• Desire to change the organization's IT & Digital operating model

Output

• Desire to implement the IT & Digital Service Enablement operating model

Materials

• Exponential IT Operating Model Assessment

Participants

• Executive IT leadership
• Business leadership

Explore other Info-Tech research to support your organization transformation initiatives

Visualize the IT Operating Model blueprint (coming soon)

Redesign Your IT Organizational Structure

Section 2: Elevating the CIO Role

The next generation of IT C-suite roles are here

As the operating model changes and becomes increasingly embedded into the organization's delivery of IT and Digital Services, new C-suite roles are being defined

• One of the most critical roles being defined in this change is the Chief Digital Services Officer (CDSO) who focuses on all components of the digital experience from the lens of the customer.
• There are two directions from which the CDSO role is typically approached as it gains popularity:
• CIOs evolve beyond just information and technology—focusing on how IT & Digital Services enhance the customer experience
• Business leaders who have technical know-how increase their involvement and responsibility over IT related functions
• IT leaders need to consider where they would rather sit: focused only on technology and remaining a service provider to the organization, or embedding technology into the services, products, and organization in general?

Info-Tech Insight

This is not about making the CIO report to someone else but allowing the CIO to elevate their role into that of a CDSO.

Increasing IT leadership's span of control throughout the organization

As maturity increases so does span of control, ownership & executive influence

Organizations hoping to fully adopt the Exponential IT operating model require a shift in leadership expectations. Notably, these leaders will have oversight and accountability for functions beyond the traditional IT group.

As the organization matures its governance, security, and data management practices, increasing how it delivers high-impact experiences to customers, it would have one leader who owns all the components to ensure clear alignment with goals and business strategy.

Emerging Exponential IT organizations will have distributed authority

• Organizations beginning their transition toward an exponential model often continue to have distributed leaders providing oversight of distinct functional areas.
• Their spans of control are smaller, but very clearly defined, eliminating confusion through a transparent accountability framework.
• Each leader strives toward optimization and efficiency regarding IT capabilities, for which they are responsible.

1. Distributed Leadership
   Embedded functions required for scaled autonomation
   Distributed leaders identify the ways technology will enable them to advance enterprise objectives while maintaining autonomy over their own functions. They may oversee technology.
2. Experience Officer
   Integrated design and optimization of the digital service offering
   An Experience Officer will help consider the insights gained from enterprise data and make informed decisions around enterprise service offerings. They actively explore new ways to deliver high-value experiences.
3. Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
   Centralized standards for IT technology, security & resources
   A CTO will continue to oversee the core technology, including infrastructure and service management functions.

Established organizations will be driven by a digital transformation journey

• Organizations that have begun to deliver on their transformation journey will typically see two distinct C-suite leaders emerge—the CIO and the CDO.
• The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) often explores ways to optimize the integration and management of data to enable insightful decision making from the organization.
• The Chief Information Officer (CIO), however, considers mechanisms to standardize how new technologies can be integrated with the architecture.
• While both leaders have distinct responsibilities, their roles intersect at the customer experience.

Advanced organizations will be managed by a single emerging role

• A single leader will oversee all the functional areas where value is delivered and enabled by IT capabilities.
• Through a large span of control, this leader can holistically consider opportunities to optimize the customer experience and ensure recommendations are actioned to deliver on that enhanced experience.
• This leader's span of control will require a strong understanding of both strategic and operational functions to authoritatively oversee all aspects for which they are responsible.

CDSO – Chief Digital Service Officer

1. Embedded functions required for scaled autonomation
   The CDSO will set, oversee, and manage the delivery of an enterprise's digital strategy, ensuring accountability through good governance and data practices.
2. Integrated design and optimization of the digital service offering
   They ensure that the enterprise holistically considers the various services that could be offered to exceed customer expectations through high-impact experiences.
3. Centralized standards for IT technology, security & resources
   They also ensure stable and secure architecture standards to enable consistency across the organization and a seamless ability to integrate new technology to support service offerings.

Evolution of the IT C-suite now includes the CDSO

Examples of what the emerging organizational structure can look like

This is more than a new title for IT leaders

It's about establishing a business first perspective

• IT leaders exploring this new way of operating are not just adopting the new title of CDSO or CDIO.
• These leaders must change how information, technology, and digital experiences are consumed across the various stakeholders – especially the end customer.
• IT leaders who pursue this new IT operating model choose to be more than order takers for an organization.
• They are:
• Partners in defining the organization's digital service offerings
• Recognizing the benefits of distributing decision-making authority for IT-related aspects to others throughout the organization
• Prioritizing capabilities like portfolio management, architecture, vendor management, relationship management, cloud and user experience

"'For me, the IT portfolio for the next few years and the IT architecture have taken the place that IT strategy used to have,' he adds. This view doesn't position IT outside of the organization, but rather gives it central importance in the company."
– Bernd Rattey, Group CIO and CDO of Deutsche Bahn (DB), qtd. by Jens Dose, CIO, 2023

1.2 Plan your career move to CDSO

1-3 hours

• Create a roadmap on how to move from your current role to CDSO by identifying current strengths and opportunities to improve.
• Download the Career Vision Roadmap Tool from the website. An example of this is on the next slide.
• Document the tagline. This is your overarching career focus and goal – what is your passion? Think beyond titles to what you want to be doing, the atmosphere you want to be in, and what you want to add value to.
• Document the current role: what are the strengths, achievements and opportunities?
• Consider the CDSO role: how will you build stronger relationships and competencies to elevate your profile within the organization? What is an example of what someone would display in this role?
• Define specific roles or stakeholders that you should develop a stronger relationship with.

Download the Career Vision Roadmap Tool

Input

• Desire to implement the IT & Digital Service Enablement Operating Model

Output

• Roadmap to elevate from a CIO to a CDSO

Materials

• Career Vision Roadmap
• IT & Digital Services Enablement operating model archetype
• CDSO job profile

Participants

• CIO (or any other role aspiring to eventually become a CDSO)
• Individual activity

Career Vision Roadmap:
Executive Leader
Akbar K.

Sample

To provide customers with an exceptional experience by ensuring all IT and Digital Services consider and anticipate their needs or wants. Enable IT and Digital Services to be successful through clear leadership, strong collaboration, and continuous improvement or innovation.

CIO

1. Establish technology standards that enable the organization to consistently and securely integrate platforms or solutions.
2. Lead the project team that defined and standardized the organization's reference architecture.
3. Need to work on listening to a variety of stakeholder demands rather than only specific roles/titles.

Transition

• Strengths: Technology acumen, budget planning, allocating resources
• Enhance: Stakeholder relationship management.
• Work with current CDO to define and implement more digital transformation initiatives.

CDSO

• Being responsive to customer expectations and communicating clear and realistic timelines.
• Establish trust among the organization that services will deliver expected value.
• Empowering service owners to manage and oversee the delivery of their services.

Network Opportunities

• Connect with board members and understand each of their key areas of priority.
• Begin to interact with end customers and define ways that will enhance their customer experience.
• Chief Digital Officer

Actions now in line with aspiration

Appendix: Capabilities & Capability Model

IT and digital capabilities

Using capabilities for the operating model:

• Capabilities are focused on the entire system that would be in place to satisfy a particular need. This not only includes people who have skills to complete a specific task, but also the technology, processes, and resources required to deliver.
• Focusing on capabilities rather than the individuals in organizational redesign enables a more objective and holistic view of what your organization is striving toward.
• Capabilities deliver on specific need(s) and how they are organized changes the way those need(s) are delivered.

Research Contributors and Experts

Donna Bales
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Scott Bickley
Practice Lead – Vendor Management Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Christine Coz
Executive Counselor – Executive Services
Info-Tech Research Group

Valence Howden
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Duraid Ibrahim
Executive Counselor – Executive Services
Info-Tech Research Group

Chris Goodhue
Managing Partner– Executive Services
Info-Tech Research Group

Carlene McCubbin
Practice Lead – CIO Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Mike Tweedie
Practice Lead – CIO Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Vicki van Alphen
Executive Counselor – Executive Services
Info-Tech Research Group

*Plus an additional 5 industry experts who anonymously contributed to this research piece.

Related Info-Tech Research

Adopt an Exponential IT Mindset

• To succeed in the coming business transformation, IT will have to adopt different priorities in its mission, governance, capabilities, and partnerships.
• CIOs will have to provide exceptionally mature services while owning business targets.

Become a Transformational CIO

• Business transformations are happening, but CIOs are often involved only when it comes time to implement change. This makes it difficult for the CIO to be perceived as an organizational leader.
• Elevate your stature as a business leader.
• Create a high-powered IT organization that is focused on driving lasting change, improving client experiences, and encouraging collaboration across the entire enterprise.

Define Your Digital Business Strategy

• Design a strategy that applies innovation to your business model, streamline and transform processes, and make use of technologies to enhance interactions with customers and employees.
• Pre-pandemic digital strategies have been primarily focused on automation. However, your post-pandemic digital strategy must focus on driving resilience for growth opportunities.

Bibliography

Bennet, Trevon. "What is a Chief Experience Officer (CXO)? And what do they do?" Indeed, 14 March 2023. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/what-is-chief-experience-officer#:~:text=A%20CXO%20plans%20strategies%20and,customer%20acquisition%20and%20retention%20strategies
Bishop, Carrie. "Five years of Digital Services in San Francisco." Medium, 20 January 2022. https://medium.com/san-francisco-digital-services/five-years-of-digital-services-in-san-francisco-805a758c2b83
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CIO Priorities 2022

Info-Tech’s annual CIO priorities are formed from proprietary primary data and consultation with our internal experts with CIO stature

2022 Tech Trends Survey CIO Demographic N=123

Info-Tech’s Tech Trends 2022 survey was conducted between August and September 2021 and collected a total of 475 responses from IT decision makers, 123 of which were at the C-level. Fourteen countries and 16 industries are represented in the survey.

2022 IT Talent Trends Survey CIO Demographic N=44

Info-Tech’s IT Talent Trends 2022 survey was conducted between September and October 2021 and collected a total of 245 responses from IT decision makers, 44 of which were at the C-level. A broad range of countries from around the world are represented in the survey.

Internal CIO Panels’ 125 Years Of Combined C-Level IT Experience

Panels of former CIOs at Info-Tech focused on interpreting tech trends data and relating it to client experiences. Panels were conducted between November 2021 and January 2022.

CEO-CIO Alignment Survey Benchmark Completed By 107 Different Organizations

Info-Tech’s CEO-CIO Alignment program helps CIOs align with their supervisors by asking the right questions to ensure that IT stays on the right path. It determines how IT can best support the business’ top priorities and address the gaps in your strategy. In 2021, the benchmark was formed by 107 different organizations.

Build IT alignment

IT Management & Governance Diagnostic Benchmark Completed By 320 Different Organizations

Info-Tech’s Management and Governance Diagnostic helps IT departments assess their strengths and weaknesses, prioritize their processes and build an improvement roadmap, and establish clear ownership of IT processes. In 2021, the benchmark was formed by data from 320 different organizations.

Assess your IT processes

The CIO priorities are informed by Info-Tech’s trends research reports and surveys

Priority: “The fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important than others.” (Lexico/Oxford)

Trend: “A general direction in which something is developing or changing.” (Lexico/Oxford)

Visit Info-Tech’s Trends & Priorities Research Center

The Five Priorities

Priorities to compete in the digital economy

1. Reduce Friction in the Hybrid Operating Model
2. Improve Your Ransomware Readiness
3. Support an Employee-Centric Retention Strategy
4. Design an Automation Platform
5. Prepare to Report on New Environmental, Social, and Governance Metrics

Reduce friction in the hybrid operating model

Priority 01 | APO07 Human Resources Management

Deliver solutions that create equity between remote workers and office workers and make collaboration a joy.

Hybrid work is here to stay

CIOs must deal with new pain points related to friction of collaboration

In 2020, CIOs adapted to the pandemic’s disruption to offices by investing in capabilities to enable remote work. With restrictions on gathering in offices, even digital laggards had to shift to an all-remote work model for non-essential workers.

Most popular technologies already invested in to facilitate better collaboration

• 24% Web Conferencing
• 23% Instant Messaging
• 20% Document Collaboration

In 2022, the focus shifts to solving problems created by the new hybrid operating model where some employees are in the office and some are working remotely. Without the ease of collaborating in a central hub, technology can play a role in reducing friction in several areas:

• Foster more connections between employees. Remote workers are less likely to collaborate with people outside of their department and less likely to spontaneously collaborate with their peers. CIOs should provide a digital employee experience that fosters collaboration habits and keeps workers engaged.
• Prevent employee attrition. With more workers reevaluating their careers and leaving their jobs, CIOs can help employees feel connected to the overall purpose of the organization. Finding a way to maintain culture in the new context will require new solutions. While conference room technology can be a bane to IT departments, making hybrid meetings effortless to facilitate will be more important.
• Provide new standards for mediated collaboration. Meeting isn’t as easy as simply gathering around the same table anymore. CIOs need to provide structure around how hybrid meetings are conducted to create equity between all participants. Business continuity processes must also consider potential outages for collaboration services so employees can continue the work despite a major outage.

Three in four organizations have a “hybrid” approach to work. (Tech Trends 2022 Survey)

In most organizations, a hybrid model is being implemented. Only 14.9% of organizations are planning for almost everyone to return to the office, and only 9.9% for almost everyone to work remotely.

Elizabeth Clark CIO, Harvard Business School "I want to create experiences that are sticky. That keep people coming back and engaging with their colleagues."

Listen to the Tech Insights podcast:
Frictionless hybrid working: How the Harvard Business School did it

Internal interpretation: Harvard Business School

• March 2020

  The pandemic disrupts in-class education at Harvard Business School. Their case study method of instruction that depends on in-person, high-quality student engagement is at risk. While students and faculty completed the winter semester remotely, the Dean and administration make the goal to restore the integrity of the classroom experience with equity for both remote and in-person students.

• May 2020

  A cross-functional task force of about 100 people work intensively, conducting seven formal experiments, 80 smaller tests, and hundreds of polling data points, and a technology and facilities solution is designed: two 4K video cameras capturing both the faculty and the in-class students, new ceiling mics, three 85-inch TV screens, and students joining the videoconference from their laptops. A custom Zoom room, combining three separate rooms, integrated all the elements in one place and integrated with the lecture capture system and learning management system.

• October 2020

  Sixteen classrooms are renovated to install the new solution. Students return to the classroom but in lower numbers due to limits on in-room capacity, but students rotate between the in-person and remote experience.

• September 2021

  Renovations for the hybrid solution are complete in 26 classrooms and HBS has determined this will be its standard model for the classroom. The case method of teaching is kept alive and faculty and students are thrilled with the results.

• November 2021

  HBS is adapting its solution for the classroom to its conference rooms and has built out eight different rooms for a hybrid experience. The 4K cameras and TV screens capture all participants in high fidelity as well as the blackboard.

The renovated classrooms integrate all students, whether they are participating remotely or in person. (Image courtesy of Harvard Business School.)

Implications: Organization, Process, Technology

External

• Organization – About half of IT practitioners in the Tech Trends 2022 survey feel that IT leaders, infrastructure and operations teams, and security teams were “very busy” in 2021. Capacity to adapt to hybrid work could be constrained by these factors.
• Process – Organizations that want employees to benefit from being back in the office will have to rethink how workers can get more value out of in-person meetings that also require videoconference participation with remote workers.
• Technology – Fifty-four percent of surveyed IT practitioners say the pandemic raised IT spending compared to the projections they made in 2020. Much of that investment went into adapting to a remote work environment.

Internal

• Organization – HBS added 30 people to its IT staff on term appointments to develop and implement its hybrid classroom solutions. Hires included instructional designers, support technicians, coordinators, and project managers.
• Process – Only 25 students out of the full capacity of 95 could be in the classroom due to COVID-19 regulations. On-campus students rotated through the classroom seats. An app was created to post last-minute seat availability to keep the class full.
• Technology – A Zoom room was created that combines three rooms to provide the full classroom experience: a view of the instructor, a clear view of each student that enlarges when they are speaking, and a view of the blackboard.

Resources Applied

Appetite for Technology

CIOs and their direct supervisors both ranked internal collaboration tools as being a “critical need to adopt” in 2021, according to Info-Tech’s CEO-CIO Alignment Benchmark Report.

Intent to Invest

Ninety-seven percent of IT practitioners plan to invest in technology to facilitate better collaboration between employees in the office and outside the office by the end of 2022, according to Info-Tech’s 2022 Tech Trends survey.

“We got so many nice compliments, which you don’t get in IT all the time. You get all the complaints, but it’s a rare case when people are enthusiastic about something that was delivered.” (Elizabeth Clark, CIO, Harvard Business School)

Harvard Business School

• IT staff were reassigned from other projects to prioritize building a hybrid classroom solution. A cloud migration and other portfolio projects were put on pause.
• The annual capital A/V investment was doubled. The amount of spend on conference rooms was tripled.
• Employees were hired to the media services team at a time when other areas of the organization were frozen.

Outcomes at Harvard Business School

The new normal at Harvard Business School

New normal: HBS has found its new default operating model for the classroom and is extending its solution to its operating environment.

Improved CX: The high-quality experience for students has helped avoid attrition despite the challenges of the pandemic.

Engaged employees: The IT team is also engaged and feels connected to the mission of the school.

A custom Zoom room brings together multiple different views of the classroom into one single experience for remote students. (Image courtesy of Harvard Business School.)

From Priorities to Action

Make hybrid collaboration a joy

Align with your organization’s goals for collaboration and customer interaction, with the target of high satisfaction for both customers and employees. Invest in capital projects to improve the fidelity of conference rooms, develop and test a new way of working, and increase IT capacity to alleviate pressure points.

Foster both asynchronous and synchronous collaboration approaches to avoid calendars filling up with videoconference meetings to get things done and to accommodate workers contributing from across different time zones.

“We’ll always have hybrid now. It’s opened people’s eyes and now we’re thinking about the future state. What new markets could we explore?” (Elizabeth Clark, CIO, Harvard Business School)

Take the next step

Run Better Meetings
Hybrid, virtual, or in person – set meeting best practices that support your desired meeting norms.

Prepare People Leaders for the Hybrid Work Environment
Set hybrid work up for success by providing people leaders with the tools they need to lead within the new model.

Hoteling and Hot-Desking: A Primer
What you need to know regarding facilities, IT infrastructure, maintenance, security, and vendor solutions for desk hoteling and hot-desking.

“Human Resources Management” gap between importance and effectiveness
Info-Tech Research Group Management and Governance Diagnostic Benchmark 2021

Improve your ransomware readiness

Priority 02 | APO13 Security Strategy

Mitigate the damage of successful ransomware intrusions and make recovery as painless as possible.

The ransomware crisis threatens every organization

Prevention alone won’t be enough against the forces behind ransomware.

Cybersecurity is always top of mind for CIOs but tends to be deprioritized due to other demands related to digital transformation or due to cost pressures. That’s the case when we examine our data for this report.

Cybersecurity ranked as the fourth-most important priority by CIOs in Info-Tech’s 2022 Tech Trends survey, behind business process improvement, digital transformation, and modernization. Popular ways to prepare for a successful attack include creating offline backups, purchasing insurance, and deploying new solutions to eradicate ransomware.

CIOs and their direct supervisors ranked “Manage IT-Related Security” as the third-most important top IT priority on Info-Tech’s CEO-CIO Alignment Benchmark for 2021, in support of business goals to manage risk, comply with external regulation, and ensure service continuity.

Most popular ways for organizations to prepare for the event of a successful ransomware attack:

• 25% Created offline backups
• 18% Purchased cyberinsurance
• 19% New tech to eradicate ransomware

Whatever priority an organization places on cybersecurity, when ransomware strikes, it quickly becomes a red alert scenario that disrupts normal operations and requires all hands on deck to respond. Sophisticated attacks executed at wide scale demonstrate that security can be bypassed without creating an alert. After that’s accomplished, the perpetrators build their leverage by exfiltrating data and encrypting critical systems.

CIOs can plan to mitigate ransomware attacks in several constructive ways:

• Business impact analysis. Determine the costs of an outage for specific periods and the system and data recovery points in time.
• Engage a partner for 24/7 monitoring. Gain real-time awareness of your critical systems.
• Review your identity access management (IAM) policies. Use of multi-factor authentication and limiting access to only the roles that need it reduces ransomware risk.

50% of all organizations spent time and money specifically to prevent ransomware in the past year. (Info-Tech Tech Trends 2022 Survey)

John Doe CIO, mid-sized manufacturing firm in the US "I want to create experiences that are sticky. That keep people coming back and engaging with their colleagues."

Listen to the Tech Insights podcast:
Close call with ransomware: a CIO recounts a near security nightmare

Internal interpretation: US-based, mid-sized manufacturing firm

• May 1, 2021

  A mid-sized manufacturing firm (“The Firm”) CIO gets a call from his head of security about odd things happening on the network. A call is made to Microsoft for support. Later that night, the report is that an unwanted crypto-mining application is the culprit. But a couple of hours later, that assessment is proven wrong when it’s realized that hundreds of systems are staged for a ransomware attack. All the attacker has to do is push the button.

• May 2, 2021

  The Firm disconnects all its global sites to cut off new pathways for the malware to infect. All normal operations cease for 24 hours. It launches its cybersecurity insurance process. The CIO engages a new security vendor, CrowdStrike, to help respond. Employees begin working from home if they can so they can make use of their own internet service. The Firm has cut off its public internet connectivity and is severed from cloud services such as Azure storage and collaboration software.

• May 4, 2021

  The hackers behind the attack are revealed by security forensics experts. A state-sponsored agency in Russia set up the ransomware and left it ready to execute. It sold the staged attack to a cybercriminal group, Doppel Spider. According to CrowdStrike, the group uses malware to run “big game hunting operations” and targets 18 different countries including the US and multiple industries, including manufacturing.

• May 10, 2021

  The Firm has totally recovered from the ransomware incident and avoided any serious breach or paying a ransom. The CIO worked more hours than at any other point in his career, logging an estimated 130 hours over the two weeks.

• November 2021

  The Firm never previously considered itself a ransomware target but has now reevaluated that stance. It has hired a service provider to run a security operations center on a 24/7 basis. It's implemented a more sophisticated detection and response model and implemented multi-factor authentication. It’s doubled its security spend in 2021 and will invest more in 2022.

“Now we take the approach that if someone does get in, we're going to find them out.” (John Doe, CIO, “The Firm”)

Implications: Organization, Process, Technology

External

• Organization – Organizations must consider how their employees play a role in preventing ransomware and plan for training to recognize phishing and other common traps. They must make plans for employees to continue their work if systems are disrupted by ransomware.
• Process – Backup processes across multiple systems should be harmonized to have both recent and common points to recover from. Work with the understanding IT will have to take systems offline if ransomware is discovered and there is no time to ask for permission.
• Technology – Organizations can benefit from security services provided by a forensics-focused vendor. Putting cybersecurity insurance in place not only provides financial protection but also guidance in what to do and which vendors to work with to prevent and recover from ransomware.

Internal

• Organization – The Firm was prepared with a business continuity plan to allow many of its employees to work remotely, which was necessary because the office network was incapacitated for ten days during recovery.
• Process – Executives didn’t seek to assign blame for the security incident but took it as a signal there were some new costs involved to stay in business. It initiated new outsource relationships and hired one more full-time employee to shore up security resources.
• Technology – New ransomware eradication software was deployed to 2,000 computers. Scripted processes automated much of the work, but in some cases full system rebuilds were required. Backup systems were disconnected from the network as soon as the malware was discovered.

Resources Applied

Consider the Alternative

Organizations should consider how much a ransomware attack on critical systems would cost them if they were down for a minimum of 24-48 hours. Plan to invest an amount at least equal to the costs of that downtime.

Ask for ID

Implementing across-the-board multi-factor authentication reduces chances of infection and is cheap, with enterprise solutions ranging from $2 to $5 per user on average. Be strict and deny access when connections don’t authenticate.

“You'll never stop everything from getting into the network. You can still focus on stopping the bad actors, but then if they do make it in, make sure they don't get far.” (John Doe, CIO, “The Firm”)

“The Firm” (Mid-Sized Manufacturer)

• During the crisis, The Firm paused all activities and focused solely on isolating and eliminating the ransomware threat.
• New outsourcing relationship with a vendor provides a 24/7 Security Operations Center.
• One more full-time employee on the security team.
• Doubled investment in security in 2021 and will spend more in 2022.

Outcomes at “The Firm” (Mid-Sized Manufacturer)

The new cost of doing business

Real-time security: While The Firm is still investing in prevention-based security, it is also developing its real-time detection and response capabilities. When ransomware makes it through the cracks, it wants to know as soon as possible and stop it.

Leadership commitment: The C-suite is taking the experience as a wake-up call that more investment is required in today’s threat landscape. The Firm rates security more highly as an overall organizational goal, not just something for IT to worry about.

The Firm now uses multi-factor authentication as part of its employee sign-on process. For employees, authenticating is commonly achieved by using a mobile app that receives a secret code from the issuer.

From Priorities to Action

Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility

In Info-Tech’s CEO-CIO Alignment Benchmark for 2021, the business goal of “Manage Risk” was the single biggest point of disagreement between CIOs and their direct supervisors. CIOs rank it as the second-most important business goal, while CEOs rank it as sixth-most important.

Organizations should align on managing risk as a top priority given the severity of the ransomware threat. The threat actors and nature of the attacks are such that top leadership must prepare for when ransomware hits. This includes halting operations quickly to contain damage, engaging third-party security forensics experts, and coordinating with government regulators.

Cybersecurity strategies may be challenged to be effective without creating some friction for users. Organizations should look beyond multi-layer prevention strategies and lean toward quick detection and response, spending evenly across prevention, detection, and response solutions.

Take the next step

Create a Ransomware Incident Response Plan
Don’t be the next headline. Determine your current readiness, response plan, and projects to close gaps.

Simplify Identity and Access Management
Select and implement IAM and produce vendor RFPs that will contain the capabilities you need, including multi-factor authentication.

Cybersecurity Series Featuring Sandy Silk
More from Info-Tech’s Senior Workshop Director Sandy Silk in this video series created while she was still at Harvard University.

Gap between CIOs and CEOs in points allocated to “Manage risk” as a top business goal

Support an employee-centric retention strategy

Priority 03 | ITRG02 Leadership, Culture & Values

Avoid being a victim of “The Great Resignation” by putting employees at the center of an experience that will engage them with clear career path development, purposeful work, and transparent feedback.

Defining an employee-first culture that improves retention

The Great resignation isn’t good for firms

In 2021, many workers decided to leave their jobs. Working contexts were disrupted by the pandemic and that saw non-essential workers sent home to work, while essential workers were asked to continue to come into work despite the risks of COVID-19. These disruptions may have contributed to many workers reevaluating their professional goals and weighing their values differently. At the same time, 2021 saw a surging economy and many new job opportunities to create a talent-hungry market. Many workers could have been motivated to take a new opportunity to increase their salary or receive other benefits such as more flexibility.

Annual turnover rate for all us employees on the rise

• 20% – Jan.-Aug. 2020, Dipped from 22% in 2019
• 25% Jan.-Aug. 2021, New record high
Data from Visier Inc.

When you can’t pay them, develop them

IT may be less affected than other departments by this trend. Info-Tech’s 2022 IT Talent Trends Report shows that on average, estimated turnover rate in IT is lower than the rest of the organization. Almost half of respondents estimated their organization’s voluntary turnover rate was 10% or higher. Only 30% of respondents estimate that IT’s voluntary turnover rate is in the same range. However, CIOs working in industries with the highest turnover rates will have to work to keep their workers engaged and satisfied, as IT skills are easily transferred to other industries.

49% ranked “enabling learning & development within IT” as high priority, more than any other single challenge. (IT Talent Trends 2022 Survey, N=227)

Jeff Previte Executive Vice-President of IT, CrossCountry Mortgage “We have to get to know the individual at a personal level … Not just talking about the business, but getting to know the person."

Listen to the Tech Insights podcast:
How a financial services company dodged ‘The Great Resignation’

Internal interpretation: CrossCountry Mortgage

• May 2019

  Jeff Previte joins Cleveland, Ohio-based CrossCountry Mortgage in the CIO role. The company faces a challenge with employee turnover, particularly in IT. The firm is a sales-focused organization and saw its turnover rate reach as high as 60%. Yet Previte recognized that IT had some meaningful goals to achieve and would need to attract – and retain – some higher caliber talent. His first objective in his new role was to meet with IT employees and business leadership to set priorities.

• July 2019

  Previte takes a “people-first” approach to leadership and meets his staff face-to-face to understand their personal situations. He sets to work on defining roles and responsibilities in the organization, spending about a fifth of his time on defining the strategy.

• June 2020

  Previte assigned his leadership team to McLean & Company’s Design an Impactful Employee Development Program. From there, the team developed a Salesforce tool called the Career Development Workbook. “We had some very passionate developers and admins that wanted to build a home-grown tool,” he says. It turns McLean & Company’s process into a digital tool employees can use to reflect on their careers and explore their next steps. It helps facilitate development conversations with managers.

• January 2021

  CrossCountry Mortgage changes its approach to career development activities. Going to external conferences and training courses is reduced to just 30% of that effort. The rest is by doing hands-on work at the company. Previte aligned with his executives and road-mapped IT projects annually. Based on employee’s interests, opportunities are found to carve out time from usual day-to-day activities to spend time on a project in a new area. When there’s a business need, someone internally can be ready to transition roles.

• June 2021

  In the two years since joining the company, Previte has reduced the turnover rate to just 12%. The IT department has grown to more adequately meet the needs of the business and employees are engaged with more opportunities to develop their careers. Instead of focusing on compensation, Previte focused more on engaging employees with a developmentally dedicated environment and continuous hands-on learning.

“It’s come down to a culture shift. Folks have an idea of where we’re headed as an organization, where we’re headed as an IT team, and how their role contributes to that.” (Jeff Previte, EVP of IT, CrossCountry Mortgage)

Implications: Organization, Process, Technology

External

• Organization – A high priority is being placed on improving IT’s maturity through its talent. Enabling learning and development in IT, enabling departmental innovation, and recruiting are the top three highest priorities according to IT Talent Trends 2022 survey responses.
• Process – Recruiting is more challenging for industries that operate primarily onsite, according to McLean & Company's 2022 HR Trends Report. They face more challenges attracting applications, more rejected offers, and more candidate ghosting compared to remote-capable industries.
• Technology – Providing a great employee experience through digital tools is more important as many organizations see a mix of workers in the office and at home. These tools can help connect colleagues, foster professional development, and improve the candidate experience.

Internal

• Organization – CrossCountry Mortgage faced a situation where IT employees did not have clarity on their roles and responsibilities. In terms of salary, it wasn’t offering at the high end compared to other employers in Cleveland.
• Process – To foster a culture of growth and development, CrossCountry Mortgage put in place a performance assessment system that encouraged reflection and goal setting, aided by collaboration with a manager.
• Technology – The high turnover rate was limiting CrossCountry Mortgage from achieving the level of maturity it needed to support the company’s goals. It ingrained its new PA process with a custom build of a Salesforce tool.

Resources Applied

Show me the money

Almost six in ten Talent Trends survey respondents identified salary and compensation as the reason that employees resigned in the past year. Organizations looking to engage employees must first pay a fair salary according to market and industry conditions.

Build me up

Professional development and opportunity for innovative work are the next two most common reasons for resignations. Organizations must ensure they create enough capacity to allow workers time to spend on development.

“Building our own solution created an element of engagement. There was a sense of ownership that the team had in thinking through this.” (Jeff Previte, CrossCountry Mortgage)

CrossCountry Mortgage

• Executive time: CIO spends 10-20% of his time on activities related to designing the approach.
• Leveraged memberships with Info-Tech Research Group and McLean & Company to define professional development process.
• Internal IT develops automated workflow in Salesforce.
• Hired additional IT staff to build out overall capacity and create time for development activities.

Outcomes at CrossCountry Mortgage

Engaged IT workforce

The Great Maturation: IT staff turnover rate dropped to 10-12% and IT talent is developing on the job to improve the department’s overall skill level. More IT staff on hand and more engaged workers mean IT can deliver higher maturity level results.

Alignment achieved: Connecting IT’s initiatives to the vision of the C-suite creates a clear purpose for IT in its initiatives. Staff understand what they need to achieve to progress their careers and can grow while they work.

Employees from CrossCountry Mortgage headquarters assist with a drive-thru distribution event for the Cleveland Food Bank on Dec. 17, 2021. (Image courtesy of CrossCountry Mortgage.)

From Priorities to Action

Staff retention is a leadership priority

The Great Resignation trend is bringing attention to employee engagement and staff retention. IT departments are busier than ever during the pandemic as they work overtime to keep up with a remote workforce and new security threats. At the same time, IT talent is among the most coveted on the market.

CIOs need to develop a people-first approach to improve the employee experience. Beyond compensation, IT workers need clarity in terms of their career paths, a direct connection between their work and the goals of the organization, and time set aside for professional development.

Info-Tech’s 2021 benchmark for “Leadership, Culture & Values” shows that most organizations rate this capability very highly (9) but see room to improve on their effectiveness (6.9).

Take the next step

IT Talent Trends 2022
See how IT talent trends are shifting through the pandemic and understand how themes like The Great Resignation has impacted IT.

McLean & Company’s Modernize Performance Management
Customize the building blocks of performance management to best fit organizational needs to impact individual and organizational performance, productivity, and engagement.

Redesign Your IT Organizational Structure
Define future-state work units, roles, and responsibilities that will enable the IT organization to complete the work that needs to be done.

“Leadership, Culture & Values” gap between importance and effectiveness
Info-Tech Research Group Management and Governance Diagnostic Benchmark 2021

Design an automation platform

Priority 04 | APO04 Innovation

Position yourself to buy or build a platform that will enable new automation opportunities through seamless integration.

Build it or buy it, but platform integration can yield great benefits

Necessity is the mother of innovation

When it’s said that digital transformation accelerated during the pandemic, what’s really meant is that processes that were formerly done manually became automated through software. In responses to the Tech Trends survey, CIOs say digital transformation was more of a focus during the pandemic, and eight in ten CIOs also say they shifted more than 20% of their organization’s processes to digital during the pandemic. Automating tasks through software can be called digitalization.

Most organizations became more digitalized during the pandemic. But how they pursued it depends on their IT maturity. For digital laggards, partnering with a technology services platform is the path of least resistance. For sophisticated innovators, they can consider building a platform to address the specific needs of their business process. Doing so requires the foundation of an existing “digital factory” or innovation arm where new technologies can be tested, proofs of concept developed, and external partnerships formed. Patience is key with these efforts, as not every investment will yield immediate returns and some will fail outright.

Build it or buy it, platform participants integrate with their existing systems through application programming interfaces (APIs). Organizations should determine their platform strategies based on maturity, then look to integrate the business processes that will yield the most gains.

What role should you play in the platform ecosystem?

68% of CIOs say digital transformation became much more of a focus for their organization during the pandemic (Info-Tech Tech Trends 2022 Survey)

Bob Crozier Chief Architect, Allianz Technology & Global Head of Blockchain, Allianz Technology SE "Smart contracts are really just workflows between counterparties."

Listen to the Tech Insights podcast:
How Allianz took a blockchain platform from pilot to 1 million transactions

Internal interpretation: Allianz Technology

• 2015

  After smart contracts are demonstrated on the Ethereum blockchain, Allianz and other insurers recognize the business value. There is potential to use the capability to administer a complex, multi-party contract where the presence of the reinsurer in the risk transfer ecosystem is required. Manual contracts could be turned into code and automated. Allianz organized an early proof of concept around a theoretical pandemic excessive loss contract.

• 2018

  Allianz Chief Architect Bob Crozier is leading the Global Blockchain Center of Competence for Allianz. They educate Allianz on the value of blockchain for business. They also partner with a joint venture between the Technology University of Munich and the state of Bavaria. A cohort of Masters students is looking for real business problems to solve with open-source distributed ledger technology. Allianz puts its problem statement in front of the group. A student team presents a proof of concept for an international motor insurance claims settlement and it comes in second place at a pitch day competition.

• 2019

  Allianz brings the concept back in-house, and its business leaders return to the concept. Startup Luther Systems is engaged to build a minimum-viable product for the solution, with the goal being a pilot involving three or four subsidiaries in different countries. The Blockchain Center begins communicating with 25 Allianz subsidiaries that will eventually deploy the platform.

• 2020

  Allianz is in build mode on its international motor insurance claims platform. It leverages its internal Dev/SecOps teams based in Munich and in India.

• May 2021

  Allianz goes live with its new platform on May 17, decommissioning its old system and migrating all live claims data onto the new blockchain platform. It sees 400 concurrent users go live across Europe.

• January 2022

  Allianz mines its one-millionth block to its ledger on Jan. 19, with each block representing a peer-to-peer transaction across its 25 subsidiaries in different countries. The platform has settled hundreds of millions of dollars.

Implications: Organization, Process, Technology

External

• Organization – To explore emerging technologies like blockchain, organizations need staff that are accountable for innovation and have leeway to develop proofs of concept. External partners are often required to bring in fresh ideas and move quickly towards an MVP.
• Process – According to the Tech Trends 2022 survey, 84% of CIOs consider automation a high-value digital capability, and 77% say identity verification is a high-value capability. A blockchain platform using smart contracts can deliver those.
• Technology – The Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source blockchain technology that’s become popular in the financial industry for its method of forming consensus and its modular architecture. It’s been adopted by USAA, MasterCard, and PayPal. It also underpins the IBM Blockchain Platform and is supported by Azure Blockchain.

Internal

• Organization – Allianz is a holding company that owns Allianz Technology and 25 operating entities across Europe. It uses the technology arm to innovate on the business process and creates shared platforms that its entities can integrate with to automate across the value chain.
• Process – Initial interest in smart contracts on blockchain were funneled into a student competition, where a proof of concept was developed. Allianz partnered with a startup to develop an MVP, then developed the platform while aligning with its business units ahead of launch.
• Technology – Allianz built its blockchain platform on Hyperledger Fabric because it was a permissioned system, unlike other public permissionless blockchains such as Ethereum, and because its mining mechanism was much more energy efficient compared to other blockchains using Proof of Work consensus models.

Resources Applied

Time to innovate

Exploring emerging technology for potential use cases is difficult for staff tasked with running day-to-day operations. Organizations serious about innovation create a separate team that can focus on “moonshot” projects and connect with external partners.

Long-term ROI

Automation of new business processes often requires a high upfront initial investment for a long-term efficiency gain. A proof of concept should demonstrate clear business value that can be repeated often and for a long period.

“My next project has to deliver in the tens of millions of value in return. The bar is high and that’s what it should be for a business of our size.” (Bob Crozier, Allianz)

Allianz

• Several operating entities from different countries supplied subject matter expertise and helped with the testing process.
• Allianz Technology team has eight staff members. It is augmented by Luther Systems and the team at industry group B3i.
• Funding of less than $5 million to develop. Dev team continues to add improvements.
• Operating requires just one full-time employee plus infrastructure costs, mostly for public cloud hosting.

Outcomes at Allianz

From insurer to platform provider

Deliver your own SaaS: Allianz Technology built its blockchain-based claims settlement platform and its subsidiaries consume it as software as a service. The platform runs on a distributed architecture across Europe, with each node running the same version of the software. Operating entities can also integrate their own systems to the platform via APIs and further automate business processes such as billing.

Ready to scale: After processing one million transactions, the international claims settlement platform is proven and ready to add more participants. Crozier sees auto repair shops and auto manufacturers as the next logical users.

Allianz is a shareholder of the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i). It is providing a platform used by a group of insurance companies in the commercial and reinsurance space.

When should we use blockchain? THREE key criteria:

• Redundant processes
  Different entities follow the same process to achieve the desired outcome.
• Audit trail
  Accountability in the decision making must be documented.
• Reconciliation
  Parties need to be able to resolve disputes by tracing back to the truth.

From Priorities to Action

It’s a build vs. buy question for platforms

Allianz was able to build a platform for its group of European subsidiaries because of its established digital factory and commitment to innovation. Allianz Technology is at the “innovate” level of IT maturity, allowing it to create a platform that subsidiaries can integrate with via APIs. For firms that are lower on the IT maturity scale, buying a platform solution is the better path to automation. These firms will be concerned with integrating their legacy systems to platforms that can reduce the friction of their operating environments and introduce modern new capabilities.

From Info-Tech’s Build a Winning Business Process Automation Playbook

Take the next step

Accelerate Your Automation Processes
Integrate automation solutions and take the first steps to building an automation suite.

Build Effective Enterprise Integration on the Back of Business Process
From the backend to the frontlines – let enterprise integration help your business processes fly.

Evolve Your Business Through Innovation
Innovation teams are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that their organizations are in the best position to succeed while the world is in a period of turmoil, chaos, and uncertainty.

“Innovation” gap between importance and effectiveness Info-Tech Research Group Management and Governance Diagnostic Benchmark 2021

Prepare to report on new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics

Priority 05 | ITRG06 Business Intelligence and Reporting

Be ready to either lead or support initiatives to meet the criteria of new ESG reporting mandates and work toward disclosure reporting solutions.

Time to get serious about ESG

What does CSR or ESG mean to a CIO?

Humans are putting increasing pressure on the planet’s natural environment and creating catastrophic risks as a result. Efforts to mitigate these risks have been underway for the past 30 years, but in the decade ahead regulators are likely to impose more strict requirements that will be linked to the financial value of an organization. Various voluntary frameworks exist for reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) metrics. But now there are efforts underway to unify and clarify those standards.

The most advanced effort toward a global set of standards is in the environmental area. At the United Nations’ COP26 summit in Scotland last November, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) announced its headquarters (Frankfurt) and three other international office locations (Montreal, San Francisco, and London) and its roadmap for public consultations. It is working with an array of voluntary standards groups toward a consensus.

In Info-Tech’s 2022 Tech Trends survey, two-thirds of CIOs say their organization is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, yet only 40% say their organizational leadership is very concerned with reducing those emissions. CIOs will need to consider how to align organizational concern with internal commitments and new regulatory pressures. They may investigate new real-time reporting solutions that could serve as a competitive differentiator on ESG.

Standards informing the ISSB’s global set of climate standards

67% of CIOs say their organization is committed to reducing greenhouse gases, with one-third saying that commitment is public. (Info-Tech Tech Trends 2022 Survey)

40% of CIOs say their organizational leadership is very concerned with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

David W. Dorman Chairman of the board, CVS Health “ESG is a question of what you do in the microcosm of your company to make sure there is a clear, level playing field – that there is a color-blind, gender-blind meritocracy available – that you are aware that not in every case can you achieve that without really focusing on it. It’s not going to happen on its own. That’s why our commitments have real dollars behind them and real focus behind them because we want to be the very best at doing them.”

Listen to the Tech Insights podcast:
CVS Health chairman David Dorman on healthcare's hybrid future

Internal interpretation: CVS Health

CVS Health established a new steering committee of senior leaders in 2020 to oversee ESG commitments. It designs its corporate social responsibility strategy, Transform Health 2030, by aligning company activities in four key areas: healthy people, healthy business, healthy planet, and healthy community. The strategy aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In alignment with these goals, CVS identifies material topics where the company has the most ability to make an impact. In 2020, its top three topics were:

1. Access to quality health care
2. Patient and customer safety
3. Data protection and privacy

Implications: Organization, Process, Technology

External

• Organization – Since the mid-2010s, younger investors have demonstrated reliance on ESG data when making investment decisions, resulting in the creation of voluntary standards that offered varied approaches. Organizations in ESG exchange-traded funds are outperforming the overall S&P 500 (S&P Global Market Intelligence).
• Process – Organizations are issuing ESG reports today despite the absence of clear rules to follow for reporting results. With regulators expected to step in to establish more rigid guidelines, many organizations will need to revisit their approach to ESG reports.
• Technology – Real-time reporting of ESG metrics will become a competitive advantage before 2030. Engineering a solution that can alert organizations to poor performance on ESG measures and allow them to respond could avert losing market value.

Internal

• Organization – CVS Health established an ESG Steering Committee in 2020 composed of senior leaders including its chief governance officers, chief sustainability officer, chief risk officer, and controller and SVP of investor relations. It is supported by the ESG Operating Committee.
• Process – CVS conducts a materiality assessment in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative standards to determine the most significant ESG impacts it can make and what topics most influence the decisions of stakeholders. It engages with various stakeholder groups on CSR topics.
• Technology – CVS technology initiatives during the pandemic focused on supporting patients and employees in collaborating on health care delivery using virtual solutions, providing rich digital experiences that are easily accessible while upholding high security and privacy standards.

Resources Applied

Lack of commitment

While 83% of businesses state support for the Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), only 40% make measurable commitments to their goals.

Show your work

The GRI recommends organizations not only align their activities with sustainable development goals but also demonstrate contributions to specific targets in reporting on the positive actions they carry out. (GRI, “State of Progress: Business Contributions to the SDGS.”)

“We end up with a longstanding commitment to diversity because that’s what our customer base looks like.” (David Dorman, CVS Health)

CVS Health

• The MinuteClinic Virtual Collaboration solution was piloted in Houston, demonstrated success, and won additional $50,000 funding from the Pathway to Excellence Award to scale the program across the country (Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.).
• The Next-Gen Authentication solution is provided by the vendor HYPR. It is deployed to ten million users and looking to scale to 30 million more. Pricing for enterprises is quoted at $1 per user, but volume pricing would apply to CVS (HYPR).

Outcomes at CVS Health

Delivering on hybrid healthcare solutions

iPads for collaboration: Healthcare practitioners in the MinuteClinic Virtual Collaboration initiative agreed that it improved the use of interprofessional teams, working well virtually with others, and improved access to professional resources (Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Remote healthcare: Saw a 400% increase in MinuteClinic virtual visits in 2020 (CVS Health).

Verified ID: The Next Generation Authentication platform allowed customers to register for a COVID-19 vaccination appointment. CVS has delivered more than 50 million vaccines (LinkedIn).

CVS Health is making use of digital channels to connect its customers and health practitioners to a services platform that can supplement visits to a retail or clinic location to receive diagnostics and first-hand care.

From Priorities to Action

Become your organization’s ESG Expert

The risks posed to organizations and wider society are becoming more severe, driving a transition from voluntary frameworks for ESG goals to a mandatory one that’s enforced by investors and governments. Organizations will be expected to tie their core activities to a defined set of ESG goals and maintain a balance sheet of their positive and negative impacts. CIOs should become experts in ESG disclosure requirements and recommend the steps needed to meet or exceed competitors’ efforts. If a leadership vacuum for ESG accountability exists, CIOs can either seek to support their peers that are likely to become accountable or take a leadership role in overseeing the area. CIOs should start working toward solutions that deliver real-time reporting on ESG goals to make reporting frictionless.

“If you don’t have ESG oversight at the highest levels of the company, it won’t wind up getting the focus. That’s why we review it at the Board multiple times per year. We have an annual report, we compare how we did, what we intended to do, where did we fall short, where did we exceed, and where we can run for daylight to do more.” (David Dorman, CVS Health)

Take the next step

ESG Disclosures: How Will We Record Status Updates on the World We Are Creating?
Prepare for the era of mandated environmental, social, and governance disclosures.

Private Equity and Venture Capital Growing Impact of ESG Report
Learn about how the growing impact of ESG affects both your organization and IT specifically, including challenges and opportunities, with expert assistance.

“Business Intelligence and Reporting” gap between importance and effectiveness
Info-Tech Research Group Management and Governance Diagnostic Benchmark 2021

The Five Priorities

Priorities to compete in the digital economy

1. Reduce Friction in the Hybrid Operating Model
2. Improve Your Ransomware Readiness
3. Support an Employee-Centric Retention Strategy
4. Design an Automation Platform
5. Prepare to Report on New Environmental, Social, and Governance Metrics

Contributing Experts

Elizabeth Clark CIO, Harvard Business School			Jeff Previte Executive Vice-President of IT, CrossCountry Mortgage
Bob Crozier Chief Architect, Allianz Technology & Global Head of Blockchain, Allianz Technology SE			David W. Dorman Chairman of the Board, CVS Health

Info-Tech’s internal CIO panel contributors

Bryan Tutor John Kemp Mike Schembri Janice Clatterbuck Sandy Silk Sallie Wright David Wallace Ken McGee Mike Tweedie Cole Cioran Kevin Tucker Angelina Atkins Yakov Kofner

Thank you for your support

Blockchain Research Institute

Bibliography – CIO Priorities 2022

“2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.” CVS Health, 2020, p. 127. Web.

“Adversary: Doppel Spider - Threat Actor.” Crowdstrike Adversary Universe, 2021. Accessed 29 Dec. 2021.

“Aetna CVS Health Success Story.” HYPR, n.d. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022.

Baig, Aamer. “The CIO agenda for the next 12 months: Six make-or-break priorities.” McKinsey Digital, 1 Nov. 2021. Web.

Ball, Sarah, Kristene Diggins, Nairobi Martindale, Angela Patterson, Anne M. Pohnert, Jacinta Thomas, Tammy Todd, and Melissa Bates. “2020 ANCC Pathway Award® winner.” Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc., 2021. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022.

“Canadian Universities Propose Designs for a Central Bank Digital Currency.” Bank of Canada, 11 Feb. 2021. Accessed 14 Dec. 2021.

“Carbon Sequestration in Wetlands.” MN Board of Water and Soil Resources, n.d. Accessed 15 Nov. 2021.

“CCM Honored as a NorthCoast 99 Award Winner.” CrossCountry Mortgage, 1 Dec. 2021. Web.

Cheek, Catherine. “Four Things We Learned About the Resignation Wave–and What to Do Next.” Visier Inc. (blog), 5 Oct. 2021. Web.

“Companies Using Hyperledger Fabric, Market Share, Customers and Competitors.” HG Insights, 2022. Accessed 25 Jan. 2022.

“IFRS Foundation Announces International Sustainability Standards Board, Consolidation with CDSB and VRF, and Publication of Prototype Disclosure Requirements.” IFRS, 3 Nov. 2021. Web.

“IT Priorities for 2022: A CIO Report.” Mindsight, 28 Oct. 2021. Web.

“Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.” Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022.

Kumar, Rashmi, and Michael Krigsman. “CIO Planning and Investment Strategy 2022.” CXOTalk, 13 Sept. 2021. Web.

Leonhardt, Megan. “The Great Resignation Is Hitting These Industries Hardest.” Fortune, 16 Nov. 2021. Accessed 7 Jan. 2022.

“Most companies align with SDGs – but more to do on assessing progress.” Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), 17 Jan. 2022. Web.

Navagamuwa, Roshan. “Beyond Passwords: Enhancing Data Protection and Consumer Experience.” LinkedIn, 15 Dec. 2020.

Ojo, Oluwaseyi. “Achieving Digital Business Transformation Using COBIT 2019.” ISACA, 19 Aug. 2019. Web.

“Priority.” Lexico.com, Oxford University Press, 2021. Web.

Riebold, Jan, and Yannick Bartens. “Reinventing the Digital IT Operating Model for the ‘New Normal.’” Capgemini Worldwide, 3 Nov. 2020. Web.

Samuels, Mark. “The CIO’s next priority: Using the tech budget for growth.” ZDNet, 1 Sept. 2021. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021.

Sayer, Peter. “Exclusive Survey: CIOs Outline Tech Priorities for 2021-22.” CIO, 5 Oct. 2021. Web.

Shacklett, Mary E. “Where IT Leaders Are Likely to Spend Budget in 2022.” InformationWeek, 10 Aug. 2021. Web.

“Table 4. Quits Levels and Rates by Industry and Region, Seasonally Adjusted - 2021 M11 Results.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic News Release, 1 Jan. 2022. Accessed 7 Jan. 2022.

“Technology Priorities CIOs Must Address in 2022.” Gartner, 19 Oct. 2021. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021.

Thomson, Joel. Technology, Talent, and the Future Workplace: Canadian CIO Outlook 2021. The Conference Board of Canada, 7 Dec. 2021. Web.

“Trend.” Lexico.com, Oxford University Press, 2021. Web.

Vellante, Dave. “CIOs signal hybrid work will power tech spending through 2022.” SiliconANGLE, 25 Sept. 2021. Web.

Whieldon, Esther, and Robert Clark. “ESG funds beat out S&P 500 in 1st year of COVID-19; how 1 fund shot to the top.” S&P Global Market Intelligence, April 2021. Accessed Dec. 2021.

Build Your Enterprise Innovation Program

Transform your business by adopting the culture and practices that drive innovation.

Analyst Perspective

Innovation is not about ideas, it's about people.

Many organizations stumble when implementing innovation programs. Innovation is challenging to get right, and even more challenging to sustain over the long term.

One of the common stumbling blocks we see comes from organizations focusing more on the ideas and the process than on the culture and the people needed to make innovation a way of life. However, the most successful innovators are the ones which have adopted a culture of innovation and reinforce innovative behaviors across their organization. Organizational cultures which promote growth mindset, trust, collaboration, learning, and a willingness to fail are much more likely to produce successful innovators.

This research is not just about culture, but culture is the starting point for innovation. My hope is that organizations will go beyond the processes and methodologies laid out here and use this research to dramatically improve their organization's performance.

Kim Osborne Rodriguez
Research Director, CIO Advisory
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

As a leader in your organization, you need to:

• Understand your organization's innovation goals.
• Create an innovation program or structure.
• Develop a culture of innovation across your team or organization.
• Demonstrate an ability to innovate and grow the business.

Common Obstacles

In the past, you might have experienced one or more of the following:

• Innovation initiatives lose momentum.
• Cynicism and distrust hamper innovation.
• Innovation efforts are unfocused or don't provide the anticipated value.
• Bureaucracy has created a bottleneck that stifles innovation.

Info-Tech's Approach

This blueprint will help you:

• Understand the different types of innovation.
• Develop a clear vision, scope, and focus.
• Create organizational culture and behaviors aligned with your innovation ambitions.
• Adopt an operational model and methodologies best suited for your culture, goals, and budget.
• Successfully run a pilot program.

Info-Tech Insight

There is no single right way to approach innovation. Begin with an understanding of your innovation ambitions, your existing culture, and the resources available to you, then adopt the innovation operating model that is best suited to your situation.

Note: This research is written for the individual who is leading the development of the innovation. This role is referred to as the Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) throughout this research but could be the CIO, CTO, IT director, or another business leader.

Why is innovation so challenging?

Most organizations want to be innovative, but very few succeed.

• Bureaucracy slows innovation: Innovation requires speed – it is important to fail fast and early so you can iterate to improve the final solution. Small, agile organizations like startups tend to be more risk tolerant and can move more quickly to iterate on new ideas compared to larger organizations.
• Change is uncomfortable: Most people are profoundly uncomfortable with failure, risk, and unknowns – three critical components of innovation. Humans are wired to think efficiently rather than innovatively, which leads to confirmation bias and lack of ingenuity.
• You will likely fail: Innovation initiatives rarely succeed on the first try – Harvard Business Review estimates between 70% and 90% of innovation efforts fail. Organizations which are more tolerant of failure tend to be significantly more innovative than those which are not (Review of Financial Studies, 2014).

Based on a survey of global innovation trends and practices:

The biggest obstacles to innovation are cultural

The biggest obstacles to innovation in large companies

Based on a survey of 270 business leaders.
Source: Harvard Business Review, 2018

The most common challenges business leaders experience relate to people and culture. Success is based on people, not ideas.

Politics, turf wars, and a lack of alignment: territorial departments, competition for resources, and unclear roles are holding back the innovation efforts of 55% of respondents.

FIX IT
Senior leadership needs to be clear on the innovation goals and how business units are expected to contribute to them.

Cultural issues: many large companies have a culture that rewards operational excellence and disincentivizes risk. A history of failed innovation attempts may result in significant resistance to new change efforts.

FIX IT
Cultural change takes time. Ensure you are rewarding collaboration and risk-taking, and hire people with fresh new perspectives.

Inability to act on signals crucial to the future of the business: only 18% of respondents indicated their organization was unaware of disruptions, but 42% said they struggled with acting on leading indicators of change.

FIX IT
Build the ability to quickly run pilots or partner with startups and incubators to test out new ideas without lengthy review and approval processes.
Source: Harvard Business Review, 2018

Build Your Enterprise Innovation Program

Define your purpose, assess your culture, and build a practice that delivers true innovation.

1 Source: Boston Consulting Group, 2021
2 Source: Boston Consulting Group, 2019
3 Source: Harvard Business Review, 2018

Use this research to outperform your peers

A seven-year review showed that the most innovative companies outperformed the market by upwards of 30%.

Innovators are defined as companies that were listed on Fast Company World's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2+ years.

Innovation is critical to business success.

A 25-year study by Business Development Canada and Statistics Canada showed that innovation was more important to business success than management, human resources, marketing, or finance.

Executive brief case study

INDUSTRY: Healthcare
SOURCE: Interview

Culture is critical

This Info-Tech member is a nonprofit, community-based mental health organization located in the US. It serves about 25,000 patients per year in community, school, and clinic settings.

This organization takes its innovation culture very seriously and has developed methodologies to assess individual and team innovation readiness as well as innovation types, which it uses to determine everyone's role in the innovation process. These assessments look at knowledge of and trust in the organization, its innovation profile, and its openness to change. Innovation enthusiasts are involved early in the process when it's important to dream big, while more pragmatic perspectives are incorporated later to improve the final solution.

Results

The organization has developed many innovative approaches to delivering healthcare. Notably, they have reimagined patient scheduling and reduced wait times to the extent that some patients can be seen the same day. They are also working to improve access to mental health care despite a shortage of professionals.

Developing an Innovative Culture

• Innovation Readiness Assessment
• Coaching Specific to Innovation Profile
• Innovation Enthusiasts Involved Early
• Innovation Pragmatists Involved Later
• High Success Rate of Innovation

Define innovation roles and responsibilities

Info-Tech's methodology for building your enterprise innovation program

Innovation program taxonomy

This research uses the following common terms:

Innovation Operating Model
The operating model describes how the innovation program delivers value to the organization, including how the program is structured, the steps from idea generation to enterprise launch, and the methodologies used.
Examples: Innovation Hub, Grassroots Innovation.

Innovation Methodology
Methodologies describe the ways the operating model is carried out, and the approaches used in the innovation practice.
Examples: Design Thinking, Weighted Criteria Scoring

Chief Innovation Officer
This research is written for the person or team leading the innovation program – this might be a CINO, CIO, or other leader in the organization.

Innovation Team
The innovation team may vary depending on the operating model, but generally consists of the individuals involved in facilitating innovation across the organization. This may be, but does not have to be, a dedicated innovation department.

Innovation Program
The program for generating ideas, running pilot projects, and building a business case to implement across the enterprise.

Pilot Project
A way of testing and validating a specific concept in the real world through a minimum viable product or small-scale implementation. The pilot projects are part of the overall pilot program.

Insight summary

Innovation is about people, not ideas or processes
Innovation does not require a formal process, a dedicated innovation team, or a large budget; the most important success factor for innovation is culture. Companies that facilitate innovative behaviors like growth mindset, collaboration, and the ability to take smart risk are most likely to see the benefits of innovation.

Very few are doing innovation well
Only 30% of companies consider themselves innovative, and there's a good reason: innovation involves unknowns, risk, and failure – three situations that people and organizations typically do their best to avoid. Counter this by removing the barriers to innovation.

Culture is the greatest barrier to innovation
In a survey of 270 business leaders, the top three most common obstacles were politics, turf wars, and alignment; culture issues; and inability to act on signals crucial to the business (Harvard Business Review, 2018). If you don't have a supportive culture, your ability to innovate will be significantly reduced.

Innovation is a means to an end
It is not the end itself. Don't get caught up in innovation for the sake of innovation – make sure you are getting the benefits from your investments. Measurable success factors are critical for maintaining the long-term success of your innovation engine.

Tackle wicked problems
Innovative approaches are better at solving complex problems than traditional practices. Organizations that prioritize innovation during a crisis tend to outperform their peers by over 30% and improve their market position (McKinsey, 2020).

Innovate or die
Innovation is critical to business growth. A 25-year study showed that innovation was more important to business success than management, human resources, marketing, or finance (Statistics Canada, 2006).

Blueprint deliverables

Each step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals:

Sample Job Descriptions and Organization Charts

Determine the skills, knowledge, and structure you need to make innovation happen.

Ideation Session Template

Facilitate an ideation session with your staff to identify areas for innovation.

Initiative Prioritization Workbook

Evaluate ideas to identify those which are most likely to provide value.

Key deliverable:

Enterprise Innovation Program Summary

Communicate how you plan to innovate with a report summarizing the outputs from this research.

Measure the value of this research

US businesses spend over half a trillion dollars on innovation annually. What are they getting for it?

• The top innovators(1) typically spend 5-15% of their budgets on innovation (including R&D).
• This research helps organizations develop a successful innovation program, which delivers value to the organization in the form of new products, services, and methods.
• Leverage this research to:
  • Get your innovation program off the ground quickly.
  • Increase internal knowledge and expertise.
  • Generate buy-in and excitement about innovation.
  • Develop the skills and capabilities you need to drive innovation over the long term.
  • Validate your innovation concept.
  • Streamline and integrate innovation across the organization.

(1) based on BCG's 50 Most Innovative Companies 2022

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

Guided Implementation

“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

Workshop

“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

Consulting

“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Guided implementation

What does a typical guided implementation (GI) on this topic look like?

A GI is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.

A typical GI is 8 to 12 calls over the course of three to six months.

Workshop overview

Contact your account representative for more information.
workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

Phase 1: Define Your Purpose

Develop a better understanding of the drivers for innovation and what success looks like.

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

• Understand your innovation mandate, including its drivers, scope, and focus.
• Define what innovation means to your organization.
• Develop an innovation vision and guiding principles.
• Articulate the value proposition and proposed metrics for evaluating program success.

This phase involves the following participants:

• CINO
• Business executives

Case study

INDUSTRY: Transportation
SOURCE: Interview

ArcBest
ArcBest is a multibillion-dollar shipping and logistics company which leverages innovative technologies to provide reliable and integrated services to its customers.

An Innovative Culture Starts at the Top
ArcBest's innovative culture has buy-in and support from the highest level of the company. Michael Newcity, ArcBest's CEO, is dedicated to finding better ways of serving their customers and supports innovation across the company by dedicating funding and resources toward piloting and scaling new initiatives.
Having a clear purpose and mandate for innovation at all levels of the organization has resulted in extensive grassroots innovation and the development of a formalized innovation program.

Results
ArcBest has a legacy of innovation, going back to its early days when it developed a business intelligence solution before anything else existed on the market. It continues to innovate today and is now partnering with start-ups to further expand its innovation capabilities.

"We don't micromanage or process-manage incremental innovation. We hire really smart people who are inspired to create new things and we let them run – let them create – and we celebrate it.
Our dedication to innovation comes from the top – I am both the President and the Chief Innovation Officer, and innovation is one of my top priorities."

Michael Newcity
President and Chief Innovation Officer ArcBest

1.1 Understand your innovation mandate

Before you can act, you need to understand the following:

• Where is the drive for innovation coming from?
  The source of your mandate dictates the scope of your innovation practice – in general, innovating outside the scope of your mandate (i.e. trying to innovate on products when you don't have buy-in from the product team) will not be successful.
• What is meant by "innovation"?
  There are many different definitions for innovation. Before pursuing innovation at your organization, you need to understand how it is defined. Use the definition in this section as a starting point, and craft your own definition of innovation.
• What kind of innovation are you targeting?
  Innovation can be internal or external, emergent or deliberate, and incremental or radically transformative. Understanding what kind of innovation you want is the starting point for your innovation practice.

The source of your mandate dictates the scope of your influence

You can only influence what you can control.

Unless your mandate comes from the CEO or Board of Directors, driving enterprise-wide innovation is very difficult. If you do not have buy-in from senior business leaders, use lighthouse projects and a smaller innovation practice to prove the value of innovation before taking on enterprise innovation.

In order to execute on a mandate to build innovation, you don't just need buy-in. You need support in the form of resources and funding, as well as strong leadership who can influence culture and the authority to change policies and practices that inhibit innovation.

For more resources on building relationships in your organization, refer to Info-Tech's Become a Transformational CIO blueprint.

What is "innovation"?

Innovation is often easier to recognize than define.

Align on a useful definition of innovation for your organization before you embark on a journey of becoming more innovative.

Innovation is the practice of developing new methods, products or services which provide value to an organization.

Practice
This does not have to be a formal process – innovation is a means to an end, not the end itself.

New
What does "new" mean to you?

• New application of an existing method
• Developing a completely original product
• Adopting a service from another industry

Value
What does value mean to you? Look to your business strategy to understand what goals the organization is trying to achieve, then determine how "value" will be measured.

Info-Tech Insight

Some innovations are incremental, while some are radically transformative. Decide what kind of innovation you want to cultivate before developing your strategy.

We can categorize innovation in three ways

Evaluate your goals with respect to innovation: focus, strategy, and potential to transform.

Focus: Where will you innovate?

Strategy: To what extent will you guide innovation efforts?

Potential: How radical will your innovations be?

What are your ambitions?

1. Develop a better understanding of what type of innovation you are trying to achieve by plotting out your goals on the categories on the left.
2. All categories are independent of one another, so your goals may fall anywhere on the scales for each category.
3. Understanding your innovation ambitions helps establish the operating model best suited for your innovation practice.
4. In general, innovation which is more external, deliberate, and radical tends to be more centralized.

Activity 1.1 Understand your innovation mandate

1 hour

1. Schedule a 30-minute discussion with the person (i.e. CEO) or group (i.e. Board of Directors) ultimately requesting the shift toward innovation. If there is no external party, then conduct this assessment yourself.
2. Facilitate a discussion that addresses the following questions:

• What is meant by "innovation"?
• What are they hoping to achieve through innovation?
• What is the innovation scope? Are any areas off-limits (i.e. org structure, new products, certain markets)?
• What is the budget (i.e. people, money) they are willing to commit to innovation?
• What type of innovation are they pursuing?

3. Record this information and complete the "Our Purpose" section of the Innovation Program Template.

Download the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Knowledge of the key decision maker/sponsor for innovation

Output

• Understanding of the mandate for innovation, including definition, value, scope, budget, and type of innovation

Materials

• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO
• CEO, CTO, or Board of Directors (whoever is requesting/sponsoring the pursuit of innovation)

1.2 Define your innovation ambitions

Articulate your future state through a vision and guiding principles.

• Vision and purpose make up the foundation on which all other design aspects will be based. These aspects should not be taken lightly, but rather they should be the force that aligns everyone to work toward a common outcome. It is incumbent on leaders to make them part of the DNA of the organization – to drive organization, structure, culture, and talent strategy.
• Your vision statement is a future-focused statement that summarizes what you hope to achieve. It should be inspirational, ambitious, and concise.
• Your guiding principles outline the guardrails for your innovation practice. What will your focus be? How will you approach innovation? What is off-limits?
• Define the scope and focus for your innovation efforts. This includes what you can innovate on and what is off limits.

Your vision statement is your North Star

Articulate an ambitious, inspirational, and concise vision statement for your innovation efforts.

A strong vision statement:

• Is future-focused and outlines what you want to become and what you want to achieve.
• Provides focus and direction.
• Is ambitious, focused, and concise.
• Answers: What problems are we solving? Who and what are we changing?

Examples:

• "We create radical new technologies to solve some of the world's hardest problems." – Google X, the Moonshot Factory
• "To be the most innovative enterprise in the world." – 3M
• "To use our imagination to bring happiness to millions of people." – Disney

"Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion." – Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO of GE

Your guiding principles are the guardrails for creativity

Strong guiding principles give your team the freedom and direction to innovate.

Strong guiding principles:

• Focus on the approach, i.e. how things are done, as opposed to what needs to be done.
• Are specific to the organization.
• Inform and direct decision making with actionable statements. Avoid truisms, general statements, and observations.
• Are long-lasting and based on values, not solutions.
• Are succinct and easily digestible.
• Can be measured and verified.
• Answers: How do we approach innovation? What are our core values

Craft your guiding principles using these examples

Encourage experimentation and risk-taking
Innovation often requires trying new things, even if they might fail. We encourage experimentation and learn from failure, so that new ideas can be tested and refined.

Foster collaboration and cross-functional teams
Innovation often comes from the intersection of different perspectives and skill sets.

Customer-centric
Focus on creating value for the end user. This means understanding their needs and pain points, and using that knowledge to develop new methods, products, or services.

Embrace diversity and inclusivity
Innovation comes from a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. We actively seek out and encourage diversity and inclusivity among our team members.

Foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement
Innovation requires continuous learning, development, and growth. We facilitate a culture that encourages learning and development, and that seeks feedback and uses it to improve.

Flexible and adaptable
We adapt to changes in the market, customer needs, and new technologies, so that it can continue to innovate and create value over time.

Data-driven
We use performance metrics and data to guide our innovation efforts.

Transparency
We are open and transparent in our processes and let the business needs guide our innovation efforts. We do not lead innovation, we facilitate it.

Activity 1.2 Craft your vision statement and guiding principles

1-2 hours

1. Gather your innovation team and key program sponsors. Review the guidelines for creating vision statements and guiding principles, as well as your mandate and focus for innovation.
2. As a group, discuss what you hope to achieve through your innovation efforts.
3. Separately, have each person write down their ideas for a vision statement. Bring the group back together and share ideas. Group the concepts together and construct a single statement which outlines your aspirational vision.
4. As a group, review the example guiding principles.
5. Separately, have each person write down three to five guiding principles. Bring the group back together and share ideas. Group similar concepts together and consolidate duplicate ideas. From this list, construct six to eight guiding principles.
6. Document your vision and guiding principles in the appropriate sections of the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Understanding of your innovation mandate
• Business vision, mission, and values
• Sample vision statements and guiding principles

Output

• Vision statement
• Guiding principles

Materials

• In person: Whiteboard/flip charts, sticky notes, pens, and notepads
• Virtual: Consider using a shared document, virtual whiteboard, or online facilitation tool like MURAL
• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO
• Innovation sponsors
• Business leaders
• Innovation team

1.3 Determine your value proposition and metrics

Justify the existence of the innovation program with a strong value proposition.

• The value proposition for developing an innovation program will be different for each organization, depending on what the organization hopes to achieve. Consider your mandate for innovation as well as the type of innovation you are pursuing when crafting the value proposition.
• Some of the reasons organizations may pursue innovation:
  • Business growth: Respond to market disruption; create new customers; take advantage of opportunities.
  • Branding: Create market differentiation; increase customer satisfaction and retention; adapt to customer needs.
  • Profitability: Improve products, services, or operations to increase competitiveness and profitability; develop more efficient processes.
  • Culture: Foster a culture of creativity and experimentation within the organization, encouraging employees to think outside the box.
  • Positive impact: Address social challenges such as poverty and climate change.

Develop a strong value proposition for your innovation program

Demonstrate the value to the business.

A strong value proposition not only articulates the value that the business will derive from the innovation program but also provides a clear focus, helps to communicate the innovation goals, and ultimately drives the success of the program.

Focus
Prioritize and focus innovation efforts to create solutions that provide real value to the organization

Communicate
Communicate the mandate and benefits of innovation in a clear and compelling way and inspire people to think differently

Measure Success
Measure the success of your program by evaluating outcomes based on the value proposition

Track appropriate success metrics for your innovation program

Your success metrics should link back to your organizational goals and your innovation program's value proposition.

Revenue Growth: Increase in revenue generated by new products or services.

Market Share: Percentage of total market that the business captures as a result of innovation.

Customer Satisfaction: Reviews, customer surveys, or willingness to recommend the company.

Employee Engagement: Engagement surveys, performance, employee retention, or turnover.

Innovation Output: The number of new products, services, or processes that have been developed.

Return on Investment: Financial return on the resources invested in the innovation process.

Social Impact: Number of people positively impacted, net reduction in emissions, etc.

Time to Launch: The time it takes for a new product or service to go from idea to launch.

Info-Tech Insight

The total impact of innovation is often intangible and extremely difficult to capture in performance metrics. Focus on developing a few key metrics rather than trying to capture the full value of innovation.

How much does innovation cost?

The top innovators(1) in the world spend 5% to 15% of their revenue on innovation.

Innovation requires a dedicated investment of time, money, and resources in order to be successful. The most innovative companies, based on Boston Consulting Group's ranking of the 50 most innovative companies in the world, spend significant portions of their revenue on research and development.

Note: This data uses research and development as a proxy for innovation spending, which may overestimate the total spend on what this research considers true innovation.

(1) Based on Boston Consulting Group's ranking of the 50 most innovative companies in the world, 2022
(2) Macrotrends, based on the 12 months ending Sept 30, 2022
(3) Statista
(4) CNBC, 2022

Activity 1.3 Develop your value proposition and performance metrics

1 hour

1. Review your mandate and vision statement. Write down your innovation goals and desired outcomes from pursuing innovation, prioritize the desired outcomes, and select the top five.
2. For each desired outcome, develop one to two metrics which could be used to track its success. Some outcomes are difficult to track, so get creative when it comes to developing metrics. If you get stuck, think about what would differentiate a great outcome from an unsuccessful one.
3. Once you have developed a list of three to five key metrics, read over the list and ensure that the metrics you have developed don't negatively influence your innovation. For example, a metric of the number of successful launches may drive people toward launching before a product is ready.
4. For each metric, develop a goal. For example, you may target 1% revenue growth over the next fiscal year or 20% energy use reduction.
5. Document your value proposition and key performance metrics in the appropriate sections of the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Understanding of your innovation mandate
• Vision statement

Output

• Value proposition
• Performance metrics

Materials

• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO

Phase 2: Align Your People

Create a culture that fosters innovative behaviors and puts processes in place to support them.

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

• Understand the key aspects of innovative cultures, and the behaviors associated with innovation.
• Assess your culture and identify gaps.
• Define your innovation operating model based on your organizational culture and the focus for innovation.
• Build your core innovation capabilities, including an innovation core team (if required based on your operating model).

This phase involves the following participants:

• CINO
• Innovation team

2.1 Foster a culture of innovation

Culture is the most important driver of innovation – and the most challenging to get right.

• Fostering a culture of innovation requires a broad approach which considers the perspectives of individuals, teams, leadership, and the overall organization.
• If you do not have support from leadership, it is very difficult to change organizational culture. It may be more effective to start with an innovation pilot or lighthouse project in order to gain support before addressing your culture.
• Rather than looking to change outcomes, focus on the behaviors which lead to innovation – such as growth mindset and willingness to fail. If these aren't in place, your ability to innovate will be limited.
• This section focuses on the specific behaviors associated with increased innovation. For additional resources on implementing these changes, refer to Info-Tech's other research:

Info-Tech's Fix Your IT Culture can help you promote innovative behaviors

Refer to Improve IT Team Effectiveness to address team challenges

Build a culture of innovation

Focus on behaviors, not outcomes.

The following behaviors and key indicators either stifle or foster innovation.

Ensure you are not inadvertently stifling innovation.
Review the following to ensure that the desired behaviors are promoted:

• Hiring practices
• Performance evaluation metrics
• Rewards and incentives
• Corporate policies
• Governance structures
• Leadership behavior

Case study

INDUSTRY: Commercial Real Estate and Retail
SOURCE: Interview

How not to approach innovation.

This anonymous national organization owned commercial properties across the country and had the goal of becoming the most innovative real estate and retail company in the market.

The organization pursued innovation in the digital solutions space across its commercial and retail properties. Within this space, there were significant differences in risk tolerance across teams, which resulted in the more risk-tolerant teams excluding the risk-averse members from discussions in order to circumvent corporate policies on risk tolerance. This resulted in an adversarial and siloed culture where each group believed they knew better than the other, and the more risk-averse teams felt like they were policing the actions of the risk-tolerant group.

Results

Morale plummeted, and many of the organization's top people left. Unfortunately, one of the solutions did not meet regulatory requirements, and the company faced negative media coverage and legal action. There was significant reputational damage as a result.

Lessons Learned

Considering differences in risk tolerance and risk appetite is critical when pursuing innovation. While everyone doesn't have to agree, leadership needs to understand the different perspectives and ensure that no one party is dominating the conversation over the others. An understanding of corporate risk tolerance and risk appetite is necessary to drive innovation.

All perspectives have a place in innovation. More risk tolerant perspectives should be involved early in the ideas-generation phase, and risk-averse perspectives should be considered later when ideas are being refined.

Speed should not override safety or circumvent corporate policies.

Understand your risk tolerance and risk appetite

Evaluate and align the appetite for risk.

• It is important to understand the organization's risk tolerance as well as the desire for risk. Consider the following risk categories when investigating the organization's views on risk:
  • Financial risk: the potential for financial or property loss.
  • Operational risk: the potential for disruptions to operations.
  • Reputational risk: the potential for negative impact to brand or reputation.
  • Compliance risk: the potential for loss due to non-compliance with laws and regulations.
• Greater risk tolerance typically enables greater innovation. Understand the varying levels of risk tolerance across your organization, and how these differences might impact innovation efforts.

It is more important to match the level of risk tolerance to the degree of innovation required. Not all innovation needs to be (or can feasibly be) disruptive.
Many factors impact risk tolerance including:

• Regulation
• Organization size
• Country
• Industry
• Personal experience
• Type of risk

Use Info-Tech's Security Risk Management research to better understand risk tolerance

Activity 2.1 Assess your innovation culture

1-3 hours

1. Review the behaviors which support and stifle innovation and give each behavior a score from 1 (stifling innovation) to 5 (fostering innovation). Any behaviors which fall below a 4 on this scale should be prioritized in your efforts to create an innovative culture.
2. Review the following policies and practices to determine how they may be contributing to the behaviors you see in your organization:
   1. Hiring practices
   2. Performance evaluation metrics
   3. Rewards, recognition, and incentives
   4. Corporate policies
   5. Governance structures
   6. Leadership behavior
3. Identify three concrete actions you can take to correct any behaviors which are stifling innovation. Examples might be revising a policy which punishes failure or changing performance incentives to reward appropriate risk taking.
4. Summarize your findings in the appropriate section of the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Innovation behaviors

Output

• Understanding of your organization's culture
• Concrete actions you can take to promote innovation

Materials

• List of innovative behaviors
• Relevant policies and documents to review
• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO

2.2 Define your innovation model

Set up your innovation practice for success using proven models and methodologies.

• There are many ways to approach innovation, from highly distributed forms where it's just part of everyone's job to very centralized and arm's-length innovation hubs or even outsourced innovation via startups. You can combine different approaches to create your own approach.
• You may or may not have a formal innovation team, but if you do, their role is to facilitate innovation – not lead it. Innovation is most effective when it is led by the business.
• There are many tools and methodologies you can use to facilitate innovation. Choose the one (or combination) that best suits your needs.

Select the right model

There is no one right way to pursue innovation, but some methods are better than others for specific situations and goals. Consider your existing culture, your innovation goals, and your budget when selecting the right methodology for your innovation.

Use the right methodologies to support different stages of your innovation process

Adapted from Niklaus Gerber via Medium, 2022

Methodologies are most useful when they are aligned with the goals of the innovation organization.

For example, design thinking tends to be excellent for earlier innovation planning, while Agile can allow for faster implementation and launch of initiatives later in the process.

Consider combining two or more methodologies to create a custom approach that best suits your organization's capabilities and goals.

Sample methodologies

A robust innovation methodology ensures that the process for developing, prioritizing, selecting, implementing, and measuring initiatives is aligned with the results you are hoping to achieve.

Different types of problems (drivers for innovation) may necessitate different methodologies, or a combination of methodologies.

Hackathon: An event which brings people together to solve a well-defined problem.

Design Thinking: Creative approach that focuses on understanding the needs of users.

Lean Startup: Emphasizes rapid experimentation in order to validate business hypotheses.

Design Sprint: Five-day process for answering business questions via design, prototyping, and testing.

Agile: Iterative design process that emphasizes project management and retrospectives.

Three Horizons: Framework that looks at opportunities on three different time horizons.

Innovation Ambition Matrix: Helps organizations categorize projects as part of the core offering, an adjacent offering, or completely new.

Global Innovation Management: A process of identifying, developing and implementing new ideas, products, services, or processes using alternative thinking.

Blue Ocean Strategy: A methodology that helps organizations identify untapped market space and create new markets via unique value propositions.

Activity 2.2 Design your innovation model

1-2 hours

1. Think about the following factors which influence the design of your innovation practice:
   1. Existing organizational culture
   2. Available funding to support innovation
   3. Type of innovation you are targeting
2. Review the innovation approaches, and identify which approach is most suitable for your situation. Note why this approach was selected.
3. Review the innovation methodologies and research those of interest. Select two to five methodologies to use for your innovation practice.
4. Document your decisions in the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Understanding of your mandate and existing culture

Output

• Innovation approach
• Selected methodologies

Materials

• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO
• Innovation team

2.3 Build your core innovation capabilities

Develop the skills, knowledge, and experience to facilitate successful innovation.

• Depending on the approach you selected in step 2.2, you may or may not require a dedicated innovation team. If you do, use the job descriptions and sample organization charts to build it. If not, focus on developing key capabilities which are needed to facilitate innovation.
• Diversity is key for successful innovation – ensure your team (formal or otherwise) includes diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
• Use your guiding principles when hiring and training your team.
• Focus on three core roles: evangelists, enablers, and experts.

Focus on three key roles when building your innovation team

Types of roles will depend on the purpose and size of the innovation team.

You don't need to grow them all internally. Consider partnering with vendors and other organizations to build capabilities.

Evangelists

Visionaries who inspire, support, and facilitate innovation across the business. Their responsibilities are to drive the culture of innovation.

Key skills and knowledge:

• Strong communication skills
• Relationship-building
• Consensus-building
• Collaboration
• Growth mindset

Sample titles:

• CINO
• Chief Transformation Officer
• Chief Digital Officer
• Innovation Lead
• Business Relationship Manager

Enablers

Translate ideas into tangible business initiatives, including assisting with business cases and developing performance metrics.

Key skills and knowledge:

• Critical thinking skills
• Business knowledge
• Facilitation skills
• Consensus-building
• Relationship-building

Sample titles:

• Product Owner
• Design Thinking Lead
• Data Scientist
• Business Analyst
• Human Factors Engineer
• Digital Marketing Specialist

Experts

Provide expertise in product design, delivery and management, and responsible for supporting and executing on pilot projects.

Key skills and knowledge:

• Project management skills
• Technical expertise
• Familiarity with emerging technologies
• Analytical skills
• Problem-solving skills

Sample titles:

• Product Manager
• Scrum Master/Agile Coach
• Product Engineer/DevOps
• Product Designer
• Emerging tech experts

Sample innovation team structure (large enterprise)

Visualize the whole value delivery process end-to-end to help identify the types of roles, resources, and capabilities required. These capabilities can be sourced internally (i.e. grow and hire internally) or through collaboration with centers of excellence, commercial partners, etc.

Streamline your process by downloading Info-Tech's job description templates:

• Chief Innovation Officer
• Chief Digital Officer
• Innovation Lead
• Business Relationship Manager
• Product Owner
• Business Analyst
• Scrum Master
• Project Manager

Activity 2.3 Build your innovation team

2-3 hours

1. Review your work from the previous activities as well as the organizational structure and the job description templates.
2. Start a list with two columns: currently have and needed. Start listing some of the key roles and capabilities from earlier in this step, categorizing them appropriately.
3. If you are using an organizational structure for your innovation process, start to frame out the structure and roles for your team.
4. Develop a list of roles you need to hire, and the key capabilities you need from candidates. Using the job descriptions, write job postings for each role.
5. Record your work in the appropriate section of the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Previous work
• Info-Tech job description templates

Output

• List of capabilities required
• Org chart
• Job postings for required roles

Materials

• Note-taking capability
• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• CINO

Related Info-Tech Research

Fix Your IT Culture

• Promote psychological safety and growth mindset within your organization.
• Develop the organizational behaviors that lead to innovation.

Improve IT Team Effectiveness

• Address behaviors, processes, and cultural factors which impact team effectiveness.
• Grow the team's ability to address challenges and navigate volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments.

Master Organizational Change Management Practices

• Transformation and change are increasingly becoming the new normal. While this normality may help make people more open to change in general, specific changes still need to be planned, communicated, and managed. Agility and continuous improvement are good but can degenerate into volatility if change isn't managed properly.

Phase 3: Build Your Practice

Define your innovation process, streamline pilot projects, and scale for success.

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

• Build the methodologies needed to elicit ideas from the business.
• Develop criteria to evaluate and prioritize ideas for piloting.
• Define your pilot program methodologies and processes, including criteria to assess and compare the success of pilot projects.
• Conduct an end-of-year program retrospective to evaluate the success of your innovation program.

This phase involves the following participants:

• CINO
• Innovation team

Case study

INDUSTRY: Government
SOURCE: Interview

Confidential US government agency

The business applications group at this government agency strongly believes that innovation is key to progress and has instituted a formal innovation program as part of their agile operations. The group uses a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) with 2-week sprints and a 12-week program cycle.

To support innovation across the business unit, the last sprint of each cycle is dedicated toward innovation and teams do not commit to any other during these two weeks. At the end of each innovation sprint, ideas are presented to leadership and the valuable ones were either implemented initially or were given time in the next cycle of sprints for further development. This has resulted in a more innovative culture across the practice.

Results

There have been several successful innovations since this process began. Notably, the agency had previously purchased a robotic process automation platform which was only being used for a few specific applications. One team used their innovation sprint to expand the use cases for this solution and save nearly 10,000 hours of effort.

Standard 12-week Program Cycle

Design your innovation operating model to maximize value and learning opportunities

Pilots are an iterative process which brings together innovators and business teams to test and evaluate ideas.

Your operating model should include several steps including ideation, validation, evaluation and prioritization, piloting, and a retrospective which follows the pilot. Use the example on this slide when designing your own innovation operating model.

3.1 Build your ideation and prioritization methodologies

Engage the business to generate ideas, then prioritize based on value to the business.

• There are many ways of generating ideas, from informal discussion to formal ideation sessions or submission forms. Whatever you decide to use, make sure that you're getting the right information to evaluate ideas for prioritization.
• Use quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate ideas generated during the ideation process.
  • Quantitative metrics might include potential return on investment (ROI) or effort and resources required to implement.
  • Qualitative metrics might include alignment with the organizational strategy or the level of risk associated with the idea.

Engage the business to generate ideas

There are many ways of generating innovative ideas. Pick the methods that best suit your organization and goals.

Design Thinking
A structured approach that encourages participants to think creatively about the needs of the end user.

Ideation Workshop
A formal session that is used to understand a problem then generate potential solutions. Workshops can incorporate the other methodologies (such as brainstorming, design thinking, or mind mapping) to generate ideas.

• Define the problem
• Generate ideas
• Capture ideas
• Evaluate and prioritize
• Assign next steps

Crowdsourcing
An informal method of gathering ideas from a large group of people. This can be a great way to generate many ideas but may lack focus.

Value Proposition Canvas
A visual tool which helps to identify customer (or user) needs and design products and services that meet those needs.

Evaluate ideas and focus on those with the greatest value

Evaluation should be transparent and use both quantitative and qualitative metrics. The exact metrics used will depend on your organization and goals.

It is important to include qualitative metrics as these dimensions are better suited to evaluating highly innovative ideas and can capture important criteria like alignment with overall strategy and feasibility.

Develop 5 to 10 criteria that you can use to evaluate and prioritize ideas. Some criteria may be a pass/fail (for example, minimum ROI) and some may be comparative.

Evaluate
The first step is to evaluate ideas to determine if they meet the minimum criteria. This might include quantitative criteria like ROI as well as qualitative criteria like strategic alignment and feasibility.

Prioritize
Ideas that pass the initial evaluation should be prioritized based on additional criteria which might include quantitative criteria such as potential market size and cost to implement, and qualitative criteria such as risk, impact, and creativity.

Quantitative Metrics

Quantitative metrics are objective and easily comparable between initiatives, providing a transparent and data-driven process for evaluation and prioritization.
Examples:

• Potential market size
• ROI
• Net present value
• Payback period
• Number of users impacted
• Customer acquisition cost
• Customer lifetime value
• Breakeven analysis
• Effort required to implement
• Cost to implement

Qualitative Metrics

Qualitative metrics are less easily comparable but are equally important when it comes to evaluating ideas. These should be developed based on your organization strategy and innovation goals.
Examples:

• Strategy alignment
• Impact on users
• Uncertainty and risk
• Innovation potential
• Culture impact
• Feasibility
• Creativity and originality
• Type of innovation

Activity 3.1 Develop prioritization metrics

1-3 hours

1. Review your mandate, purpose, innovation goals and the sample prioritization and evaluation metrics.
2. Write down a list of your goals and their associated metrics, then prioritize which are the most important.
3. Determine which metrics will be used to evaluate ideas before they move on to the prioritization stage, and which metrics will be used to compare initiatives in order to determine which will receive further investment.
4. For each evaluation metric, determine the minimum threshold required for an idea to move forward. For each prioritization metric identify the definition and how it will be evaluated. Qualitative metrics may require more precise definitions than quantitative metrics.
5. Enter your metrics into the Initiative Prioritization Template.

Input

• Innovation mandate
• Innovation goals
• Sample metrics

Output

• Evaluation and prioritization metrics for ideas

Materials

• Whiteboard/Flip charts
• Innovation Program Template

Participants

• Innovation leader

Download the Initiative Prioritization Template

3.2 Build your program to pilot initiatives

Test and refine ideas through real-world pilot projects.

• The purpose of your pilot is to test and refine ideas in the real world. In order to compare pilot projects, it's important to track key performance indicators throughout the pilot. Measurements should be useful and comparable.
• Innovation facilitators are responsible for supporting pilot projects, including designing the pilot, setting up metrics, tracking outcomes, and facilitating retrospectives.
• Pilots generally follow an Agile methodology where ideas may be refined as the pilot proceeds, and the process iterates until either the idea is discarded or it has been refined into an initiative which can be scaled.
• Expect that most pilots will fail the first time, and many will fail completely. This is not a loss; lessons learned from the retrospective can be used to improve the process and later pilots.

Use pilot projects to test and refine initiatives before scaling to the rest of the organization

"Learning is as powerful as the outcome." – Brett Trelfa, CIO, Arkansas Blue Cross

1. Clearly define the goals and objectives of the pilot project. Goals and objectives ensure that the pilot stays on track and can be measured.
2. Your pilot group should include a variety of participants with diverse perspectives and skill sets, in order to gather unique insights.
3. Continuously track the progress of the pilot project. Regularly identify areas of improvement and implement changes as necessary to refine ideas.
4. Regularly elicit feedback from participants and iterate in order to improve the final innovation. Not all pilots will be successful, but every failure can help refine future solutions.
5. Consider scalability. If the pilot project is successful, it should be scalable and the lessons learned should be implemented in the larger organization.

Sample pilot metrics

Metrics are used to validate and test pilot projects to ensure they deliver value. This is an important step before scaling to the rest of the organization.

Adoption: How many end users have adopted the pilot solution?

Utilization: Is the solution getting utilized?

Support Requests: How many support requests have there been since the pilot was initiated?

Value: Is the pilot delivering on the value that it proposed? For example, time savings.

Feasibility: Has the feasibility of the solution changed since it was first proposed?

Satisfaction: Focus groups or surveys can provide feedback on user/customer satisfaction.

A/B Testing: Compare different methods, products or services.

Info-Tech Insight

Ensure standard core metrics are used across all pilot projects so that outcomes can be compared. Additional metrics may be used to refine and test hypotheses through the pilot process.

Activity 3.2 Build your program to pilot initiatives

1-2 hours

1. Gather the innovation team and review your mandate, purpose, goals, and the sample innovation operating model and metrics.
2. As a group, brainstorm the steps needed from idea generation to business case. Use sticky notes if in person, or a collaboration tool if remote.
3. Determine the metrics that will be used to evaluate ideas at each decision step (for example, prior to piloting). Outline what the different decisions might be (for example, proceed, refine or discard) and what happens as a result of each decision.
4. Document your final steps and metrics in the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Innovation mandate
• Innovation goals
• Sample metrics

Output

• Pilot project methodology
• Pilot project metrics

Materials

• Innovation Program Template
• Sticky notes (in person) or digital collaboration tool (if remote)

Participants

• Innovation leader
• Innovation team

3.3 Conduct a program retrospective

Generate value from your successful pilots by scaling ideas across the organization.

• The final step in the innovation process is to scale ideas to the enterprise in order to realize the full potential.
• Keeping track of notable wins is important for showing the value of the innovation program. Track performance of initiatives that come out of the innovation program, including their financial, cultural, market, and brand impacts.
• Track the success of the innovation program itself by evaluating the number of ideas generated, the number of pilots run and the success of the pilots. Keep in mind that many failed pilots is not a failure of the program if the lessons learned were valuable.
• Complete an innovation program retrospective every 6 to 12 months in order to adjust and make any changes if necessary to improve your process.

Retrospectives should be objective, constructive, and action-oriented

A retrospective is a review of your innovation program with the aim of identifying lessons learned, areas for improvement, and opportunities for growth.

During a retrospective, the team will reflect on past experiences and use that information to inform future decision making and improve outcomes.

The goal of a retrospective is to learn from the past and use that knowledge to improve in the future.

Objective

Ensure that the retrospective is based on facts and objective data, rather than personal opinions or biases.

Constructive

Ensure that the retrospective is a positive and constructive experience, with a focus on finding solutions rather than dwelling on problems.

Action-Oriented

The retrospective should result in a clear action plan with specific steps to improve future initiatives.

Activity 3.3 Conduct a program retrospective

1-2 hours

1. Post a large piece of paper on the wall with a timeline from the last year. Include dates and a few key events, but not much more. Have participants place sticky notes in the spots to describe notable wins or milestones that they were proud of. This can be done as part of a formal meeting or asynchronously outside of meetings.
2. Bring the innovation team together and review the poster with notable wins. Do any themes emerge? How does the team feel the program is doing? Are there any changes needed?
3. Consider the metrics you use to track your innovation program success. Did the scaled projects meet their targets? Is there anything that could be refined about the innovation process?
4. Evaluate the outcomes of your innovation program. Did it meet the targets set for it? Did the goals and innovation ambitions come to fruition?
5. Complete this step every 6 to 12 months to assess the success of your program.
6. Complete the "Notable Wins" section of the Innovation Program Template.

Input

• Innovation mandate
• Innovation goals
• Sample metrics

Output

• Notable wins
• Action items for refining the innovation process

Materials

• Innovation Program Template
• Sticky notes (in person) or digital collaboration tool (if remote)

Participants

• CIO
• Innovation team
• Others who have participated in the innovation process

Related Info-Tech Research

Adopt Design Thinking in Your Organization

• A user's perspective while interacting with the products and services is very different from the organization's internal perspective while implementing and provisioning those. A design-based organization balances the two perspectives to drive user-satisfaction over end-to-end journeys.

Prototype With an Innovation Design Sprint

• Build and test a prototype in four days using Info-Tech's Innovation Design Sprint Methodology.
• Create an environment for co-creation between IT and the business.

Fund Innovation With a Minimum Viable Business Case

• Our approach guides you through effectively designing a solution, de-risking a project through impact reduction techniques, building and pitching the case for your project, and applying the business case as a mechanism to ensure that benefits are realized.

Summary of Accomplishment

Congratulations on launching your innovation program!

You have now completed your innovation strategy, covering the following topics:

• Executive Summary
• Our Purpose
• Scope and Value Proposition
• Guiding Principles
• Building an Innovative Culture
• Program Structure
• Success Metrics
• Notable Wins

If you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through an Info-Tech workshop or Guided Implementation.

Contact your account representative for more information.
workshops@infotech.com 1-888-670-8889

Related Info-Tech Research

Accelerate Digital Transformation With a Digital Factory

• Understand the foundations of good design: purpose, organizational support, and leadership.
• Understand the design of the operating model: structure and organization, management practices, culture, environment, teams, technology platforms, and meaningful metrics and KPIs.

Sustain and Grow the Maturity of Innovation in Your Enterprise

• Unlock your innovation potential by looking at your innovation projects on both a macro and micro level.
• Innovation capacity is directly linked with creativity; allow your employees' creativity to flourish using Info-Tech's positive innovation techniques.

Define Your Digital Business Strategy

• Design a strategy that applies innovation to your business model, streamline and transform processes, and make use of technologies to enhance interactions with customers and employees.
• Create a balanced roadmap that improves digital maturity and prepares you for long-term success in a digital economy.

Research Contributors and Experts

Kim Osborne Rodriguez
Research Director, CIO Advisory
Info-Tech Research Group

Kim is a professional engineer and Registered Communications Distribution Designer with over a decade of experience in management and engineering consulting spanning healthcare, higher education, and commercial sectors. She has worked on some of the largest hospital construction projects in Canada, from early visioning and IT strategy through to design, specifications, and construction administration. She brings a practical and evidence-based approach, with a track record of supporting successful projects.
Kim holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from University of Waterloo.

Joanne Lee
Principal Research Director, CIO Advisory
Info-Tech Research Group

Joanne is an executive with over 25 years of experience in digital technology and management consulting across both public and private entities from solution delivery to organizational redesign across Canada and globally.
Prior to joining Info-Tech Research Group, Joanne was a management consultant within KPMG's CIO management consulting services and the Western Canadas Digital Health Practice lead. She has held several executive roles in the industry with the most recent position as Chief Program Officer for a large $450M EHR implementation. Her expertise spans cloud strategy, organizational design, data and analytics, governance, process redesign, transformation, and PPM. She is passionate about connecting people, concepts, and capital.
Joanne holds a Master's in Business and Health Policy from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) from the University of British Columbia.

Jack Hakimian
Senior Vice President
Info-Tech Research Group

Jack has more than 25 years of technology and management consulting experience. He has served multi-billion-dollar organizations in multiple industries including Financial Services and Telecommunications. Jack also served a number of large public sector institutions.
He is a frequent speaker and panelist at technology and innovation conferences and events and holds a Master's degree in Computer Engineering as well as an MBA from the ESCP-EAP European School of Management.

Michael Tweedie
Practice Lead, CIO Strategy
Info-Tech Research Group

Mike Tweedie brings over 25 years as a technology executive. He's led several large transformation projects across core infrastructure, application, and IT services as the head of Technology at ADP Canada. He was also the Head of Engineering and Service Offerings for a large French IT services firm, focused on cloud adoption and complex ERP deployment and management.
Mike holds a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from Ryerson University.

Mike Schembri
Senior Executive Advisor
Info-Tech Research Group

Mike is the former CIO of Fuji Xerox Australia and has 20+ years' experience serving IT and wider business leadership roles. Mike has led technical and broader business service operations teams to value and growth successfully in organizations ranging from small tech startups through global IT vendors, professional service firms, and manufacturers.
Mike has passion for strategy and leadership and loves working with individuals/teams and seeing them grow.

John Leidl
Senior Director, Member Services
Info-Tech Research Group

With over 35 years of IT experience, including senior-level VP Technology and CTO leadership positions, John has a breadth of knowledge in technology innovation, business alignment, IT operations, and business transformation. John's experience extends from start-ups to corporate enterprise and spans higher education, financial services, digital marketing, and arts/entertainment.

Joe Riley
Senior Workshop Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Joe ensures our members get the most value out of their Info-Tech memberships by scoping client needs, current state and desired business outcomes, and then drawing upon his extensive experience, certifications, and degrees (MBA, MS Ops/Org Mgt, BS Eng/Sci, ITIL, PMP, Security+, etc.) to facilitate our client's achievement of desired and aspirational business outcomes. A true advocate of ITSM, Joe approaches technology and technology practices as a tool and enabler of people, core business, and competitive advantage activities.

Denis Goulet
Senior Workshop Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Denis is a transformational leader and experienced strategist who has worked with 100+ organizations to develop their digital, technology, and governance strategies.
He has held positions as CIO, Chief Administrative Office (City Manager), General Manager, Vice President of Engineering, and Management Consultant, specializing in enterprise and technology strategy.

Cole Cioran
Managing Partner
Info-Tech Research Group

I knew I wanted to build great applications that would delight their users. I did that over and over. Along the way I also discovered that it takes great teams to deliver great applications. Technology only solves problems when people, processes, and organizations change as well. This helped me go from writing software to advising some of the largest organizations in the world on how to how to build a digital delivery umbrella of Product, Agile, and DevOps and create exceptional products and services powered by technology.

Carlene McCubbin
Research Lead, CIO Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

During her tenure at Info-Tech, Carlene has led the development of Info-Tech's Organization and Leadership practice and worked with multiple clients to leverage the methodologies by creating custom programs to fit each organization's needs.
Before joining Info-Tech, Carlene received her Master of Communications Management from McGill University, where she studied development of internal and external communications, government relations, and change management.

Isabelle Hertanto
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Isabelle Hertanto has over 15 years of experience delivering specialized IT services to the security and intelligence community. As a former federal officer for Public Safety Canada, Isabelle trained and led teams on data exploitation and digital surveillance operations in support of Canadian national security investigations. Since transitioning into the private sector, Isabelle has held senior management and consulting roles across a variety of industry sectors, including retail, construction, energy, healthcare, and the broader Canadian public sector.

Hans Eckman
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Hans Eckman is a business transformation leader helping organizations connect business strategy and innovation to operational excellence. He supports Info-Tech members in SDLC optimization, Agile and DevOps implementation, CoE/CoP creation, innovation program development, application delivery, and leadership development. Hans is based out of Atlanta, Georgia.

Valence Howden
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

With 30 years of IT experience in the public and private sector, Valence has developed experience in many Information Management and Technology domains, with a particular focus in the areas of Service Management, Enterprise and IT Governance, Development and Execution of Strategy, Risk Management, Metrics Design and Process Design, and Implementation and Improvement. Prior to joining Info-Tech, he served in technical and client-facing roles at Bell Canada and CGI Group Inc., as well as managing the design, integration, and implementation of services and processes in the Ontario Public Sector.

Clayton Gillett
Managing Partner
Info-Tech Research Group

Clayton Gillett is a Managing Partner for Info-Tech, providing technology management advisory services to healthcare clients. Clayton joined Info-Tech with more than 28 years of experience in health care information technology. He has held senior IT leadership roles at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and OCHIN, as well as advisory or consulting roles at ECG Management Consultants and Gartner.

Donna Bales
Principal Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Donna Bales is a Principal Research Director in the CIO Practice at Info-Tech Research Group specializing in research and advisory services in IT risk, governance, and compliance. She brings over 25 years of experience in strategic consulting and product development and has a history of success in leading complex, multi-stakeholder industry initiatives.

Igor Ikonnikov
Research Director
Info-Tech Research Group

Igor Ikonnikov is a Research and Advisory Director in the Data and Analytics practice. Igor has extensive experience in strategy formation and execution in the information management domain, including master data management, data governance, knowledge management, enterprise content management, big data, and analytics.
Igor has an MBA from the Ted Rogers School of Management (Toronto, Canada) with a specialization in Management of Technology and Innovation.

Research Contributors and Experts

Michael Newcity
Chief Innovation Officer
ArcBest

Kevin Yoder
Vice President, Innovation
ArcBest

Gary Boyd
Vice President, Information Systems & Digital Transformation
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Brett Trelfa
Chief Information Officer
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Kristen Wilson-Jones
Chief Technology & Product Officer
Medcurio

Note: additional contributors did not wish to be identified

Bibliography

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Arpajian, Scott. "Five Reasons Why Innovation Fails" Forbes Magazine. 4 June 2019. Accessed 31 Jan. 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/06/04/five-reasons-why-innovation-fails/?sh=234e618914c6
Baldwin, John & Gellatly, Guy. "Innovation Capabilities: The Knowledge Capital Behind the Survival and Growth of Firms" Statistics Canada. Sept. 2006. Accessed 30 Jan. 2023. https://www.bdc.ca/fr/documents/other/innovation_capabilities_en.pdf
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Manage Your Chromebooks and MacBooks

Financial constraints, strategy, and your user base dictate the need for Chromebooks and MacBooks – now you have to manage them in your environment.

Analyst Perspective

Managing MacBooks and Chromebooks is similar to managing Windows devices in many ways and different in others. The tools have many common features, yet they struggle to achieve the same goals.

Until recently, Windows devices dominated the workplace globally. Computing devices were also rare in many industries such as education. Administrators and administrative staff may have used Windows-based devices, but Chromebooks were not yet in use. Most universities and colleges were Windows-based in offices with some flavor of Unix in other areas, and Apple devices were gaining some popularity in certain circles.

That is a stark contrast compared to today, where Chromebooks dominate the classrooms and MacBooks and Chromebooks are making significant inroads into the enterprise environment. MacBooks are also a common sight on many university campuses. There is no doubt that while Windows may still be the dominant player, it is far from the only one in town.

Now that Chromebooks and MacBooks are a notable, if not significant, part of the education and enterprise environments, they must be afforded the same considerations as Windows devices in those environments when it comes to management. The good news is that there is no lack of available solutions for managing these devices, and the endpoint management landscape is continually evolving and improving.

P.J. Ryan
Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

• You modernized your end-user computing strategy and now have Windows 10 devices as well as MacBooks.
• Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and desktop as a service (DaaS) are becoming popular. Chromebooks would be ideal as a low-cost interface into DaaS for your employees.
• You are responsible for the management of all the new Chromebooks in your educational district.
• Windows is no longer the only option. MacBooks and Chromebooks are justified, but now you have to manage them.

Common Obstacles

• Endpoint management solutions typically do a great job at managing one category of devices, like Windows or MacBooks, but they struggle to fully manage alternative endpoints.
• Multiple solutions to manage multiple devices will result in multiple dashboards. A single view would be better.
• One solution may not fit all, but multiple solutions is not desirable either, especially if you have Windows devices, MacBooks, and Chromebooks.

Info-Tech's Approach

• Use the tools at your disposal first – don't needlessly spend money if you don't have to. Many solutions can already manage other types of devices to some degree.
• Use the integration capabilities of endpoint management tools. Many of them can integrate with each other to give you a single interface to manage multiple types of devices while taking advantage of additional functionality.
• Don't purchase capabilities you will never use. Using 80% of a less expensive tool is economically smarter than using 10% of a more expensive tool.

Info-Tech Insight

Managing end-user devices may be accomplished with a variety of solutions, but many of those solutions advocate integration with a Microsoft-friendly solution to take advantage of features such as conditional access, security functionality, and data governance.

Insight Summary

Insight 1

Google Admin Console is necessary to manage Chromebooks, but it can be paired with other tools. Implementation partnerships provide solutions to track the device lifecycle, track the repair lifecycle, sync with Google Admin Console as well as PowerSchool to provide a more complete picture of the user and device, and facilitate reminders to return the device, pay fees if necessary, pick up a device when a repair is complete, and more.

Insight 2

The Google Admin Console allows admins to follow an organizational unit (OU) structure very similar to what they may have used in Microsoft's Active Directory environment. This familiarity makes the task of administering Chromebooks easier for admins.

Insight 3

Chromebook management goes beyond securing and manipulating the device. Controls to protect the students while online, such as Safe Search and Safe Browsing, should also be implemented.

Insight 4

Most companies choose to use a dedicated MacBook management tool. Many unified endpoint management (UEM) tools can manage MacBooks to some extent, but admins tend to agree that a MacBook-focused endpoint management tool is best for MacBooks while a Windows-based endpoint management tool is best for Windows devices.

Insight 5

Some MacBook management solutions advocate integration with Windows UEM solutions to take advantage of Microsoft features such as conditional access, security functionality, and data governance. This approach can also be applied to Chromebooks.

Chromebooks

Chromebooks had a respectable share of the education market before 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged the penetration of Chromebooks in the education industry.

Chromebooks are also catching the attention of some decision makers in the enterprise environment.

"In 2018, Chromebooks represented an incredible 60 percent of all laptop or tablet devices in K-12 -- up from zero percent when the first Chromebook launched during the summer break in 2011."
– "Will Chromebooks Rule the Enterprise?" Computerworld

"Chromebooks were the best performing PC products in Q3 2020, with shipment volume increasing to a record-high 9.4 million units, up a whopping 122% year-on-year."
– Android Police

"Until the pandemic, Chrome OS' success was largely limited to U.S. schools. Demand in 2020 appears to have expanded beyond that small but critical part of the U.S. PC market."
– Geekwire

"In addition to running a huge number of Chrome Extensions and Apps at once, Chromebooks also run Android, Linux and Windows apps."
– "Will Chromebooks Rule the Enterprise?" Computerworld

Managing Chromebooks

Start with the Google Admin Console (GAC)

GAC is necessary to initially manage Chrome OS devices.

GAC gives you a centralized console that will allow you to:

• Create organizational units
• Add your Chromebook devices
• Add users
• Assign users to devices
• Create groups
• Create and assign policies
• Plus more

GAC can facilitate device management with features such as:

• Control admin permissions
• Encryption and update settings
• App deployment, screen timeout settings
• Perform a device wipe if required
• Audit user activity on a device
• Plus more

Device and user addition, group and organizational unit creation and administration, applying policies to devices and users – does all this remind you of your Active Directory environment?

GAC lets you administer users and devices with a similar approach.

Managing Chromebooks

Use Active Directory to manage Chromebooks.

• Enable Active Directory (AD) management from within GAC and you will be able to integrate your Chromebook devices with your AD environment.
• Devices will be visible in both the GAC and AD environment.
• Use Windows Group Policy to manage devices and to push policies to users and devices.
• Users can use their AD username and password to sign into Chromebook devices.
• GAC can still be used for devices that are not synced with AD.

Chromebooks can also be managed through these approved partners:

• Cisco Meraki
• Citrix XenMobile
• IBM MaaS360
• ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager Plus
• VMware Workspace ONE

Source: Google

You must be running the Chrome Enterprise Upgrade and have any licenses required by the approved partner to take advantage of this management option. The partner admin policies supersede GAC.

If you stop using the approved partner admin console to manage your devices, the polices and settings in GAC will immediately take over the devices.

Microsoft still has the market share when it comes to device sales, and many administrators are already familiar with Microsoft's Active Directory. Google took advantage of that familiarity when it designed the Google Admin Console structure for users, groups, and organizational units.

Chromebook Deployment

Chromebook deployment becomes a challenge when device quantities grow. The enrollment process can be time consuming, and every device must be enrolled before it can be used by an employee or a student. Many admins enlist their full IT teams to assist in the short term. Some vendor partners may assist with distribution options if staffing levels permit. Recent developments from Google have opened additional options for device enrollment beyond the manual enrollment approach.

Enrolling Chromebooks comes down to one of two approaches:

1. Manually enrolling one device at a time
   • Users can assist by entering some identifying details during the enrollment if permitted.
   • Some third-party solutions exist, such as USB drives to reduce repetitive keystrokes or hubs to facilitate manually enrolling multiple Chromebooks simultaneously.
2. Google's Chrome Enterprise Upgrade or the Chrome Education Upgrade
   • This allows you to let your users enroll devices after they accept the end-user license agreement.
   • You can take advantage of Google's vendor partner program and use a zero-touch deployment method where the Chromebook devices automatically receive the assigned policies, apps, and settings as soon as the device is powered on and an authorized user signs in.
   • The Enterprise Upgrade and the Education Upgrade do come with an annual cost per device, which is currently less than US$50.
   • The Enterprise and Education Upgrades come with other features as well, such as enhanced security.

Chromebooks are automatically assigned to the top-level organizational unit (OU) when enrolled. Devices can be manually moved to another OU, but admins can also create enrollment policies to place newly enrolled devices in a specific OU or have the device locate itself in the same OU as the user.

Chromebooks in Education

GAC is also used with Education-licensed devices

Most of the settings and features previously mentioned are also available for Education-licensed devices and users. Enterprise-specific features will not be available to Education licenses. (Active Directory integration with Education licenses, for example, is accomplished using a different approach)

• Groups, policies, administrative controls, app deployment and management, adding devices and users, creating organizational units, and more features are all available to Education Admins to use.

Education device policies and settings tend to focus more on protecting the students with controls such as:

• Disable incognito mode
• Disable location tracking
• Disable external storage devices
• Browser based protections such as Safe Search or Safe Browsing
• URL blocking
• Video input disable for websites
• App installation prevention, auto re-install, and app blocking
• Forced re-enrollment to your domain after a device is wiped
• Disable Guest Mode
• Restrict who can sign in
• Audit user activity on a device

When a student takes home a Chromebook assigned to them, that Chromebook may be the only computer in the household. Administrative polices and settings must take into account the fact that the device may have multiple users accessing many different sites and applications when the device is outside of the school environment.

Chromebook Management Extended

An online search for Chromebook management solutions will reveal several software solutions that augment the capabilities of the Google Admin Console. Many of these solutions are focused on the education sector and classroom and student options, although the features would be beneficial to enterprises and educational organizations alike.

These solutions assist or augment Chromebook management with features such as:

• Ability to sync with Google Admin Console
• Ability to sync with student information systems, such as PowerSchool
• Financial management, purchase details, and chargeback
• Asset lifecycle management
• 1:1 Chromebook distribution management
• Repair programs and repair process management
• Check-out/loan program management
• Device distribution/allocation management, including barcode reader integration
• Simple learning material distribution to the classroom for teachers
• Facilitate GAC bulk operations
• Manage inventory of non-IT assets such as projectors, TVs, and other educational assets
• Plus more

"There are many components to managing Chromebooks. Schools need to know which student has which device, which school has which device, and costs relating to repairs. Chromebook Management Software … facilitates these processes."
– VIZOR

MacBooks

• MacBooks are gaining popularity in the Enterprise world.
• Some admins claim MacBooks are less expensive in the long run over Windows-based PCs.
• Users claim less issues when using a MacBook, and overall, companies report increased retention rates when users are using MacBooks.

"Macs now make up 23% of endpoints in enterprises."
– ComputerWeekly.com

"When given the choice, no less than 72% of employees choose Macs over PCs."
– "5 Reasons Mac is a must," Jamf

"IBM says it is 3X more expensive to manage PCs than Macs."
– Computerworld

"74% of those who previously used a PC for work experienced fewer issues now that they use a Mac"
– "Global Survey: Mac in the Enterprise," Jamf

"When enterprise moves to Mac, staff retention rates improve by 20%. That's quite a boost! "
– "5 Reasons Mac is a must," Jamf

Managing MacBooks

Can your existing UEM keep up?

Many Windows unified endpoint management (UEM) tools can manage MacBooks, but most companies choose to use a dedicated MacBook management tool.

• UEM tools that are primarily Windows focused do not typically go deep enough into the management capabilities of non-Windows devices.
• Admins have noted limitations when it comes to using Windows UEM tools, and reasons they prefer a dedicated MacBook management solution include:
  • Easier to use
• Faster response times when deploying settings and policies
• Better control over notification settings and lock screen settings.
• Easier Apple Business Manager (ABM) integration and provisioning.
• Note that not every UEM will have the same limitations or advantages. Functionality is different between vendor products.

Info-Tech Insight

Most Windows UEM tools are constantly improving, and it is only a matter of time before they rival many of the dedicated MacBook management tools out there.

Admins tend to agree that a Windows UEM is best for Windows while an Apple-based UEM is best for Apple devices.

Managing MacBooks

The market for "MacBook-first" management solutions includes a variety of players of varying ages such as:

• Jamf
• Kandji
• Mosyle
• SimpleMDM
• Others

MacBook-focused management tools can provide features such as:

• Encryption and update settings
• App deployment and lifecycle management
• Remote device wipe, scan, shutdown, restart, and lock
• Zero touch deployment and support
• Location tracking
• Browser content filtering
• Enable, hide/block, or disable built-in features
• Configure Wi-Fi, VPN, and certificate-based settings
• Centralized dashboard with device and app listings as well as individual details
• Data restrictions
• Plus more

Unified endpoint management (UEM) solutions that can provide MacBook management to some degree include (but are not limited to):

• Intune
• Ivanti
• Endpoint Central
• WorkspaceOne

Dedicated solutions advocate integration with UEM solutions to take advantage of conditional access, security functionality, and data governance features.

Jamf and Microsoft entered into a collaboration several years ago with the intention of making the MacBook management process easier and more secure.

Microsoft Intune and Jamf Pro: Better together to manage and secure Macs
Microsoft Conditional Access with Jamf Pro ensures that company data is only accessed by trusted users, on trusted devices, using trusted apps. Jamf extends this Enterprise Mobile + Security (EMS) functionality to Mac, iPhone and iPad.
– "Microsoft Intune and Jamf Pro," Jamf

Endpoint Management Selection Tool
Activity

There are many solutions available to manage end-user devices, and they come with a long list of options and features. Clarify your needs and define your requirements before you purchase another endpoint management tool. Don't purchase capabilities that you may never use.

Use the Endpoint Management Selection Tool to identify your desired endpoint solution features and compare vendor solution functionality based on your desired features.

1. List out the desired features you want in an endpoint solution for your devices and record those features in the first column. Use the features provided, or add your own and edit or delete the existing ones if necessary.
2. List your selected endpoint management solution vendors in each of the columns in place of "Vendor 1," "Vendor 2," etc.
3. Fill out the spreadsheet by changing the corresponding desired feature cell under each vendor to a "yes" or "no" based on your findings while investigating each vendor solution.
4. When you have finished your investigation, review your spreadsheet to compare the various offerings and pros and cons of each vendor.
5. Select your endpoint management solution.

Related Info-Tech Research

Modernize and Transform Your End-User Computing Strategy
This project helps support the workforce of the future by answering the following questions: What types of computing devices, provisioning models, and operating systems should be offered to end users? How will IT support devices? What are the policies and governance surrounding how devices are used? What actions are we taking and when? How do end-user devices support larger corporate priorities and strategies?

Best Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Software 2022 | SoftwareReviews
Compare and evaluate unified endpoint management vendors using the most in-depth and unbiased buyer reports available. Download free comprehensive 40+ page reports to select the best unified endpoint management software for your organization.

Best Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) Software 2022 | (softwarereviews.com)
Compare and evaluate enterprise mobile management vendors using the most in-depth and unbiased buyer reports available. Download free comprehensive 40+ page reports to select the best enterprise mobile management software for your organization.

Bibliography

Bridge, Tom. "Macs in the enterprise – what you need to know". Computerweekly.com, TechTarget. 27 May 2022. Accessed 12 Aug. 2022.
Copley-Woods, Haddayr. "5 reasons Mac is a must in the enterprise". Jamf.com, Jamf. 28 June 2022. Accessed 16 Aug. 2022.
Duke, Kent. "Chromebook sales skyrocketed in Q3 2020 with online education fueling demand." androidpolice.com, Android Police. 16 Nov 2020. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.
Elgin, Mike. "Will Chromebooks Rule the Enterprise? (5 Reasons They May)". Computerworld.com, Computerworld. 30 Aug 2019. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.
Evans, Jonny. "IBM says it is 3X more expensive to manage PCs than Macs". Computerworld.com, Computerworld. 19 Oct 2016. Accessed 23 Aug. 2022.
"Global Survey: Mac in the Enterprise". Jamf.com, Jamf. Accessed 16 Aug. 2022.
"How to Manage Chromebooks Like a Pro." Vizor.cloud, VIZOR. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.
"Manage Chrome OS Devices with EMM Console". support.google.com, Google. Accessed 16 Aug. 2022.
Protalinski, Emil. "Chromebooks outsold Macs worldwide in 2020, cutting into Windows market share". Geekwire.com, Geekwire. 16 Feb 2021. Accessed 22 Aug. 2022.
Smith, Sean. "Microsoft Intune and Jamf Pro: Better together to manage and secure Macs". Jamf.com, Jamf. 20 April 2022. Accessed 16 Aug. 2022.

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