| | MAY 202419CIOReviewWill my company really be left in the dust if we do not have a strategy around emerging technologies?Emerging technologies have caused major industry disruptions and organizations have been left behind for failing to keep up. Emerging technologies have the power to enable creation of new lines of business, improve customer engagement and increase operational efficiency. Your company's competitors have these same opportunities. To mitigate the risk of being `left behind', visionary technologists must partner with other key business stakeholders to enable the review and adoption of emerging technologies. How can we enable the company's evaluation of emerging technologies?At a high level, a company's overall strategy may be to position itself as a trailblazer (risk taker), an early adopter (content to be second), late majority (more skeptical) or a laggard (last to try new technology). Sometimes, a company may adopt an overall general strategy but there should be a process to address the consideration of emerging technology when there is a business advantage or even just appetite for learning. Setting aside enterprise resources for emerging technology policy creation, governance, research, proof of concept development, and pilot programs will allow emerging technologies to be evaluated in a structured manner. The resources made available should include budget, time, environments, subject matter expertise, and training. Who are key stakeholders? With Artificial Intelligence (AI) becoming mainstream as well as other disruptive technologies such as digital trust, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) already upon us, it is imperative that organizations identify the key stakeholders who will assess emerging technologies. Key stakeholders may include representatives from: Sales, Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, HR, IT, Finance, Legal, Supply Chain. Without a shared approach, individual departments may not have the skills to conduct the appropriate due diligence to ensure implementation success. Isolated decisions may increase the company's overall risk and even create regulatory exposure. What are some of the other risks with emerging technologies?The Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) strategy must include all stakeholders. A good GRC strategy enables the company to consistently manage business objectives within an acceptable risk level. Emerging technologies may need to be handled separately from core business technologies in the GRC strategy due to the higher risk of security vulnerabilities, regulatory and legal uncertainty, lack of standards and unproven reliability. In general, emerging technologies should be isolated to protect the current infrastructure from unforeseen threats. A proven, measured, well planned approach should be taken when connecting the emerging technology to existing infrastructure. Think of it as a pipeline. As an emerging technology advances through the process toward adoption, it is critical that all mainstream oversight is in place. Techniques can be introduced to manage implementation risks such as including a resource to play "devil's advocate" to uncover anything that could go wrong. As with the core business, the company needs to balance investment for risk reduction with the investment for business enablement. Decisions in this area should be based on the company's risk tolerance.How can the emerging technologies process align with the core business and technology strategy?When considering the core business, understanding which business functions use specific technologies will help leaders at all levels make informed decisions aligning the company's technology investment with corporate strategic objectives. If the technology investment is in support of an existing or new business differentiator, then strategic decisions will revolve around supporting those distinctions. If the technology investment is not in support of a business differentiator, the investment goal may be to spend as little as possible while ensuring that the business needs are met. What is the Key Take Away?Companies must make strategic, informed decisions about emerging technologies. As technologists, we can be the catalyst enabling our companies to evaluate emerging technologies supporting strategic and operational opportunities. The time for technologists to engage is now. Emerging technologies have the power to enable the creation of new lines of business, improve customer engagement, and increase operational efficiencyThis article is based on an interview between CIO Review and Tina Lampe.
< Page 9 | Page 11 >