2020 Technology landscape

In less than a decade the technology landscape CIOs are responsible for will have altered dramatically. Many of the trends that will be commonplace in 2020 are already beginning to take shape with bold CIOs in forward thinking organisations already revising their strategies. Thankfully the clouds will have cleared as hype gives way to genuine implementation. A whole range of technology will be replaced by a utility approach. Outsourcing and cloud will merge to simply become a relationship between the CIO’s organisation and a supplier. With this, the focus will change away from technology and towards delivery. CIOs will strike strategic relationships with organisations that understand the importance of delivering business results. Therefore the technology landscape that a CIO will be responsible for will include managed technology services, outsourced business processesand on-demand services at critical times. The CIO role will evolve to become increasingly operational across the organisation, with the CIO sitting with various business partners to select the best option for the result required. A CIO’s team will be highly technology and business literate as it takes requests from the CIO and organisation and ensures the best service and deal are put in place for the required outcome. End user interaction with technology will continue to change as tabletand telephony devices merge and the workforce continues its trend towards increased mobility. Younger workers will expect to be tethered to the net at all times on all devices, whilst other members of the workforce may struggle with an inability to disconnect and concentrate. The above was written after a PR agency requested our views on what the technology landscape would be like in 2020. As you can imagine, this view is based on the information we gather from interviewing CIOs from a wide range of organisations, and in many ways, I’m indebted to them for sharing their vision.