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CIO Journal
CIO Insights and Analysis from Deloitte

Technology Forces Collide to Transform the Enterprise



Through their controlled collision, these nine forces can unleash innovation, likely dominating enterprise IT, business, and markets to an even greater extent collectively than they have as individual technologies. For example, the factory of the future needs to bring together next-generation ERP, machine learning, embedded sensors across the production floor, augmented reality (AR) training, mobile visualization and predictive flow scheduling, secure networks, and cloud-based tools for managing workflow across the supply chain. There is also the need to retool workers and cross-pollinate between traditional IT and operational technology roles and skills. Meaningful transformation is imperative, and the collective effect of these forces can guide CIOs and their organizations in their pursuit.

Established but Still Evolving


Digital experience. This increasingly describes the ways organizations, customers, employees, and constituents engage and carry out transactions in digital environments. For example, health plans are deploying new tools to simplify claims preauthorization, with cognitive algorithms, robotic process automation (RPA), and predictive analytics tools approving many rote use cases. Leading fast food and convenience restaurants are adopting mobile apps for remote ordering, transforming not only customer experience but also retail, preparation, and delivery operations. Along the way, human-centered design and user engagement have become centerpieces of business strategy.


Analytics. Organizations increasingly use data to generate insights about customers, citizens, markets, operations, and other facets of the enterprise. Analytics engines, algorithms, and supporting infrastructure have become more powerful, and the data available for analysis has grown exponentially. For many companies, remaining competitive can depend on their ability to harness analytics. It will be important to answer such questions as: How can we leverage machine logs and sensor data, still images, video, audio, biometric information, government research, and sentiment from social feeds? And how do we tap into data from outside sources?

Cloud. Some companies still consider the cloud simply an extension of data center or infrastructure strategy. Others are asking such questions as: Can we create cloud services to monetize assets and transactional IP? Can we use cloud-native services to build our products faster? How do we use the cloud to process more data and create new products? How can it simplify operating complexity as we enter new global marketplaces? Could a new cloud back office create an engine for M&A agility? Are there advantageous tax implications to using the cloud? In response to such questions, cloud providers will likely emphasize their offerings’ potential to enable long-term growth and innovation.

Rapidly Approaching



Blockchain. Blockchain adoption is expanding as organizations better understand its transformational value within and across industries. Large enterprises and consortia are deploying enterprise solutions to confront complexities in traversing multiple disparate databases. Concerns about the scalability and cost performance of transaction processing are being addressed, and enterprise tools are emerging to manage and maintain high-performance blockchain stacks. When further breakthroughs occur, expect blockchain to open doors for business process reengineering across industries, functions, and geographies.


Foundations for the Future

The business of technology. Technology leaders have grappled with reorganizing their IT organizations and are increasingly reorienting technology teams to address product and business results. In this new model, business and technology teams work together to deliver outcomes faster without sacrificing scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability. This approach requires much more than CIOs or CTOs making changes to their own teams—it’s a CEO- and board-level discussion that helps companies re-engineer IT and integrate technology into enterprisewide strategy.

Core modernization. Companies with significant investments in legacy systems can make them a foundation for disruptive innovation. The effort involves creating a road map for building a next-generation ERP core that incorporates digital, the cloud, and other macro forces. CIOs can choose from several modernization strategies: replatform, revitalize, remediate, replace, and retrench. Some may upgrade and reuse legacy assets; others may replace them with cloud-based technologies. Determining which assets speak to pressing business concerns, such as the ability to respond to market conditions and address evolving customer needs, can help with prioritizing tech investments.



These nine macro forces can help organizations unlock their priorities for any given line of business, function, agency, or country—enabling leaders to confidently chart a path forward and capture the benefits of their combined effects. As such, they will likely continue to shape technology strategies and dominate investment priorities in the years ahead.



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