2016 cio agenda: a canada perspective · continuing trends that we saw in the prior year (see...

G00298831

2016 CIO Agenda: A Canada PerspectivePublished: 19 February 2016

Analyst(s): Chris Howard, Adam McCormac, John Rath-Wilson

As digitalization intensifies, the 2016 Gartner CIO Survey shows thatenterprises must rethink business models, delivery mechanisms, talent andleadership to thrive. CIOs in Canada continue their journey toward digitalbusiness, but face difficult funding choices in the near future.

Key Findings■ CIOs in Canada are on par with their global peers regarding budget expectations, with 85%

anticipating flat or modest increases. However, we are already seeing signs of revised forecastsas the Canadian economy is dragged down by depressed crude prices and devaluation of thedollar.

■ CIOs in Canada are prioritizing spending on renovating their technical cores, creating afoundation for new digital business outcomes.

■ Security and cyber risk (72%) are identified as a greater threat than new competitive andcommercial pressure (28%), but CIOs in Canada are not prioritizing spending on security asmuch as their global peers.

■ A significant minority (47%) of CIOs in Canada report that they are embracing bimodal ITconcepts, but need to expand their use of Mode 2 disciplines to achieve success.

Recommendations■ Continue spending on modernization and cost containment, given the need to innovate under

increasingly restrictive economic conditions.

■ Employ more high-value Mode 2 disciplines in the pursuit of bimodal IT.

■ Innovate with talent and adaptive sourcing, including engaging with the vibrant Canadianstartup community.

■ Expand priorities in 2016 to include digital transformation. Beyond investment in digitalchannels, true transformative success will come with novel processes, relationships andbusiness models, not just modernization of the existing set of capabilities.

Table of Contents

Survey Objective.................................................................................................................................... 3

Data Insights.......................................................................................................................................... 3

Platform Thinking for Digital Business............................................................................................... 3

Spending and Investment Priorities...................................................................................................5

The Threat Landscape....................................................................................................................10

CIOs in Canada Are Building Bimodal Platforms............................................................................. 14

CIOs in Canada Must Build a Talent Platform..................................................................................18

CIOs in Canada Are Positioned to Lead Digital Transformation....................................................... 21

Methodology.................................................................................................................................. 26

Gartner Recommended Reading.......................................................................................................... 27

List of Tables

Table 1. Top Three Spending Priorities, Canadian Public vs. Private Sector.............................................8

Table 2. Anticipated Spending With Government Breakout, 2016 vs. 2015.............................................9

Table 3. Biggest Talent Gaps................................................................................................................ 20

List of Figures

Figure 1. Digital Visionaries Understand the Power of Platforms Throughout Their Business................... 4

Figure 2. Expected Digital Business Outcomes.......................................................................................5

Figure 3. Top Three Spending Priorities for New/Discretionary Funding...................................................6

Figure 4. Anticipated Spending, 2016 vs. 2015...................................................................................... 9

Figure 5. The Threat Landscape — New Competition vs. Security........................................................10

Figure 6. The Threat Landscape — Digital Competition From Within vs. From Outside......................... 11

Figure 7. The Threat Landscape — Seeing vs. Executing on Necessary Change.................................. 12

Figure 8. Companies Are Increasingly Facing Digitally Driven Ethical Issues.......................................... 13

Figure 9. Preparedness for Dealing With Ethical Issues......................................................................... 14

Figure 10. CIOs Are Building Out Bimodal Platforms.............................................................................15

Figure 11. Bimodal Disciplines at Work.................................................................................................16

Figure 12. The Most Impactful Bimodal Tactics Are Not the Most Used (Global Data)........................... 17

Figure 13. Inhibitors to Bimodal Adoption............................................................................................. 18

Figure 14. Biggest Barriers to CIO Objectives....................................................................................... 19

Figure 15. CIOs Are Stepping Up to Lead Digital Transformation and Innovation...................................22

of 28 Gartner, Inc. | G00298831

Figure 16. CIO Influence and Power..................................................................................................... 23

Figure 17. What Do You Love Most About Your Role?.......................................................................... 24

Figure 18. What Do You Dislike Most About Your Role?........................................................................25

Figure 19. Leadership Development Is Critical but Must Be the Right Kind........................................... 26

Survey ObjectiveThe purpose of the 2016 Gartner CIO Survey is to help CIOs and other IT leaders set and validatetheir management agendas for the coming year. To achieve this, the 2016 Gartner CIO Surveygathered data from 2,944 CIO respondents in 84 countries and across major industries,representing approximately $11 trillion in revenue and public-sector budgets and $250 billion in ITspending. Respondents came from a range of industries including manufacturing, government,professional services, banking, energy/utilities, education, insurance, retail, healthcare,transportation, communications and media.

Data InsightsEvery year, Gartner conducts a survey to expose the key priorities, opportunities and threats facingCIOs across the globe. Of the total respondents to the 2016 Gartner CIO Survey, 117 came fromCanada. This research compares the responses of CIOs in Canada with those of the global CIOs.Global responses and analysis are published in "Building the Digital Platform: The 2016 CIOAgenda."

In contrast to global responses, where government CIOs represent 13% of responses, Canadiangovernment represents 23% of the responses of CIOs in Canada. Where appropriate — but notimmediately evident in the data or chart summary — public-sector influences, as well as regionaleconomic variances within Canada and in comparison to the U.S., are referenced in the analysis.

Platform Thinking for Digital Business

The 2016 Gartner CIO Survey reveals that leading businesses must shift to platform thinking, interms of their business models, delivery mechanisms, talent and leadership, in order to survive andthrive. This report focuses on the innovative approaches needed to succeed in delivery, talent andleadership in a digital business world, with special emphasis on how CIOs in Canada viewthemselves and their organizations. Figure 1 shows the focus of the survey and this report in termsof platforms.

Gartner, Inc. | G00298831 of 28

Figure 1. Digital Visionaries Understand the Power of Platforms Throughout Their Business

Source: Gartner (February 2016)

Continuing trends that we saw in the prior year (see "2015 CIO Agenda: A Canada Perspective"),CIOs in Canada are prioritizing spending on the lower layers of the model shown in Figure 1. Theresponses show prioritized investment in ERP, legacy modernization and technical delivery — theelements that shore up the foundations of digital business. This is coupled with a strong emphasison cost reduction. There is less emphasis on the talent and leadership platforms, but growingacknowledgment of the need to deliver business value through new channels and processes(elements of the business/value platform). CIOs in Canada and their organizations are coming at theplatform stack from both below and above, and they are lagging the rest of the world inacknowledging leadership and talent requirements.

CIOs were asked to indicate their top three expected outcomes or impacts of digital on theirenterprise. The responses from CIOs in Canada varied from those of the rest of the world (seeFigure 2). Increased operational efficiency and cost reduction is a major priority for CIOs in Canada,a reflection of continued cost pressures and technology consolidation in both public and privatesectors. In industry, this is driven by manufacturing competition, the decreasing value of theCanadian dollar, reduced demand from China, and the deep implications of depressed crude and

other mineral resource markets.1

The declining Canadian dollar value translates to higher operational costs across the board — butparticularly for IT, where most materials, equipment and contracts are based on U.S. dollars. Given


budgets are expected to be more or less the same, CIO are under more pressure to manageoperating costs.

The drop in oil prices has had a ripple effect on support services in the surrounding economy, dueto reduced production activity, and is being felt more in the west than in the east. Easternmanufacturing will actually benefit from both lower energy costs and a lower dollar, with reducedproduction costs and better positioning of exports on the world market.

In the public sector — especially federal government, the major priority is consolidation: of datacenters, telecom and email systems. Whereas CIOs outside Canada see the creation of newmarkets as a significant digital business outcome, CIOs in Canada are more focused on improvingoperational outcomes. As we shall see, the broad focus on "doing the same things in a digital way"is common around the world: most CIOs have not pushed into true digital transformation yet, norare they taking full advantage of digital business and innovation techniques. Pushing into digitalrequires investment in new skills and technologies that Canadian businesses and governmentapproach slowly. The declining economic situation has made the normally reserved Canadianbusiness environment even more cautious financially. That said, shoring up the digital foundations isa reasonable start, but there is room to do so much more. For more, see "Renovate the IT Core:Laying the Foundation for Digital Business."

Figure 2. Expected Digital Business Outcomes

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: Please choose the top three expected outcomes and/or impacts that digital represents for your enterprise.


Spending and Investment Priorities

To achieve the outcomes in Figure 2, CIOs indicated their top three spending priorities (see Figure3). CIOs in Canada are aligned with the rest of the world in many cases, with business intelligence


and analytics persisting year over year at the top of the list. A higher percentage of respondents inCanada versus the rest of the world indicated that their organizations will invest in ERP, legacymodernization and industry-specific applications, a sign that they see the need to improve thedigital foundation: renovation of the core. One troubling variance is the relatively lower number ofCIOs in Canada indicating prioritized spending on security, both overall (shown in Figure 3) and ingovernment specifically (Table 1).

Figure 3. Top Three Spending Priorities for New/Discretionary Funding

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: Please indicate the top three technology areas where your company/business unit/government or public entity will bespending the highest amount of new/discretionary funding in 2015.


Further refinement of the survey data shows that legacy modernization is the top investment priorityfor government CIOs in Canada (see Table 1), reflecting the ongoing work of centralization,standardization and shared services spearheaded by the federal Treasury Board. The Canadian


private sector is prioritizing spending on industry-specific applications more greatly than both theCanadian government and the rest of the world. Canadian industries are likely still catching up onapplication renewal projects as they replace or update systems put in place 10 or 15 years ago thatare past normal end of life.

In practice, Gartner sees that many commercial organizations are moving toward multiple managedI&O contracts, away from expensive and restrictive agreements with one or two typical players(IBM, Telus, Hewlett Packard Enterprise). The motivations for this movement are primarily cost andquality of service, although quite a few CIOs in Canada are using it as a modernization techniqueand shift toward a more bimodal, agile and digital future. From conversations with clients, Gartnergathers that this modernization approach appears to coincide with the increase of cloud offeringsfrom Workday, Salesforce and other SaaS providers — another indicator of a shift from a legacy toprogressive future. For more on ERP modernization, including use of SaaS, see "ERP Leaders MustAdapt Their Selection Methods and Processes When Executing a Postmodern ERP Strategy."

One note of caution: security spending is a lower priority for CIOs in Canada relative to the rest ofthe world, even though security and cyber-risk threats are seen as greater than competitive andcommercial threats, as we will discuss below.


Table 1. Top Three Spending Priorities, Canadian Public vs. Private Sector

Rest of World Canada — Total Canada —Government

Canada —Nongovernment

Total Respondents 2,827 117 272 90

BI/Analytics 40% 33% 33% 32%

Infrastructure and DataCenter

27% 31% 26% 32%

ERP 21% 27% 19% 29%

Cloud 25% 24% 19% 26%

Mobile 20% 24% 19% 26%

Digitalization/DigitalMarketing

21% 16% 15% 17%

Legacy Modernization 10% 16% 37% 10%

Networking, Voice andData Comms

10% 16% 19% 16%

Industry-SpecificApplications

9% 15% 7% 17%

Security 15% 11% 7% 12%

Survey question: Please indicate the top three technology areas where your company/business unit/government or public entity willbe spending the highest amount of new/discretionary funding in 2015.Note: Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding.


In terms of overall IT spending, Canada is similar to the rest of the world: spending remains staticcompared to 2015 (Figure 4). Inside that data, however, are some interesting indicators for Canadianorganizations (Table 2). Government CIOs were much more guarded than their private-sectorcounterparts: the vast majority (84%) of government CIOs projected flat to decreased IT spending,whereas 57% of nongovernment CIOs — optimistically — projected an increase.

In short, government belt tightening continues while — at the time of this survey — the privatesector projected greater spending, even compared to the rest of the world. The source of CanadianIT spending from inside IT (85%) versus outside IT (15%) is similar to the rest of the world.


Figure 4. Anticipated Spending, 2016 vs. 2015

ROW = rest of the world


Table 2. Anticipated Spending With Government Breakout, 2016 vs. 2015

Rest of World Canada — Total Canada —Government

Canada —Nongovernment

Total respondents 2,141 101 25 76

Increase 51% 47% 16% 57%

Stay the same 34% 39% 64% 30%

Decrease 15% 15% 20% 13%

Mean budget change +2% -1% -3% +2%

Note: Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding.


Throughout 2016, Gartner will be watching carefully for impact on spending, particularly in the lightof crude oil prices and overall global economic conditions. We are already seeing revisions ofoperating budgets and available capital figures, especially in Western Canada, where the


persistently low crude oil prices have severely impacted oil and gas companies, adjacent industriesand government coffers. Furthermore, the CIO survey was conducted prior to the announcement ofthe 2015 Canadian federal election, which may have changed some government perspectives in the

closing weeks of 2015. The effects of a new political climate and changing exchange rates3 on the

import/export environment will likely materialize in the next iteration of this survey.

The Threat Landscape

Based on the data so far, it is clear that CIOs in Canada are working hard to modernize theirsystems and deal with fragility in their legacy environment. This includes consolidating ERPinstances, strengthening channels and mobile access, and investing in network infrastructure. Thiswork will position Canadian organizations to accomplish business goals in a more stable, cost-effective way. This fundamental work is insufficient to meet true digital business goals, however.Competitive threats require agile approaches to solution delivery and product development.Effective use of data in real time requires mature information governance and well-defined policies.Transformation is the opportunity at hand; lack of transformation is true risk.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 display responses to threat comparisons.

Figure 5. The Threat Landscape — New Competition vs. Security

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: For each pair, choose the scenario you feel is the greater threat to your organization: new competitive and commercialthreats or security and cyber-risk threats.



While digital business focuses on capturing innovation opportunities, it has an evolving dark side:the need to adapt one's notion of threats, including the balance of threats and how to mitigatethem. From the data in Figure 5, we can see that the balance is shifting significantly. In the rest ofthe world, a very significant minority of CIOs (41%) see new commercial and competitive threats asbigger than security and cyber-risk threats. In other words, they see the need to adapt as abusiness as more urgent than the need to protect the business as it is. CIOs in Canada have notmade this shift: competitive threats are still overshadowed by security and cyber-risk threats for thevast majority. This may be part of the impetus behind legacy modernization spending and emphasison renovating the technical platform, but leaders must not let competitive and commercial threatsblossom in their blind spot.

When asked whether traditional or nontraditional competitors pose the biggest threat to business asusual (see Figure 6), respondents answered in a manner that surprisingly contrasted to the tacticaldigital focus discussed earlier. CIOs in Canada expect more competition to come from outside theirindustry from companies that have already digitally transformed. In fact, Canadian organizations aresignificantly more sensitive to this threat vector than the rest of the world. In this way, CIOs inCanada represent a more progressive view of the digital competitive landscape — but are theydoing the work to prepare for it?

Figure 6. The Threat Landscape — Digital Competition From Within vs. From Outside

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: For each pair, choose the scenario you feel is the greater threat to your organization: digitally driven competition fromtraditional industry competitors or digital-enabled companies entering your industry from other industries.



Figure 7 represents their anxiety: they see the change coming, but are worried that theirorganization won't be able to execute.

Figure 7. The Threat Landscape — Seeing vs. Executing on Necessary Change

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: For each pair, choose the scenario you feel is the greater threat to your organization: ability to see/agree to the need tochange or ability to execute on the necessary change.


One quickly growing risk for both public and private sectors comes as organizations achieve theirmodernization goals. As they modernize information infrastructure and build capabilities to useadvanced analytics in real time, ethical issues come into play regarding how that data is used. Insome cases, unethical use of data will come from bad actors, but most of the time, misuse of datais an unintended consequence. Many survey respondents tell us they have experienced digitallydriven ethical issues, and here the Canada results are similar to those of the rest of the world (Figure8). Within the Canada data, government responses indicated a higher percentage (80%) of casesinvolving an ethical question.


Figure 8. Companies Are Increasingly Facing Digitally Driven Ethical Issues

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: Has your organization faced an ethical question when dealing with the digital world, such as balancing freedom andsafety, or balancing personalization of services versus respecting customers'/citizens'/employees' privacy?


Finally, CIOs in Canada are optimistic about their preparedness to handle ethical issues (Figure 9).Let's hope that this confidence comes from experience and not just anticipation of untestedcapabilities.


Figure 9. Preparedness for Dealing With Ethical Issues

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: To what extent does your company/business unit/government or public entity have the competence to deal with thesekinds of ethical issues?


CIOs in Canada Are Building Bimodal Platforms

The majority of CIOs worldwide are embracing bimodal as a delivery platform, but CIOs in Canadaare ahead. Gartner describes bimodal as an approach to organizing and governing for a mix of fluidand rock-solid IT delivery:

■ Mode 1 (rock solid) is more linear, predictable and industrialized

■ Mode 2 (fluid) is more innovative and collaborative

Outside of Canada, 38% of CIOs are either not planning for bimodal or are unsure about itsexistence in their organization (which probably means it is not happening). In contrast, only 19% ofCIOs in Canada fall into this category. If they truly understand Mode 2, this is encouraging news forCanadian organizations. Success with bimodal will enable new types of business outcomes (forexample, the use of digital channels, as identified in Figure 2) while continuing to improveoperational efficiency and capability. As Figure 10 shows, 47% of CIOs in Canada are working inbimodal environments compared to 37% worldwide.

A caveat is worthwhile here: this data may represent aspiration instead of reality. Gartner ExecutivePartners indicate that they are not seeing such large-scale implementation of bimodal. CIOs shouldensure that their bimodal efforts are not just reskins of existing processes, or a move to the timid


middle (that is, Mode 1.5). Implement the disciplines described below, iterate, then measuresuccess of output to ensure true bimodal adoption. For best practices in bimodal implementation,see "Kick-Start Bimodal IT By Launching Mode 2."

Figure 10. CIOs Are Building Out Bimodal Platforms

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: Does your organization explicitly have two parts of its IT organization or project portfolio; one more safe, predictable andindustrialized, the other more innovative, fast and/or collaborative? Beyond just IT, would you say that the rest of your organization hasthese two modes of operation? Does it plan to in the next three years?


The data in Figure 10 also indicates an emerging trend: bimodal concepts are not limited to IT.Bimodal business is the management of business line resources at multiple speeds, creating agilityat the business model and product levels while retaining stability where needed in the portfolio.Bimodal IT has a head start, however, and is especially crucial for the co-delivery of innovation andstability in a complex IT environment.

In practice, bimodal IT is built on a number of disciplines that reinforce the strengths of each modeand enable their coexistence. We did not receive enough responses from CIOs in Canada to createa compelling regional view of bimodal disciplines, but they are included in Figure 11 as part of aglobal perspective. The adoption of these disciplines is an indicator that the real work of bimodal istaking root worldwide. Take time to review these disciplines and advocate for them in yourorganization: they will make bimodal work for you.


Figure 11. Bimodal Disciplines at Work

Survey question: Which of the following does your organization routinely employ in the second, faster mode?


There is a shadow lurking in the Figure 11 data. The most adopted disciplines return lower valuethan the less adopted ones. This indicates that, despite the significant proportion of CIOs in Canadasaying that they are bimodal, the maturity level or understanding of bimodal may be limited. Asshown in Figure 12, there is untapped potential in crowdsourcing, formal innovation management,working with startups and the application of different metrics. Although it is positive thatorganizations are embracing agility and multidisciplinary teams, those disciplines don't necessarilylead to mature bimodality. Many CIOs are typically looking at their traditional vendor partners forsupport in agile delivery models and bimodal capabilities overall, but to be successful, CIOs mustown and engrain bimodal leadership regardless of who is delivering solutions.


Figure 12. The Most Impactful Bimodal Tactics Are Not the Most Used (Global Data)


For CIOs in Canada, the biggest obstacle to increased bimodal adoption is organizational culture.Canadian business culture is very conservative, cautious and less prone to make major changes.This means that policies, practices and processes are extremely difficult to adapt to something suchas bimodal. The basic tenets of Mode 2, which rely in part on agile, innovative developmentpractices and rapid time to market, embrace a risk level that may be intolerable for the publicsector, and lead to cultural inhibitors.

Companies currently doing bimodal IT indicated lack of resources as the primary inhibitor (Figure13). In mature bimodal environments, CIOs continually prove and advertise value as they deliverbusiness outcomes. The mechanics shown above are a means to delivering that value.


Figure 13. Inhibitors to Bimodal Adoption

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: What is the main thing that prevents your IT organization from becoming more bimodal?


A final note about bimodal in the Canadian context. We have seen that CIOs in Canada are investingheavily in renovations to their core. Much of that work will be focused on Mode 1 systems andactivities. This focus is essential to the creation of a functioning bimodal strategy and futureinnovation, but should be pursued in parallel to Mode 2 activities. CIOs and their teams should alsocombine their push to bimodal with a pace-layered application strategy that gives them insight andcontrol into systems, data, processes and value. CIOs must reinforce that Modes 1 and 2 IT are yinand yang: neither is better than the other, and some skills will fit best in one and not the other. In theend, well-governed alignment of Modes 1 and 2 will produce results that neither could in isolation.

CIOs in Canada Must Build a Talent Platform

Worldwide, CIOs identify lack of skills as the biggest barrier to achieving their objectives (Figure 14).


Figure 14. Biggest Barriers to CIO Objectives

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: What is your biggest barrier to achieving your objectives as a CIO?


In a related question, we asked CIOs to identify their top talent gaps. The outstanding anomaly inthe answers of CIOs in Canada (Table 3) is the identification of architecture as a fundamental skillsgap (28%) compared to the rest of the world (12%). This is likely driven by the push to modernizeinto truly modern, Web-scale architectures, which requires a combination of visionary and practicalarchitecture skills. Strong architecture skills are required in environments that are centralizing toservice-oriented and shared API constructs, both of which are goals of the Canadian public sector.Unfortunately, where architecture disciplines exist, they are more likely to be seen as inhibitors thatadd complexity and slow down progress. The bottom line: CIOs in Canada are aggressivelyrenovating their cores and need modern architecture skills to accomplish the goal. These skills —with the proper combination of vision, strategy and practical implementation perspective — are rare.For more on strong architecture attributes and actions, see "Vanguard and Foundational EnterpriseArchitects Must Collaborate on a Bimodal Technology Architecture."

Identifying the business knowledge gap may have resulted from recent waves of technical hires tomeet skyrocketing demand, often at the expense of fostering or hiring strong business skills into IT.


For advice on fostering nontechnical skills, see "2016 Planning Guide for ProfessionalEffectiveness."

Table 3. Biggest Talent Gaps

Skill Gap Canada (n = 43) Global (n = 937)

Information/Analytics 42% 40%

Architecture 28% 12%

Business Knowledge/Acumen 23% 18%

Security and Risk 23% 17%

Digital 16% 15%

Project Management 16% 13%

Leadership 14% 9%

Software Development 12% 13%

Attract/Retain 7% 8%

Mobile 7% 8%

Technical Skills 5% 8%

Survey question: What would you say is the biggest talent gap (i.e., lack of skills) related to information, technology or digital businessyour company is trying to fill at the moment?Note: Respondents could select multiple answers.


Information and advanced analytic skills are perennially atop the list of talent gaps, having persistedas CIOs' biggest concern for most of the last decade. This is likely to remain as more data iscollected from consumers, sensors, the Internet of Things and the growing number of APIs beingused to build solutions. It may be that this talent gap will be filled by a combination of humans andsmart machines in the very near future. For some insight into smart-machine evolution, see"Predicts 2016: Smart Machines."

As noted in "Building the Digital Platform: The 2016 CIO Agenda," there has been little movement orreordering of the skills gaps shown in Table 3 over the past four years. The gaps aren't being filled.And CIOs have identified the hiring mechanism itself as one of the issues ("Attract/Retain"). Thereneeds to be more talent innovation at Canadian organizations. CIOs and their HR partners shouldbe working deeply with Canadian universities and organizations such as the Business DevelopmentBank of Canada (BDC) to engage talent across the creative spectrum. Across Canada,entrepreneurs, startups and innovators are thriving in the digital economy — CIOs need to tap intothat ecosystem.


https://www.bdc.ca/

Some members of that ecosystem include:

■ Fundica

■ Genesis Centre

■ Atlantic Venture Forum

■ Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP)

■ Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

■ Deputy Minister University Champion Initiative

■ Ministry of Research and Innovation (Ontario)

■ British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC)

■ Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

■ Canadian Acceleration and Business Incubation (CABI)

■ BuiltinMTL

■ StartupNL

CIOs and their teams should be looking at innovative engagement models as well, likeintrepreneurship, techquisitions, crowdsourcing and adaptive sourcing. Experiment with short-termcontracts, innovation competitions, hackathons and similar community-based efforts. Don't let yourhabits blind you — you are more likely to find good ideas and people in places where you haven'tlooked before. Consider the "adjacent possible": those things, people and ideas that you see every

day but haven't engaged with or combined.4

CIOs in Canada Are Positioned to Lead Digital Transformation

One thing that has not changed and will not change is that leadership is critical for all businesssuccess. IT and digital business are no different in that respect — having strong and clearleadership as these worlds evolve continues to be critical. Like their global counterparts, CIOs inCanada are embracing the leadership role and gradually gaining influence with their peers. Figure 15shows responses to the question, "In which areas are you designated as the person in charge ofany aspect of the business other than IT?" CIOs in Canada have leadership as chief digital officers(although often without that actual title) and for innovation. Where their responses differ from thoseof the rest of the world is in their prominent leadership of shared services (28% versus 18%,respectively). Within that data point, public- and private-sector CIOs in Canada are almost equal(33% and 27%, respectively). This is another indicator of architecture modernization and the driveto operational efficiency that have permeated the Canada data.


https://www.fundica.com/

http://www.genesiscentre.ca/

http://www.atlanticventureforum.ca/

https://buyandsell.gc.ca/initiatives-and-programs/build-in-canada-innovation-program-bcip

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp

http://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/forlearners/coursesandprograms/programs/dmuci/index-eng.aspx

https://www.ontario.ca/ministry-research-and-innovation

http://www.bcic.ca/

http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/

http://cabi.ca/

http://builtinmtl.com/

http://startupnl.ca/

Figure 15. CIOs Are Stepping Up to Lead Digital Transformation and Innovation

CDO = chief digital officer; CFO = chief financial officer; COO = chief operating officer; CRO = chief risk officer; ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: In which areas are you designated as the person in charge of any aspect of the business other than IT?


So, CIOs in Canada are doing interesting work! They desire to move beyond transactional legacyinto true parity with their business peers. The majority believe they are trusted allies and partners ofthe CEO. A significant minority still report that they are mostly "transactional," meaning that theyrespond to requirements and implement strategy but are not really "at the table." That might be OKfor some, but it can become a place of personal career risk if IT is not seen as actively contributingto the future digital state of the business. The goal should be to become a trusted ally — beyondjust a partner — of the CEO. Trusted allies have influence at the ideation stage and have moreopportunity to shape success — for their organizations, their peers, their stakeholders andthemselves.


Figure 16. CIO Influence and Power

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: How would you describe the current levels of influence and power of the CIO and IT?


Trusted ally or not, there is still the day-to-day reality of being a CIO. Each year, we ask CIOs to giveus insight into what they like (and don't like) about their job (Figures 17, 18), and how much they areinvesting in their own development annually. Here, CIOs in Canada are similar to their globalcounterparts:

■ They like the leadership element and responsibility of their jobs, but they hate the politics.

■ They love being a change agent, but would prefer not to get distracted by administrative tasksand bureaucracy.

Unlike their global peers, not as many CIOs in Canada identified their impact on business objectivesas something they liked about their role (only 6% vs. 16% for the rest of the world). It would be niceto blame this on the skew toward public sector in the Canada data (where no one chose this item),but that's not what's happening — only 7% of private-sector respondents mentioned impact onbusiness objectives as something they loved about their job. Time for them to up their game!


Figure 17. What Do You Love Most About Your Role?




Figure 18. What Do You Dislike Most About Your Role?



Finally, CIOs in Canada are investing in their own personal development (Figure 19). Interestingly,CIOs who have the best relationship with their CEO (as a trusted ally) spend that same amount oftime on personal development. But they spend it on different things — less on technicaldevelopment and conventional management development, more on training to be a board member,on corporate ethics and the like. That is, leading CIOs focus on C-level leadership training and ontraining in net-new areas that are of importance to the business. The message is clear: Personaldevelopment is critical, less is more, and focus is everything.


Figure 19. Leadership Development Is Critical but Must Be the Right Kind

ROW = rest of the worldSurvey question: How much of your time did you invest in personal development last year (in days)?


Methodology

This research is based on data collected for the 2016 CIO survey. Using an online survey, Gartnercanvassed Executive Programs members and other IT leaders between 4 May 2015 and 24 July2015. Gartner collected input from 2,944 CIO respondents in 84 countries and across majorindustries and the public sector. Together, these organizations represent approximately $11 trillion inrevenue and public-sector budgets, and $250 billion in annual IT spending.

Gartner designed the survey to prove or disprove a series of hypotheses devised by a core team ofGartner research analysts and Executive Programs representatives. The research involved extensivereview prior to publication. The findings from the total dataset were published in their entirety as"Building the Digital Platform: The 2016 CIO Agenda."

Acronym Key and Glossary Terms

ERP enterprise resource planning

I&O infrastructure and operations

SaaS software as a service


Gartner Recommended ReadingSome documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription.

"Hints and Tips on Using Gartner Numbers When Reviewing IT Spending Plans"

"How to Develop a Pace-Layered Application Strategy"

"Techquisitions: An Uncommon Approach Some CEOs Use for Digital Business Acceleration"

"A Practical Guide to Bimodal Adaptive Sourcing Research"

Evidence

This research is based on data findings from the 2016 Gartner CIO Survey. The original survey datawas collected online from 2,944 members of Gartner Executive Programs and other IT leadersbetween 4 May 2015 and 24 July 2015.

1 J. Markusoff, "The Death of the Alberta Dream," Maclean's.

2 Note: Sample size is under 30, so results are directional.

3 Projections for the Canadian dollar are dire, including from one of the most respected forecastersin the business, David Doyle at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada. See P. Evans, "Canadian DollarWill Drop to 59 Cents U.S. in 2016, Macquarie Forecasts," CBC.

4 For more on the adjacent possible, see an interview with Stuart Kauffman and Steven Johnson'sTED talk, "Where Good Ideas Come From."

More on This Topic

This is part of an in-depth collection of research. See the collection:

■ 2016 CIO Agenda: Global Perspectives on Building the Digital Platform


http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-death-of-the-alberta-dream/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/macquarie-loonie-forecast-1.3401644

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/macquarie-loonie-forecast-1.3401644

https://edge.org/conversation/stuart_a_kauffman-the-adjacent-possible

http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_johnson_where_good_ideas_come_from?language=en

GARTNER HEADQUARTERS

Corporate Headquarters56 Top Gallant RoadStamford, CT 06902-7700USA+1 203 964 0096

Regional HeadquartersAUSTRALIABRAZILJAPANUNITED KINGDOM

For a complete list of worldwide locations,visit http://www.gartner.com/technology/about.jsp

© 2016 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. Thispublication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form without Gartner’s prior written permission. If you are authorized to accessthis publication, your use of it is subject to the Usage Guidelines for Gartner Services posted on gartner.com. The information containedin this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy,completeness or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in such information. Thispublication consists of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. The opinionsexpressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Gartner research may include a discussion of related legal issues,Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner is a public company,and its shareholders may include firms and funds that have financial interests in entities covered in Gartner research. Gartner’s Board ofDirectors may include senior managers of these firms or funds. Gartner research is produced independently by its research organizationwithout input or influence from these firms, funds or their managers. For further information on the independence and integrity of Gartnerresearch, see “Guiding Principles on Independence and Objectivity.”


http://www.gartner.com/technology/about.jsp

http://www.gartner.com/technology/about/policies/usage_guidelines.jsp

http://www.gartner.com/technology/about/ombudsman/omb_guide2.jsp

2016 cio agenda: a canada perspective · continuing trends that we saw in the prior year (see...

Documents