From Transformation to Disruption: Leveraging Advanced Capabilities

This IDC Perspective shows how CIOs are prioritizing acceleration and new capability development - including mobile and AI advancement - more than any other digital imperative. Future-facing CIOs are challenged at an unprecedented rate to enable advanced capabilities and transform their digital universe. Future-driven CIOs need to look beyond the linear goals that have underpinned the transformation journey - thinking beyond client experience, cost, and modernization to more broadly based disruption. Strategic expectations of digital impact are building exponentially with CEOs and boards alike looking for new business models and innovative reordering. Traditional digital transformation strategies are not meeting the mark. The need to leverage advanced capabilities for genuine disruption demands that IT leaders shift their focus beyond innovation and scale to realize a measured multiplier effect. "Digital strategies for the next generation of growth must be directly aimed at disruption rather than transformation," says Alizabeth Calder, adjunct research advisor, IT Executive Programs (IEP) at IDC. "Where strategies coming through the last few years have seen the amplification of building incremental competitive advantage and accelerating for better outcomes, the next generation of digital impact will be measured in evidence-based disruption. Integration, modernization, and data will be integral to planning and investment in digital aspirations. Customers and users will serve as the conscience of the organization's commitment to trust. Advancements will be pervasive across the ecosystem with impacts felt by staff, customers, and competitors."