Cognizanti Journal Volume 9, Issue 1, 2016

93 Pages·2016·10.18 MB·English

Cognizanti
An annual journal produced by Cognizant
VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 1 2016
Part III
Digital
Business
2020:

Getting there
from here!
Cognizanti is an annual journal published by Cognizant. Our
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proven best practices that globally-minded companies can use in
their quest for business and IT performance excellence.
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© Copyright 2016, Cognizant Technology Solutions
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Cognizanti
An annual journal produced by Cognizant
VOLUME 9 • ISSUE 1 • 2016
The Cognizanti Team
Publisher:
Malcolm Frank, Executive Vice-President, Strategy & Marketing
Editor-in-Chief:
Alan Alper, Associate Vice-President, Corporate Marketing
Editor:
Reshma Trenchil, Senior Manager, Corporate Marketing
Thought Leadership
Program Management:
April Vadnais, Senior Manager, Corporate Marketing
Art Director:
Jason Feuilly, Director, Corporate Brand/Design
Design/Print Production:
Diana Fitter, Contributing Art Director
Contributing Editor:
Mary Brandel, Contributing Editor
Columnist:
Bruce J. Rogow, Independent Advisor
Digital Distribution:
Nikhil Narayanan, Manager, Social Media Marketing
Editorial Advisory Board
Kaushik Bhaumik, Senior Vice-President & Market Leader,
Communications & Technology Industry Group
Nagaraja Srivatsan, Senior Vice-President,
Emerging Business Accelerator
Mark Livingston, Senior Vice-President,
Cognizant Business Consulting
Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Senior Vice-President,
Corporate Communications
Anand Chandramouli, Director, Cognizant Research Center
Ben Pring, Vice-President,
Cognizant Center for the Future of Work
Gary Beach, Publisher Emeritus, CIO Magazine
Table of Contents
5
Editor’s Note
Progress on the Path to
Digital Authenticity
7
The First Word
Digital Reinvention Requires
a Radical CIO Makeover
13
Being Digital
Making Digital Real
and Rewarding
27
Commentary
Jumping on the Gig Economy
33
Bots at the Gate
Intelligent Automation:
Where We Stand —
and Where We’re Going
41

Foundational Technologies
Laying the Groundwork
for a Platform Business
53
Commentary
Making Dollars & Sense of the
Platform Economy
59
Data Ethics
Return on Trust:
The New Business
Performance Indicator
67

Internet of Things
From Strategy to Action:
Driving IoT to Industrial Scale
75
Connected Lives
Where Smart Vehicles Meet
the Intelligent Road
83
The Last Word
The 50-Year Journey
to Digital Business
4
Editor’s Note
Progress on the Path to
Digital Authenticity
As the late musician Frank Zappa once observed: “Without deviation from the norm, progress
is not possible.” Zappa lived this axiom quite well throughout his extraordinary career, breaking
every sonic and lyrical convention underpinning progressive rock until his untimely death in
1993. Business leaders could take a lesson from Zappa’s and other true rock-n-rollers’ zealous
approach to their craft as they prepare their organizations to “be digital,” flouting the status quo
with each new initiative and establishing themselves as die-hard practitioners of a whole new way
of doing business.
With this in mind, Part III of our 2020 digital business sojourn charts the early progress made
in re-orchestrating business. We build on the learnings shared in the previous two editions of
Cognizanti journal (Volumes 7 and 8), in which we established that – at least for most long-
standing organizations – the transition to “being digital” is a journey, not a sprint. And despite the
ever-increasing technological cacophony of the world in which we live, work and play, businesses
must deliver simple, in-the-moment experiences that blend the physical with the digital – if they
want to be heard above the din.
This edition of Cognizanti explores the essence of what it means to be digital (think of a digital-to-
the-core attitude and customer autonomy as critical operating constructs) and amplifies the role
that the thoroughly modern CIO can play in helping organizations achieve progress, both from a
leadership and “gig” economy point of view. From there, we examine the evolving world of intel-
ligent automation (systems that do, think, learn and adapt), as well as the emerging landscape of
business platforms, where companies of all sizes and shapes can plug and play in ecosystems that
they either own, manage or merely participate in. This new approach introduces an interesting
variation on the “co-opetition” theme that has pervaded business for the past few decades.
We also probe what it takes to scale up Internet of Things pilots to fully realized implementa-
tions and the critical role of trust in today’s digital economy. We take a deep dive into how many
of these themes are playing out among forward-thinking road warriors and businesses that are
navigating the nascent intelligent transport infrastructure. Lastly, we conclude with industry guru
Bruce Rogow, who exhorts established business to move forward with their digital transformation
plans, through all the seasonal shifts of business and IT.
In this final edition of our digital business trilogy, we’ve covered the challenges that we believe are
core to your organization’s digital business mandate. Feel free to share your thoughts on these topics
and any others that you believe are a part of the digital mandate at [email protected],
or on our e-community, Cognizant Connections https://connections.cognizant.com/.
Cognizanti • 5

The First Word
Digital Reinvention
Requires a Radical
CIO Makeover
By Reshma Trenchil
To lead digital transformation, innovative and connected, capable of con-
fidently collaborating with business leaders
CIOs need to go beyond
across functional silos to steer the organiza-
technology prowess and tion on the digital path.
develop new work styles,
To understand this ongoing transformation,
people skills and political we surveyed 200 CIOs across the U.S. and in
multiple industries. Our findings illuminate
savvy to energize the
the new challenges many CIOs face, as well
organization for change. as the skills and work styles necessary to
successfully cross the digital chasm. What
we found: While CIOs are well-positioned
to lead the digital program, they need to up
When it comes to being digital, two equal
their game in terms of cross-functional rela-
and opposing forces are in play. On the one
tionships, especially with the CEO and chief
hand, digital promises to transform orga-
marketing officer (CMO), while adopting a
nizations into more personalized, relevant,
leadership mindset toward identifying talent,
real-time businesses that use social, mobile,
inspiring and managing change, and enabling
analytics and cloud technologies to engage
innovation.
with customers in a more value-driven way.
Along with the upside, however, come
CIOs Play a Crucial Role in
challenges, as organizations and employees
must substantially change how they work, Digital Transformation
reconfigure their skill sets and even recast
their work personalities. No one personifies First the good news: An overwhelming 89%
this need for reinvention more than the CIO. of respondents said CIOs are critical to the
success of the organization’s digital transfor-
Not long ago, the CIO was tasked primarily mation (see Figure 1, next page). Further,
with keeping IT humming. The business CIOs are more apt to lead digital programs
outlined its needs, and the CIO executed (34%) than the CEO (29%) or others in the
on them. That’s table stakes in today’s C-suite.
digital age. Now, CIOs must be influential,
Cognizanti • 7
Key Elements to Enable the Digital Transformation
CIO plays a key role in digital transformation 1% 10% 41% 48%
A digital strategy that is clearly articulated, 4% 12% 45% 39%
communicated and understood
Actively collaborating with talent acquisition 1% 13% 39% 43%
teams to acquire the required skills 4%
Understanding the benefits of digital
programs and having the metrics to measure 3% 15% 43% 39%
the success of digital initiatives
Identifying the skill gaps that impede 4% 15% 43% 38%
digital transformation
An annual planning process to align
departmental objectives with the company’s 4% 16% 40% 40%
overarching digital strategy/objectives
Common understanding between the CIO and 1% 17% 40% 40%
CMO teams about the identified shared goals 2%
Understanding the costs of digital transformation 6% 16% 38% 40%
programs and having realistic ROI expectations
Identifying the appropriate digital technologies 5% 19% 34% 42%
to deliver on business objectives
 Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree  Agree  Strongly agree
nor disagree
Response base: 200
Source: Cognizant Research Center
Figure 1
But this pivotal role requires a new set more time on cross-functional collaboration
of strengths and skills not traditionally (85%) and aligning the digital strategy with
associated with CIOs, such as the need to business needs (84%). CIOs need to focus
be socially and politically savvy, leadership outside the four walls of the organization
oriented, innovative and willing to take risks (82%) – working with customers, partners
(see Figure 2, next page). and suppliers – since digital is the glue
that connects all constituencies across the
Ideal CIOs are also experienced with leading business ecosystem.
digital programs or a digital company
(88%), possess cross-industry and business Situated at the intersection of business
experience (78% and 82%, respectively) and and technology, CIOs are positioned to
have moved up through the ranks to their inform and drive “digital-first” strategies.
current position (79%). A core IT education To accomplish this, respondents said CIOs
(86%) is slightly more crucial than a business should seek to be a major contributor to the
management education (82%), and certifi- enterprise digital strategy (85%) and take
cations in technical and professional skills time to study market trends and customer
(78%) can be a plus, our study reveals. needs to identify digital opportunities
(77%), in addition to finding, evaluating and
Becoming a Digital Leader deploying new digital technologies (82%).
A large majority (87%) of respondents All told, the successful digital CIO must
believe successful digital CIOs are those function in multiple roles (see Figure 3, page
who have adopted a transformative mindset 10), including:
rather than focusing merely on improving
IT operations or even influencing business OO Chief talent officer, working closely
strategy with digital know-how. Respon- with the human resources organization to
dents also emphasize the need to spend bridge skills gaps (87%).
8