Dr. Ken Russell knows first-hand that the responsibilities of CIOs are evolving. With decades of experience developing and implementing organizational change, the fractional CIO is not only aware that innovation has become essential for organizations, but is what CIOs will have to understand for the next generation. Chief Information Officers are transitioning into Chief Innovation Officers, becoming the leaders who will need to navigate through organizational structures. It’ll be important for these leaders to juggle between what Russell shares as “C” words: conversations, collaborations and community. Innovation officers will need to be able to have conversations with leaders and have those conversations turn into collaborations. In turn, these collaborations can turn into commitments and these commitments can turn into communities. The next-generation CIO will be more of a strategist that fleshes out ideas and be able to put them into motion.

COVID-19 is strongly impacting everyone’s daily routines, especially in the workforce.

With shelter-in-place put into effect worldwide, a large majority of the world’s workforce is either forced to work remotely, take strong precautions onsite or, unfortunately, be laid off. Net Health’s CIO Jason “JJ” James knows now, more than ever, that organizations need to have a mobile-ready workforce to not just maintain operations but for the health, morale and security of everyone involved. Although of high importance for organizations, remote workforces can bring challenges including cybercrime, security and delivery. JJ shares his knowledge of CIO leadership in a crisis, the top priorities in IT currently and more on this week’s episode.

Change is evident, especially in an age where technology is constantly advancing.

Although change may lead to positive advancements, increased efficiency and productivity, change itself affects those around it. Anjana Harve, CIO of Hill-Rom, knows the impacts of change and how it can affect its organization, especially when it comes to tech improvements. To Harve, there are key learnings in leadership when it comes to being a change catalyst for a team or organization. In order for a transition to go as smoothly as possible, a few tactics including constant communication, setting expectations and more need to be done. Harve shares these tactics along with more valuable information, on this episode.

Key Takeaways:

While bringing in new technology may have a lot of positives and an impact on improving things, at the end of the day, it does involve change for people.

When introducing change, it’s important to speak to your audience in their own words and from their own organization.

If you want someone to do something effectively, you have to let them come up with their own idea or version of what you’re trying to achieve.

Cloud computing is increasing - quickly.

With the continuous growth of software and hardware spend in IT, the demand for SaaS, PaaS and IaaS in company workload is important now more than ever. Dan Kelly, Senior Partner of The Negotiator Guru, knows the attention and concerns that go into cloud computing as well as how to convince companies into making the right decisions for their IT spend. In a previous webinar with computer software company, Flexera, Kelly shares his knowledge of understanding the entire SaaS machine, the rules and responsibilities of sales teams, how to understand and leverage business desks and the negotiation opportunities for new versus existing customers when it comes to buying this software.

Studies show that by 2025 the United States will have 1 million jobs in technology, but not enough people to fill positions.

A low amount of students are studying tech industries, but Helen Norris, VP and CIO of Chapman University, is encouraging this to change. Playing many roles in IT including a systems administrator, programmer, network engineer and working on a service desk, her experience has prepared her to become the CIO she is today.

With demographics showing that the U.S. doesn’t have enough people working in technical fields, Norris knows that the nation will be at a disadvantage if more people don’t enter into STEM. Norris shares the importance of STEM in higher education, her thoughts on women in tech and why education is so important in order to fill spots that may be missing in career advancement.

Key Takeaways:

Studies show that by 2025 the U.S. will have 1 million jobs unable to be filled because there won’t be enough people in the tech field.

There hasn’t been a huge shift in the number of women in tech: some teams will still only have one to no women.

A high percentage of students at universities are women but men take up the majority of STEM fields.

Dennis Hodges, the seasoned CIO of Inteva Products, knows what it takes for successful divestitures and acquisitions. With more than 10 years of experience in oil and gas, chemicals and automotive tier 1 supplies, Hodges expertise has helped major brands and start-ups leverage communications and collaboration through digital transformation. Hodges shares his impressive background, successful divestitures, working with startups and more, in this week’s episode.

Key Takeaways:

Inteva Products is a $1.5B spin-off of Delphi,and is a leader in Latches, Window Regulators, Motors, and Interiors.

Knowing your business well and what will be difficult to transition is key for successful divestitures and acquisitions.

CIOs shouldn’t tie themselves to technology because it continuously changes.

The most successful people know how to manage their time.

Knowing how time management can make or break success, Tim Campos birth Woven, a powerful scheduling tool that uses AI to help its customers become more efficient and effective. Formerly the CIO and VP of Information Technology at Facebook, Campos co-founded Woven from his personal frustrations with calendar management while at the well-known company. Campos is passionate about helping people and companies spend time on what matters most to them. With the continuing advancement of AI and machine learning, time management is easier for everyone.

There are big digital moves happening in the veterinary industry, with cloud storage becoming more of a demand.

Electronic Vet (eVet), a secure, cloud-based platform for the creation of show-compliant vaccination records and other medical documents, was created by Barb Blasko after a personal experience she had with missing medical records while competitively racing horses. After learning the need for more efficient, digital storage for these types of documents, she took action. Jumping from the emergency room to entrepreneurship, Blasko has helped vets create a better workflow that still meets full HIPAA compliance with eVet.

The nature of business is changing in digital transformation and it’s time for CIOs and other leaders to take notice. An organization must define how it creates value in order to strategically plan digital business strategies. Jim Maclennan, a strategic consultant on digital transformation, shares how he helps organizations understand the concepts of digital business and how to put them into action.

A significant amount of businesses plan to increase their IT spend within the next year, especially when it comes to cloud computing. Unfortunately, a high amount of waste is involved in that spending.

It’s time for CPOs, CIOs and CFOs to realize that money going into cloud cost optimization is growing significantly and leaders may need to get a handle of this growth to avoid wasting unnecessary cash. Kim Weins, VP of Cloud Strategy at Flexera, shares how organizations should be using cloud with their businesses and how often they should be planning their roadmaps on this week’s episode.