4 Best Practices from Mid-Market CEOs Using Tech to Grow

How are today’s mid-market leaders using technology to transform, grow and compete on a global scale?

There are four common best practices among companies that achieve digital transformation success. According to the 2016 Mid-Market IT Report by SWC Technology Partners, these successful companies:

1) Ensure that chief technology officers have a seat at the leadership table. CEOs invite IT leaders into the inner circle to enable them to bring valuable insight and context to key decisions, and ensure tight alignment between technology and business strategies. They also identify a business champion for each IT project and create incentives for success. IT executives earn this position by knowing the business, defining success, holding themselves accountable and making recommendations based on value.

2) Are migrating to the cloud for agility, scale and economics. Recognizing the rewards reaped by large enterprises and small businesses that drove the bulk of early adoption, mid-market companies are now committing to using mature cloud technology in meaningful ways. Why? Cloud solutions allow companies to move quickly to address risks or seize opportunities, to start small, scale immediately and realize significant savings (when all of the costs of a data center are factored in).

“Truly valuable analytics solutions allow for better decisions—big decisions that have significant value or many small decisions that add up to big dollars over time.”

Companies achieve success by taking a measured approach to adoption, always keeping users at the center of everything and ensuring integrations do not suffer. They also identify business value and ROI, consider the cloud first for new implementations, and proactively address continued management and security responsibilities.

3. Are making data-based decisions about their growth. Rich and flexible data allows executives to make decisions based on fact, not gut. Companies that find the most value in their analytics platform tend to focus on decisions, not efficiencies. If an analytics solution is built to save a person time in preparing reports, it is often not worth the money invested. Truly valuable analytics solutions allow for better decisions—big decisions that have significant value or many small decisions that add up to big dollars over time. Successful companies start small to manage project risk and to ensure that the highest-value problems get solved first and quickly.

4. Realize they cannot afford to build IT teams that provide the breadth of expertise required today. It is increasingly challenging for mid-market companies to cost-effectively do everything needed in IT to support the business and contribute value, maximize employee effectiveness using technology, staff and retain the right experts and ensure 24/7/365 support. This is in part because really great technical people tend to specialize as they advance their career, and companies only need a slice of more than a dozen experts at any given time. Best-in-class companies solve the mid-market resource problem through outsourcing, which may include staff augmentation, project outsourcing, targeted outsourcing or vested outsourcing.


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.