A former vice president at Microsoft has called on business leaders聽to聽treat聽IT as a strategic asset.
Wolfgang Ebermann left the tech giant in 2013 and is now president for the聽EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa)聽region at technology provider Insight.
He says that business decision makers all acknowledge IT is a must-have in their businesses yet companies聽are not putting their money where their mouths are and hiring accordingly.
鈥淲hen you ask a CFO if they see IT as an important strategic asset or cost factor, it tends to be the latter,鈥� he told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淚f you look at the way companies spend in IT today more than 80 per cent spent their budget on maintaining existing IT, which is just keeping the lights on.
鈥淎t the same time they acknowledge a big change is going on in the IT industry and the industry needs to adapt because if it鈥檚 seen as a cost factor and not as a business enabler driving outcomes, it faces a challenge.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 the exec themselves or finding an additional transformation agent, the CIO, or a few tech experts, a person in a new [IT]聽role needs to become the business adviser. This is critical.鈥�
The smartphone is at the core of this change, believes Ebermann, in its new role as an assistant for people鈥檚 private and business lives.
鈥溊暇牌凡� life is changing because the smartphone is becoming a business assistant,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all centred around a new way of working and how to increase workforce productivity and attract the next generation of talent.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming from university and they鈥檙e not email junkies like when I grew up. If you want to attract the next generation and increase workforce productivity, you need to change the way you work [and centre it around chat].”
Companies must assess whether their products and services are smartphone-enabled, says Ebermann.
鈥淎didas isn鈥檛 just about sports shoe innovation,鈥� he聽said. 鈥淭hink about how their shoes are digital-enabled with a smartphone letting you check your health.
鈥淚f you build the IoT (Internet of Things)聽into the tool and connect to a smart assistant only then do you differentiate yourself in the market. It鈥檚 a clarity every business needs to think about.鈥�