Wete and Company is a business headed by Dorothy Wete specializing in the Federal Enterprise market, providing Oracle implementation, operations management, and CIO services to clients. Below, Wete and Company explains the top challenges facing CIOs and focus areas for driving revenue and business growth.
As companies undergo digital transformation, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) plays a pivotal role in aligning technology with business goals. Focusing on these priority areas in 2022 can help drive growth and revenue, improve processes, and create a unique competitive advantage according to Wete and Company.
Tighten cybersecurity
A CNBC report estimates that cyberattack costs companies an average of $200,000 a year. Wete and Company explains that almost half of all attacks are aimed at small business, but only 14% have the digital defense plan to prevent an attack or quickly recover from it.
CIOs can use the latest tools to lower the company’s cybersecurity risk, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Aside from this, it is critical to assess vulnerabilities or entry points for attacks, such as software, web application systems, cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things (IOT).
According to Wete and Company it is also important to have a strong cybersecurity policy, that clearly states the access controls, schedules for security testing, employee education and training, and a disaster recovery plan in case there is a security breach.
Choose the right cloud computing solution
At its most basic, cloud computing is critical for remote work/hybrid work and data storage. But when companies invest in advanced cloud solutions—and place more of their business functions and applications within it—it can actually increase profit growth by about 11%.
Wete and Company explains that the benefits of cloud computing include speeding up time-to-market, improve collaboration, expand software capability and processing capacity, use AI to unlock value from data, and enable new revenue sources and more creative services.
According to McKinsey research, CIOs should not choose the cloud architecture and sources based on its technology alone. Dorothy Wete says they should consider the bigger business picture, in relation to risks and costs, the challenges of migration, and the need for scalability.
Improve business performance with data analytics
Wete and Company reports that data analytics can increase revenue and lower risk and cost in three ways: product development, targeted content, and operational efficiency.
Companies can use data to understand the current market and predict consumer needs or areas for growth. They can also create more cost-efficient marketing campaigns, by customizing their ads and other messages throughout the customer life-cycle.
Companies can also use data analytics to identify gaps or weak points in their process and find opportunities to reduce errors or save time and money through automation.
Improve communication and collaboration technology
Dorothy Wete reports that during the pandemic, 72% of companies saw the need for upgrading or modernizing collaboration tools because of the shift towards remote work and online customer transactions. This trend is not going away in the New Normal.
CIOs must help create a faster, easier and secure platform for teams to communicate, collaborate, and track progress and productivity. This basic requirement often slips through the cracks, because it isn’t highlighted in business planning.
However, Wete and Company says that it is huge everyday pain point for employees—and if neglected, can cause conflict, miscommunication, low productivity, and even security risks.
Implement automation and other advanced technologies
Wete and Company explains that automation can replace tedious, repetitive and redundant tasks. This can help employees focus on more meaningful work, eliminate the risk for human error, and standardize operations.
Even small business can get big rewards from automating sales and marketing tasks, such as assigning a lead to a salesperson, or triggering emails based on a customer’s actions on a website. Dorothy Wete says other automation software can improve billing and collection or restocking on essential supplies.
The need for automation exponentially increases with the company’s size. It can help with business forecasting, spot anomalies in invoices and accounts payable, send updates on projects, or synch data across different departments or devices.
Enhance customer experience
Dorothy Wete says customers are more likely to do business with a company that understands their needs and rewards their loyalty. Technology—and how the CIO chooses tools and implements them across the different business units—plays an important role in building this relationship.
This begins in customer targeting and using data analytics and automation software to make sure that the right messages reach the right people. Once the customer is identified as a qualified lead, it is then necessary to sustain communication through emails and customized messages.
For example, Wete and Company says that e-commerce software can make product recommendations based on the customer profile and activity on the site. Sales tools can manage databases, trigger messages or actions, and generate historical insights on customer behavior.
Other technology tools can help identify customer pain points, such as using “heat maps” that track what pages online visitors look at, in order to identify why they leave or where they get stuck.
Dorothy Wete explains customers will also demand data privacy and security, responsive websites, and more engaging digital experiences—which all rest on the IT’s ability to create a safe, powerful and reliable online environment.
The new role of the CIO
Today’s CIOs don’t just manage a company’s technology department. They play a role in digital transformation, and by focusing on these key business areas, and can help drive product innovation, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
