Preparing your firm for its technology-driven future

In recent years, information technology has shifted from being an essential, but mostly back office, tool to an unstoppable front-of-the-firm force that disrupts business models, creates new forms of competitive advantage, and puts information and communication at the heart of the modern enterprise.  As business and technology change become increasingly inseparable, executives and employees at all levels must keep abreast of how today’s technologies are transforming both their organization and their role as business leaders.

• For more than 20 years, the Leading Edge Forum (LEF) has been helping Chief Information Officers and their teams navigate the ever-changing IT landscape.  Through our research, study tours, workshops and briefings, we help our clients identify and prepare for business/IT ‘next practices’ – those emerging management trends that in a few years will change the way you – and your customers – do business.
  

This Next Practice expertise can no longer be limited to your firm’s professional IT staff.  Whether the challenge is improving sales, marketing, supply chain operations, product development, or customer support, today’s business leaders must understand how IT can revitalize their firm’s operations and cultures.  Such leaders will need to be double-deep, skilled in both their business role and the relevant information technologies.

To support these changes, the LEF is now expanding its offerings to provide the knowledge and support needed by the digital business leaders of the future.  Our work can help your firm answer questions such as the following:

• How can technology make our firm more agile and customer-centric?
• What does it mean to use advanced analytics and be truly data-driven?
• How can we take better advantage of today’s mobility and social media capabilities?
• What work can we safely move to the Cloud?
• Which IT capabilities should we keep in-house and which should we source from the marketplace?
• How do we recruit, retain, and nurture powerful digital business leaders?
• Are we doing enough to address cyber-security, privacy, and compliance risks?
• What will the next generation of game-changing digital technologies look like?

For each of the questions above, we can help business leaders – regardless of their technology background --  understand:  (1) why this issue matters, (2) the basics of the issues involved, (3) the different schools of thought regarding how a given technology or issue is best managed, and, perhaps most importantly, (4) how to proceed if deeper knowledge is required.  Our advice can be delivered via a variety of modes including onsite presentations, custom workshops, web conferences, one-on-one coaching, and telephone conversations. 

Our goal is simple:  to ensure that the digital business leaders in your organization ‘ask the right questions’ when they take part in strategic discussions on information technology and its impact on products, customers, and operations.  We look forward to working with you on this growing business challenge.  Some representative topics and service offerings are summarized below. 

Other possible session topics include:  The Consumerization of IT, Preparing for a Post-PC Era, Leveraging Cloud Computing, The Emerging As-A-Service Economy, Understanding Business/IT Co-Evolution, Improving Global Business Collaboration, Strategies for Mobility and Social Media, Aligning the Business/IT Relationship, Balancing Growth and Austerity, Developing Smart Products, Envisioning an Internet of Things, Energizing and Engaging Employees, Revitalizing the Marketing/IT Relationship, Rethinking Risk, Establishing Digital Trust, IT’s Role in Business Sustainability, Models for Business/IT Governance, Strategies for Business Transparency, The Emergence of Best of Breed Sourcing, The Future of the IT Organization, Business/IT Strategy and Change. 

Service prices are available on request.  For more details, please contact Kate Taylor (ktaylor4@csc.com, +44 (0)20 7015 6830) or Victoria Gristwood (vgristwo@csc.com, +1 703 641 3479).