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The Nexus of Forces Changes Everything:
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2012 Keynote
Published: 10 January 2013
Analyst(s): David A. Willis, Peter Sondergaard, Richard Hunter, Mary Mesaglio, David W. Cearley,
Anthony J. Bradley, Chris Howard, Terry Hicks
The Nexus of Forces present CIOs with extraordinary challenges and
opportunities. Using insights from the 2012 Gartner Symposium IT/Xpo
keynote, CIOs and other IT leaders can harness the nexus and redefine their
roles in a rapidly changing world.
Key Findings
■
The converging and mutually reinforcing social, cultural and technological factors Gartner has
identified as the Nexus of Forces — cloud, mobility, social and information — are driving a
radical power shift away from the enterprise and toward the individual.
■
The nexus will create intense demand for IT skills, but the existing labor force will not come
close to meeting that demand. This shortage will benefit managers and leaders who hire
proactively ahead of demand, as well as third-party service providers that recognize the trend
early.
■
Collaboration and communication enabled by the nexus make it possible for enterprises to
improve decision making; enhance customer, client and employee engagement; and embrace
innovative and profitable new business models.
■
Internal IT organizations and many major IT players risk being displaced by the nexus.
Recommendations
■
Recognize that every business budget is now an IT budget because business is becoming
increasingly digital, and more IT spending is moving outside the IT organization. CIOs must
move beyond their traditionally narrow roles as technology specialists into the emerging role of
chief digital officer.
■
Implement changes the nexus is making both necessary and possible by selectively retiring
low-impact systems and aggressively changing IT cost structures.
■
Prepare for extraordinary new security challenges, driven in large measure by exposures
created by the nexus and increasingly rigorous regulatory compliance requirements.
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■
Use gamification techniques to drive engagement by employees, customers and clients.
Table of Contents
Strategic Planning Assumptions............................................................................................................. 2
Analysis.................................................................................................................................................. 3
The Nexus of Forces Is Changing Everything.................................................................................... 3
Cloud Computing....................................................................................................................... 4
Mobile........................................................................................................................................ 6
Behavioral Changes: The Social Phenomenon............................................................................8
Information................................................................................................................................. 8
How the Nexus of Forces Is Changing Everything...........................................................................10
Security.................................................................................................................................... 10
Regulation................................................................................................................................ 11
Gamification............................................................................................................................. 12
Enterprises That Are Already Harnessing the Nexus of Forces........................................................ 12
Home Plus — The Next Step Forward in Retail.........................................................................13
Cemex — Innovation From the Inside Out.................................................................................13
International Speedway Corp. — Driving Greater Engagement................................................. 13
An Extraordinary Time to Be a CIO................................................................................................. 14
Recommended Reading.......................................................................................................................15
List of Figures
Figure 1. Growth of Services in the Cloud...............................................................................................5
Figure 2. Growth of Mobile Devices by Device Type, Worldwide............................................................. 6
Figure 3. Growth of the Security Market............................................................................................... 11
Strategic Planning Assumptions
By 2014, market consolidation will displace up to 20% of the top 100 IT services providers.
By 2016, two-thirds of the workforce will own smartphones, and 40% of the workforce will be
mobile.
By 2016, employees will purchase half of all non-PC devices used in business; by the end of the
decade, they will buy half of all devices.
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By 2016, wearable smart electronics, in shoes, "tattoos" and accessories will be a $10 billion
industry. New form factors will emerge: Twenty percent of mobile devices will be worn and not
carried.
By 2015, 10 of the world's enterprises will each spend more than $1 billion on social media.
During the next four years, 30% of large enterprises will hire chief digital officers (CDOs) responsible
for curating, managing and governing information.
By 2015, 4.4 million jobs will be created around big data — but there will be only enough talent to fill
one-third of those jobs. In addition, there will be more jobs created outside of IT as a secondary
effect of big data.
By 2015, 85% of marketing organizations will outsource analysis of big data to third parties.
By 2015, critical IT products and services will be subject to government regulation.
By 2015, 40% of Global 1000 enterprises will use gamification as the primary mechanism to
transform business operations.
Analysis
The Nexus of Forces Is Changing Everything
The 2012 Gartner Symposium/ITxpo (held in Orlando, Florida; Barcelona, Spain; Sao Paulo, Brazil;
Gold Coast, Australia; Cape Town, South Africa; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan) focused on the
complex, intricately interrelated and increasingly converging social, cultural and technical factors
that Gartner has identified as the Nexus of Forces. These factors — cloud computing, mobile
communications, social networking and strategic use of information — are innovative and disruptive
on their own. But together, they are reshaping enterprises and entire industries. They are changing
the nature of business and even how individuals think of business, finance and money itself. Most of
all, the nexus is shifting the balance of power away from enterprises and empowering the individual
— the customer, the client, the employee.
The keynote address at Symposium/ITxpo 2012 focused on the steps enterprises and their IT
organizations should take to survive and thrive in this new environment. Unquestionably, the nexus
presents extraordinary challenges for the IT professional, especially in a time of continuing
economic difficulty and uncertainty. Economic recovery remains slow or nonexistent — particularly
in Europe — and IT budgets face severe constraints. But the nexus also presents important
opportunities for IT.
Gartner research shows clearly that business leaders recognize IT represents a critical component
in their efforts to remain competitive in a difficult, volatile and fast-changing environment — and is
often the major competitive differentiator in an industry. In Gartner's 2012 CEO Survey, 85% of the
senior executives who responded believed global economic conditions would negatively impact
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their business. But 40% intended to increase their IT investments, and 80% could name an
enterprise using IT-related innovation for competitive advantage (see "View from the Top: 2012
Gartner CEO Survey"). And boards of directors worldwide are increasingly pressuring CEOs to
make IT central to their business strategies.
A comprehensive understanding of the Nexus of Forces — and especially how the forces interact
with one another to empower the individual — will be crucial to business and IT success in the next
few years.
The components of the Nexus of Forces are described in the following sections.
Cloud Computing
Cloud is the "carrier" for all the other elements of the nexus. Mobile devices and platforms will come
and go; social networking creates a flood of confusing, and sometimes contradictory, data; and
information often overwhelms. But the cloud is the permanent foundation of the nexus and its
impact on the enterprise.
The cloud is already proving extremely attractive to enterprise business leaders. The software as a
service (SaaS) delivery model is being adopted by 80% of enterprises. Business leaders are often
drawn to the cloud model by the promise of operational efficiencies, especially the cost savings that
are — at least in theory — made possible by the cloud's economies of scale.
But the cloud is not just about cost cutting. Enterprises are increasingly drawn to the cloud by new
capabilities, especially big data, which is emerging as the true killer app for the cloud. For
consumer-facing organizations, understanding user contextual information leads to dramatic
improvements in customer loyalty and revenue. It also means that different business units will buy
these external services. For an example, see "Case Study: Enriching Marketing Campaigns With
Context Pays Off for Vodafone Spain."
IT organizations do not, however, share the business's enthusiasm for the cloud, and strategic
adoption of cloud computing by IT remains low. IT simply does not trust the cloud, and there are
many reasons why. IT has concerns about security, as well as system and data integrity. IT
recognizes that many applications should be rewritten for the cloud. There are clear differences
between what business is doing with the cloud and what IT embraces. And IT is rightly worried
about being disintermediated by the cloud.
Large enterprises have the resources to focus on building private clouds, and some are developing
hybrid models that combine internal capabilities with services they believe they can trust in the
public cloud. But whatever approach the business takes to cloud computing, it is increasingly
happening outside the IT organization. Technology spending has always existed outside IT — in
"stealth mode." Now it is out in the open.
Another trend is evident: Technology is embedded in almost every device sold, from consumer
goods, to vehicles, to heavy machinery, as well as in factory floors and roads, and digital marketing.
It's also found in traditional IT services being sold to business leaders directly through the cloud,
without significant IT involvement in evaluation, selection or implementation.
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On average, digital technologies dominate more than half (58%) of business operations. But that
number tells only part of the story. Enterprises are experienced in applying technology to
operations, but, in general, they are novices in using digital technology to generate new sources of
value and revenue, a process we call digitalization. The average firm attributes only 27% of revenue
to digital assets (see "Digitalizing the Business").
The IT organization is not the only player that should worry about cloud computing. Between 2011
and 2016, the market for business process services in the cloud will double to almost $45 billion
(see Figure 1 and "Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2010-2016, 4Q12 Update").
This dynamic creates an intensely competitive market for services, with extremely tight profit
margins, and will displace IT organizations and major IT services providers that fail to recognize
their role must change.
Cloud computing will likely attract investments for creation of industrialized delivery models and
offerings driven by economies of scale and standardization of services. This will reduce the unit cost
to run business IT services. Service providers that do not make these investments risk
disintermediation.
Figure 1. Growth of Services in the Cloud
Billions of U.S. Dollars
250
200
Infrastructure as a Service
Management and Security Services
150
Software as a Service
Platform as a Service
100
Business Process Services
Total Cloud
50
0
2016
Source: Gartner (January 2013)
Prediction: By 2014, market consolidation will displace up to 20% of the top 100 IT services
providers.
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Mobile
Breathtaking growth in worldwide usage of mobile devices — by consumers, for business purposes
and by consumers for business purposes — is forcing radical changes in enterprise practices and
processes. Smartphones, tablets and notebook computers are everywhere and are rapidly
displacing desktop computers as the business devices of choice (see Figure 2).
In the future, we will see even more small, lightweight, instant-on devices, known as "ultramobile"
systems, attracting more users, and — importantly — more of their time. The line between
traditional PCs and ultramobile/tablet/smartphone form factors will blur as hybrid and convertible
systems come to the market. Marketing organizations, business process thought leaders and other
strategists must recognize this trend as a new opportunity.
Figure 2. Growth of Mobile Devices by Device Type, Worldwide
Billions of Devices
3.0
2.5
2.0
Tablets
Ultramobiles
Notebook PCs
1.5
Smartphones
Desktop PCs
1.0
0.5
0.0
2011
2016
Source: Gartner (January 2013)
Prediction: By 2016, two-thirds of the workforce will own smartphones, and 40% of the workforce
will be mobile.
User behavior and expectations are changing fast, forcing enterprises to change in response.
Mobile is about computing at the time and place of the individual's choosing. It is becoming the
point of entry for all applications, delivering personalized, contextual experiences — producing
"magic moments" for the customer.
Inside businesses, productivity is driving the mobile transformation. Mobile communication and
collaboration is making employees more productive, dramatically cutting process flows and
fundamentally changing application delivery. It is also changing the Internet itself from a Web (and
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Web browser)-centric model to one in which ecosystems compete via mobile apps. Gartner
estimates that by 2016, there will be more than 300 billion app downloads every year. And the major
vendors of monolithic business suites will struggle to develop mobile apps that are usable,
affordable and secure.
In 2006, the keyboard-based, email-centric mobile device epitomized the mobile worker's standard
business tool. Now, the standard is the touchscreen, instant-on, general-computing device — with
the advent of media tablets like the iPad and other emerging form factors. Productivity is particularly
driving the adoption of tablets, which continue to shake up the business world. No longer simply
toys for elite staff, tablets are becoming pervasive for all mobile workers — not just the BlackBerry
warriors, but any worker in the field. As a result, some CIOs are now placing orders for tens of
thousands of iPads at a time. Gartner estimates, for example, that in less than two years, 20% of
sales organizations will use iPads as their field sales forces' primary mobile platform. And by 2018,
70% of mobile workers will use a tablet or a hybrid device with tablet characteristics.
Prediction: By 2016, employees will purchase half of all non-PC devices used in business; by the
end of the decade, they will buy half of all devices.
Crucially, the IT asset ownership model is changing, too. Employees want the same degree of
performance from their business devices that they have come to expect from their personal
devices, and the only way for them to get that performance is to choose devices themselves. This
means the IT organization should be in the business of delivering applications and data securely to
devices the enterprise does not own, and that will appear in a wide variety of new forms: hybrids,
convertibles and other emerging endpoints. What is emerging is a new contract with employees and
business partners — where end users take on more responsibility and more risk, associated with
using their personal devices (see our special report "iPad and Beyond: Bring Your Own Device").
Prediction: By 2016, wearable smart electronics in shoes, tattoos and accessories will emerge as a
$10 billion industry. New form factors will emerge: Twenty percent of mobile devices will be worn
and not carried.
It is absolutely critical that this be done now because the next wave of mobile is coming — with the
physical world becoming digital. The Internet of Things is rapidly becoming the Internet of
Everything as the cost of sensors and electronic tags fall. By the end of the decade, more than 30
billion devices will be permanently connected and another 150 billion intermittently connected (see
"Innovation Insight: The 'Internet of Everything' Innovation Will Transform Business").
And soon, the cost of not monitoring physical operations — from power plants to consumer
appliances — will be more than the cost of monitoring. Software spending resulting from the
proliferation of smart operational technology is already increasing by 25% per year.
Mobile, like the other nexus forces, does not operate in isolation. All the forces are interdependent:
In particular, the cloud is critical to making mobile secure and scalable. By 2016, the leading
consumer-facing mobile applications will exploit cloud services to support more than 50 million
concurrent workers in a single region. Pervasive use of mobile devices will lead to an explosion in
data and a resulting surge in real-time analytics. And, of course, mobile communication is at the
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heart of the social, cultural and technological phenomenon we now recognize as the social
commons.
Behavioral Changes: The Social Phenomenon
The social commons — complex, shifting and unpredictable collaborative communities of interest
that lie beyond enterprise control — is driving a radical empowerment of the individual in relation to
the enterprise. Social computing is crucial to establishing a sense of purpose and motivating
individuals and organizations to act. It is moving into the core of business operations, and changing
the fundamentals of business management. It is redefining operational models, moving from
hierarchical structures and defined teams into communities that cross all organizational boundaries.
During the next three years, the dominant consumer social networks will reach their growth limits as
Facebook, Orkut, Tencent QQ and other social networks capture most of their target audience —
and yet social computing will become even more important to business. Enterprises now clearly
recognize they must make substantial investments in social media, and they must also establish
social media as a strategic business discipline.
Prediction: By 2015, 10 organizations will each spend more than $1 billion on social media.
Social computing is moving into two distinct areas: The first is specialization. In this area, growth
will be generated by emerging leaders who understand their communities, and particularly their
vertical-specific requirements and expectations. The second is social communication and
collaboration embedded in established business applications or exposed for developers to build
upon. This aspect of the social commons will be easier for disruptive, innovative vendors like
Workday or salesforce.com to exploit than for well-established vendors, partly because of the
burden of legacy support.
The social commons will not, of course, be an entirely positive development for enterprises.
Deceptive practices will emerge, with paid reviews and ratings making up 10% to 15% of all social
media reviews by 2015. Gartner estimates that by the middle of the decade, 30% of social media
posts will be automated. In this environment, enterprises that want to influence their customers,
clients and other constituencies — and protect their brands and reputations — will need an
extremely high degree of social media competency. And they will particularly need capabilities in
the fourth of the Nexus of Forces: information.
Information
The explosive growth of data — in volume, velocity, and number and range of its sources —
presents enterprises with an extraordinary array of new opportunities. Big data can enable business
leaders to transform decision making, discover new insights, optimize their businesses and drive
innovation in their industries. Gartner research and client interactions make it clear there is
overwhelming demand in this area. Eighty percent of CEOs and other business leaders can name a
piece of critical information they need from IT but do not have yet. For insight into the information
areas that most interest CEOs, see "CEO Survey 2012: The One Piece of Information the CEO
Needs."
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One key indicator of the importance of information: Enterprises that are serious about collecting,
managing and deploying information are being rewarded by the financial markets. Informationcentric companies have double the average market-to-book value of their peers. Innovators in some
areas, for example, in medical devices, are also turning the data they collect into information that
can be sold in the cloud. In essence, they are turning a product into a service, and, simultaneously,
creating new customer relationships — and that represents a true business breakthrough.
Information innovation is about looking ahead — not at what has already happened or what is
happening now, but at what will happen next. The future's leading enterprises will be distinguished
by the quality of their predictive algorithms and by the big data skills they can develop, attract and
retain. This tectonic shift presents CIOs will both challenges and opportunities. And as IT pervades
every aspect of business — and as every business budget becomes an IT budget — the CIO's role
will inevitably change.
Prediction: During the next four years, 30% of large enterprises will hire chief digital officers (CDOs)
responsible for curating, managing and governing information.
The CDO's role — which may be assumed by CIOs who have the necessary skill sets or by newly
recruited specialists — will be crucial for many enterprises. For the aspiring CDO, there is more and
more opportunity for IT to add value in the front office beyond transactional mid- and back-office
processes; furthermore, digitization of business drives the need for a digital business strategy in the
enterprise (see "Does Your Business Need a Chief Digital Officer?").
But the need for information-related skills and resources does not end with the CDO. Many other
professionals will be needed, including data scientists and experts in nonrelational DBMS
technologies, to fill the millions of job openings we expect to be created in the coming years.
Demand will make data experts a scarce and extremely valuable commodity.
Prediction: By 2015, 4.4 million jobs will be created around big data — but there will be only
enough talent in the industry to fill one-third of them.
This change is driving markets. Companies selling big data software are projected to grow their
revenue to $8.8 billion in 2015, from $4.3 billion in 2012. The demand for big data services will be
even more significant, with spending projected to reach $36.2 billion in 2015 (see "Big Data Drives
Rapid Changes in Infrastructure and $232 Billion in IT Spending Through 2016").
In the longer term, Gartner views big data as a true paradigm shift — a complete movement away
from today's approach of accumulating, managing and deploying information as a mere resource,
toward one that values information the same as any other enterprise asset. This will lead to massive
investment in new technologies, and especially in data services related to big data. Many
enterprises and internal organizations, for example, marketing operations, will have no choice but to
address their talent shortfall with external sources.
Prediction: By 2015, 85% of marketing organizations will outsource analysis of big data to the
cloud.
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How the Nexus of Forces Is Changing Everything
The most important reality of the nexus is that it is not a single force, but rather the complex
interaction and mutual reinforcement of four separate but converging forces. The nexus is already
changing business fundamentals and creating new business models. One particularly instructive
example is the financial services industry, in which the nexus is actually changing the future of
money. Enabled by the nexus, nontraditional money creation and exchange will bring 125 million
new people into the global economy by 2015 (see "Top Industry Predicts 2013: The Nexus of
Forces Will Drive Massive Transformation in Many Industries").
The intersection of the four forces is creating new mechanisms for transporting money and new
ways of creating wealth. New payment systems, such as PayPal Here, Google Wallet and Square,
and gift networks, barter networks and crowdfunding models (in which money is data and data is
money) are changing our view of what money is.
The changes resulting from the Nexus of Forces are redefining the financial services industry — and
doing it faster than the industry's established segments can react. Many traditional financial
institutions are already being substantially disintermediated by the nexus — and similar changes are
occurring across many other industries and areas that cross industry verticals. These changes most
affect the following areas.
Security
The "opening up" of enterprise systems, information assets and business processes brought about
by social networking, exposure to the cloud, mobile devices (especially consumer-owned devices
and big data) brings with it a whole new set of security and privacy concerns (see Figure 3).
Enterprise IT and information security organizations that, in the past, spent most of their time
worrying about semirandom, largely unskilled virus and worm outbreaks, must now concern
themselves with highly sophisticated financially and even politically motivated attacks. These
attacks have already impacted everything from nuclear power plants, to missile control systems, to
automated teller machines. As hacktivists, organized crime and nation states increase the pressure,
enterprise security must evolve, particularly to counter the increasing risk from insider threats and
targeted attacks.
Security in the time of the nexus, however, is not just about targeted attacks. Enterprises today
must also worry about data leakage, especially since so many employees are bringing their own
consumer-grade devices to work and using external systems, such as social networks, for business
purposes. Whether through malice or simple complacency on the part of employees who lack
security awareness, or reputational attacks via social media, the enterprise's most sensitive data
and its public reputation are at risk. All these critical elements must be protected, and in ways that
do not obstruct productivity and competitiveness by placing the enterprise in a "security freeze."
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Figure 3. Growth of the Security Market
Billions of U.S. Dollars
100
90
80
70
Cloud Security Services
60
Security Services
50
Security Software
40
Security Infrastructure
30
20
10
0
2011
2016
Source: Gartner (January 2013)
For all these reasons, an already large security market is about to become significantly bigger,
growing by 56% during the next five years. Spending on cloud security alone will almost triple
during the same period (see "Forecast: Security Infrastructure, Worldwide, 2010-2016, 2Q12").
Healthcare providers — responding in large measure to rigorous regulatory requirements — are
often doubling or even tripling their compliance budgets.
Regulation
Prediction: By 2015, critical IT products and services will be subject to government regulation.
Dramatic increases in government regulation are another important and unavoidable consequence
of the Nexus of Forces. CIOs, IT organizations and information security organizations should
anticipate and plan for the coming wave of government regulation and other types of intervention. IT
is now so pervasive in every aspect of business operations that every business budget is, in effect,
an IT budget. This means that regulations from the "analog" world (for example, the regulatory
frameworks that govern healthcare and critical public infrastructure) will become increasingly
"digitized."
Legislation and associated regulations are even now making their way through governmental
entities worldwide. CIOs and other enterprise stakeholders, including compliance officers and legal
organizations, have no choice but to watch the existing and proposed regulatory requirements in
every region their enterprises have business operations, and ensure that their practices align
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completely with those often-contradictory regulations. One thing is clear: Regulatory compliance
can only become more complex. But if you address your own security and privacy needs, most
organizations will automatically be ready for the new regulations.
Security has always been an arms race. Now, the battle must be waged differently. Don't fight using
old strategies. And you may need new leaders.
For more information, see "The Business Case for a Chief Information Security Officer" and "2013
Planning Guide: Security and Risk Management."
Gamification
One of the most important tasks for any business or IT leader — and as we have established, those
two roles are increasingly blurred — is ensuring employee engagement. The age of mobile and
social communication makes employee engagement crucial to the success of any enterprise. Yet
employees can be shockingly disengaged from their work. One promising and fast-growing way to
improve engagement, not just of employees, but also of customers and clients, is through
gamification: use of game mechanics in nonentertainment environments to motivate user behavioral
change.
Prediction: By 2015, 40% of Global 1000 enterprises will use gamification as the primary
mechanism to transform business operations.
CIOs tasked with innovating, engaging people or solving problems should consider turning the
challenge — any challenge — into a game. This is not necessarily a simple undertaking because
creating games that individuals will want to participate in on a scale large enough to create
worthwhile business outcomes is very difficult. But it is extremely important (see "Gamification
2020: What Is the Future of Gamification?").
The most crucial lesson here is that IT decisions and investments will no longer be driven by
vendors, or even by the IT organization. They will be driven by individuals — customers, clients,
employees and others who may not even have a direct connection to the enterprise.
Enterprises That Are Already Harnessing the Nexus of Forces
Unquestionably, the Nexus of Forces presents extraordinary, almost unprecedented, challenges for
enterprises. Those enterprises that fail to recognize the ways the world has changed around them
will lose competitive edge, and many will simply disappear. Even major IT vendors and service
providers, including powerhouse vendors like Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, will
struggle in this new environment. But others, both established enterprises and new competitive
entrants, will survive and thrive. Some enterprises are already taking the leadership position to
survive and thrive in the world of the nexus, and they offer a glimpse of new challenges and
opportunities — and new ways to address them.
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Home Plus — The Next Step Forward in Retail
Tesco's South Korean grocery retailer, Home Plus, has implemented life-size pictures of retail
shelves in subway stations. Passengers can scan two-dimensional bar codes to add items to their
digital shopping carts for home delivery. This type of scenario is neither physical commerce nor fully
digital. It is a model that reaches out to meet the customer, and it is already the most popular
shopping app in South Korea, with downloads approaching 900,000. A retailing CIO can easily
imagine how this approach could rapidly disintermediate existing business models. So what is the
CIO's appropriate response?
■
Try to imagine how the nexus will displace your business: A useful exercise is to pretend
you are an entrepreneur trying to displace your own enterprise. Imagine that you do not have to
deal with your legacy technologies, bureaucratic processes or existing products or services.
How would the nexus enable you to better serve your market? And how would you do it? The
opportunities you identify are likely to be net new opportunities.
■
Identify the nexus-oriented skills you have in place today — and the skills you will need
tomorrow. The nexus demands new skill sets, from design expertise to data analysis
capabilities, that most enterprises do not have in place today. And those skills will be
increasingly difficult to find, internally or externally, as demand far outstrips supply.
Cemex — Innovation From the Inside Out
Cemex, a leading supplier of building materials, such as cement, based in Mexico, created an
internal collaboration platform called Shift. And the name is no accident: Cemex is using the Nexus
of Forces — cloud services enabling social interaction with mobile access as a way to improve
information flows — as a means to fundamentally shift how the company does business. Shift uses
smartphone-enabled, anytime/anywhere communication; some of the best elements from popular
social networking services; and communities of interest that form to take on challenges common to
locations, markets and skill sets. It is also moving projects forward with shorter cycle times, faster
time to market and real-time process improvements. And Shift is doing it all by empowering the
individual. So what can other CIOs do to make their enterprises more like Cemex?
■
Lead the mindset change. New technologies, implemented in innovative ways, hold great
promise, but they also threaten traditional management models and formal policies. Support the
new reality by breaking down unproductive silos and freeing employees — through new
technologies and processes — to collaborate and communicate productively with one another.
■
Use the nexus to find new leaders. One of the key elements of the Shift project is using
collaboration and communication technologies to identify the right person, with the right skills,
at the right time. In a time of intense competition for talent, no CIO can afford to overlook
promising future leaders, who may just be waiting for an opportunity.
International Speedway Corp. — Driving Greater Engagement
International Speedway Corp. (ISC), a leading promoter of motorsports-themed entertainment in the
U.S., is using the nexus to drive intense engagement with its customer base. The company uses
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online games and social networks, which have grown to include 1.5 million members, to help race
attendees understand rules and strategies, and to enhance their enjoyment of ISC events. It all
happens in real time, with the fans and their mobile devices in the stands on race day. Just as
importantly, ISC uses the masses of data received from race fans to improve the next race
experience. For ISC, IT is all about driving greater engagement — and that is as important for
employees as it is for customers and clients.
■
Recognize that engagement — by the customer, client or employee — is crucial in the
nexus world. There is nothing you should take more seriously than customer engagement. In
this context, we define the customer as an individual who has an impact on your enterprise,
from the customer and client to the employee. Set an ambitious plan to improve customer
engagement. If you cannot clearly explain how every project in your discretionary budget affects
the end user, cancel it.
■
Do not be afraid to make the customer — and employee — experience fun. Creativity is
driven by competition, conflict and play.
For more information, see "Unlocking the Power of a Great Marketing-IT Relationship."
An Extraordinary Time to Be a CIO
The Nexus of Forces is unquestionably presenting exceptionally difficult challenges for CIOs and
traditional IT organizations: IT spending is rapidly moving outside of IT, devices used for business
purposes are increasingly employee-owned, business processes are taking place in the cloud and
social networks, and information is overwhelming in volume and complexity. But the nexus also
offers extraordinary opportunities for forward-thinking CIOs. In fact, this may actually be the best
possible time to be the right kind of CIO.
CEOs and other senior business executives have made it clear that they recognize IT is central to
competitiveness and success, and they are willing to make substantial investments in the right kind
of IT and IT leadership. Business leaders want IT to unleash the nexus to differentiate the business.
This is not about upgrading legacy systems or automating the back office. The nexus holds the
promise of new revenue streams, missions and possibilities. But none of this will come by simply
creating a "digital copy" of an existing business model. The CIO can deliver real-world business
value by digitizing the interface between the enterprise and the individual, and creating whole new
business opportunities in the process — but that requires a different kind of CIO.
The CIO's role is changing fast, and CIOs and future CIOs must embrace the new reality. The IT
organization needs close, collaborative working relationships far beyond IT — with marketing, R&D,
manufacturing, HR and even the legal department — to make the nexus work for them and their
enterprises. And that requires CIO skills that extend far beyond IT.
CEOs and other senior business leaders clearly understand this, and value diverse experience in IT
leadership. Gartner research shows that one in four current CIOs never had a job in IT before
becoming CIO. IT was once the exclusive domain of technologists, and limited both the CIO's
opportunities for advancement and the IT organization's opportunities to contribute positively to the
business. But this "silicon ceiling" is cracking, and a CIO who sits at the heart of the business is
well-positioned to move into other, more expansive leadership roles.
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More than one-third of CEOs see their CIOs taking on a business leadership role outside of IT. As
noted above, the most exciting of those roles is likely to be the CDO. Increasingly, the CDO will be
where the enterprise meets the customer, revenue generation happens and enterprise success is
defined. And the CIO who understands and harnesses the Nexus of Forces — who can make the
cloud, social commons, mobile communications and information come together to drive
competitiveness and engagement — is in the perfect position to play that role.
Recommended Reading
Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription.
"Gartner's Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users, 2013 and Beyond: Balancing
Economics, Risk, Opportunity and Innovation"
"Top Industry Predicts 2013: The Nexus of Forces Will Drive Massive Transformation in Many
Industries"
More on This Topic
This is part of two in-depth collections of research. See the collections:
■
Research Roundup for Web Computing, 2012
■
Life Cycle Guide to ERP Research, Update 2013
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