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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="0.92"><channel> <title>CIO</title> <link></link> <description>The voice of IT leadership</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:11:18 +0000</lastBuildDate> <docs>http://backend.userland.com/rss092</docs> <copyright>Copyright (c) 2024 IDG Communications, Inc.</copyright> <language>en-US</language> <!-- generator="WordPress/6.4.4" --> <item> <title>M&A action is gaining momentum, are your cloud security leaders prepared?</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 20:09:24 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>As we near the halfway point of the year, organizations are under tremendous pressure to grow businesses across all industries. It’s no secret: bottom lines must rise and 2024 has been earmarked as a pivotal year to revert to growth mode. Many organizations will find an uphill battle here; the previous few years have taken a significant toll. From supply chain issues, layoffs, delayed pipelines, and stalled progress due to pulled focus, we are due for a burst of innovation.</p> <p>Of course, there are a multitude of paths businesses can take to achieve this, all afforded by an increased focus on generative AI and leveraging all the technology has to offer. We’ll see some building in-house, implementing from third parties, or fostering new partnerships. Another viable option is acquiring the technology.</p> <p>IPOs, mergers, and acquisitions are beginning to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/global-ma-picks-up-q1-after-flurry-large-deals-2024-03-28/" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">rebound heavily. </a>We’ll see this line of decision making across all industries – from those combining efforts for the sake of time to go to market, joining forces to attain better market share against competitors, or to simply keep better pace with the direction technology is taking us. While this is the much-needed progress the economy is craving, it’s not without its potential pitfalls: we can agree security must be at the forefront of all these conversations.</p> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Prepare now, thank yourself later</strong></h3> <p>While these mergers and acquisitions can be a positive catalyst for progress, the urge to rapidly close deals and return to business operations can outweigh ensuring proper security measures are in place – and so companies aren’t adopting one another’s poor security posture or hygiene. And this happens more often than you may think, and more often than our future may be prepared to accommodate.</p> <p>A 2020 IBM Institute of Business Value study showed<a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/RJX5MXJD" rel="sponsored"> </a><a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/RJX5MXJD" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">more than one in three executives have experienced data breaches</a> that can be attributed to M&A activity during integration. So, what’s to be done? As cybersecurity professionals, we take a page from Ben Franklin – we know the only certainties in life are death, taxes… and breaches. While Mr. Franklin may have only faced the former two, we have long reconciled with the continual work to be done regarding security and protecting our industries and the societies we serve.</p> <p>It is time to apply the best practices we’ve garnered through our years of experience and apply them through the lens of increased M&A activity. We know it’s no secret that many businesses are still navigating their journey to or in the cloud, so if M&A activity were to enter the equation as well, complications would likely arise. This heightened risk underscores the need for extremely thorough cybersecurity assessments and proactive measures to mitigate potential threats associated with the cloud and the multitude of applications and workloads containing restricted data it hosts. Just as it’s advisable to conduct an inspection before purchasing and closing on a home, cybersecurity professionals and C-suite executives must do the same. It would be a shame to move in and find a faulty water heater or cracked foundation as an unexpected challenge, cost, and hindrance.</p> <p>All-encompassing visibility is critical in mergers or acquisitions and cloud-native application protection platforms (CNAPP) are ideal to provide this capability. It’s how cybersecurity professionals can find the cracks in the foundation, identifying and then remediating unknown or unmanaged risks to safeguard sensitive information and ensure no roadblocks or stop gates are present to compromise deals. Ultimately, in the face of increasing M&A activity, cybersecurity teams must prioritize thorough reviews, adopt comprehensive security platforms, and implement robust mitigation strategies to effectively manage cloud security and minimize the risk of data breaches.</p> <p>To learn more, visit us <a href="https://start.paloaltonetworks.com/cloud-security-compliance-dummies-guide?utm_source=google-jg-amer-prisma_cloud-scpc-sccp&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=google-prisma_cloud-cnapp-amer-multi-lead_gen-en-eg-non_brand-broad&utm_content=gs-20394683994-152437752395-667022433989&utm_term=cloud%20computing%20security%20solutions&sfdcid=7014u000001VTypAAG&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_qexBhCoARIsAFgBlevQIhtXy1xDPlNtwDoQEP19GcFZhKXPXXGxcIc_5UgKWiRHOJm_QlwaAu85EALw_wcB" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">here</a>.</p></div></div></div><category>Cloud Management</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095336/ma-action-is-gaining-momentum-are-your-cloud-security-leaders-prepared.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095336</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-1617383361-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="1622725" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>CIOs eager to scale AI despite difficulty demonstrating ROI, survey finds</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 17:58:15 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>CIOs rank AI as a top priority alongside cybersecurity for IT departments. However, barriers such as adoption speed and security concerns hinder rapid AI integration, according to a new survey.</p> <p>There is a promising surge in the use of AI technologies across various industries. Of the 750 CIOs around the world surveyed by Lenovo, 81% said they are already leveraging third-party AI Tools or deploying a mix of third-party and proprietary AI.</p> <p>The survey underscores a significant shift in the role of CIOs, who are now being evaluated primarily on business outcomes rather than operational maintenance. This transition has propelled AI and machine learning to the forefront, with 51% of CIOs identifying these technologies as among their most urgent priorities, alongside cybersecurity, highlighting their crucial role in driving organizational success.</p> <p>“Today’s CIOs are working in a tornado of innovation. After years of IT expanding into non-traditional responsibilities, we’re now seeing how AI is forcing CIOs back to their core mandate,” Ken Wong, president of Lenovo’s solutions and services group, said in a statement. There is a sense of urgency to leverage AI effectively, but adoption speed and security challenges are hindering efforts.</p> <p>Despite the enthusiasm for AI’s transformative potential, which 80% of <a href="https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/services/professional-services/professional-services-ai/ai-reshaping-it/" rel="nofollow">CIOs surveyed</a> believe will significantly impact their businesses, the path to integration is not without its challenges. Notably, large portions of organizations are not prepared to integrate AI swiftly, which impacts IT’s ability to scale these solutions. CIOs were least likely to identify as AI-ready business areas such as new product lines (22% of respondents), corporate policy on ethical AI use (24%), or their supply chain (26%) as the least AI-ready, while 49% rated their IT departments’ own technical skills as AI-ready.</p> <p>According to a separate <a href="https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_in/topics/consulting/2020/09/can-enterprise-intelligence-be-created-artificially-survey-of-indian-enterprises.pdf" rel="nofollow">study on the AI readiness of Indian enterprises</a> conducted by EY and Indian IT industry body Nasscom, enterprises are also holding back the deployment of AI due to concerns about data security, privacy, brand reputation, and the safety and security of people and equipment.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="security-and-ai">Security and AI</h2> <p>Among the IT leaders taking a cautious approach to AI is Saurabh Gugnani, the global head of cyber defense and application security at Dutch compliance firm TMF Group. “Adopting AI poses several security challenges, such as data privacy, attack vulnerability, and strict regulation compliance. Protecting sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of AI models against cyber threats, such as adversarial attacks, are key concerns for CIOs,” he said.</p> <p>Additionally, traditional security measures often fall short of addressing the unique demands of AI technologies. To mitigate these risks, CIOs must implement AI-specific security protocols and conduct regular security audits, which take time, he added. “Crucially, framing comprehensive policies that govern AI use, ethical standards, and security practices is essential to safely integrate AI into organizational workflows, ensuring a secure and compliant adoption process.”</p> <p>For Neeraj Kumar, CTO of Arkreach, the speed with which AI technologies are being developed itself poses a threat. “Even tech giants like Google and Meta sometimes rush to launch immature tech, leading to a wreckage of failed AI products. However, rushing to ship some underdeveloped AI solutions in your product pipeline because of FOMO (fear of missing out) is not a good idea. It can throw your entire delivery system into meltdown,” he said. “It is time to shift away from the launch first, think later, mentality and concentrate on creating the future by not repeating yesterday’s mistakes, even if it leads to a delay.”</p> <p>Another challenge is the critical shortage of skilled professionals that, according to Gugnani, makes it challenging and costly for companies to hire and retain talent in machine learning, data science, and AI integration. “Upskilling existing staff to manage AI technologies requires significant time and financial investment. Many organizations hesitate to commit the necessary resources, slowing the integration of AI capabilities,” he said.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-roi-dilemma">The ROI dilemma</h2> <p>IT leaders also face the ongoing challenge of demonstrating and calculating the return on investment (ROI) of technology initiatives. The Lenovo survey found that 61% of CIOs find it extremely challenging to prove the ROI of their tech investments, with 42% not expecting positive ROI from AI projects within the next year.</p> <p>One of the main difficulties is calculating ROI to convince CFOs to approve budgets, and this challenge is also present when considering AI adoption, according to Abhishek Gupta, CIO of Dish TV. “Quantifying tangible benefits such as cost savings, productivity improvements, and top-line growth is relatively straightforward. However, calculating returns on softer aspects, such as improvements in user experience, can be challenging,” Gupta said. “Ultimately, AI initiatives should be viewed as a necessary business investment that can yield results over time as the portfolio of AI projects begins to deliver results.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="resource-constraints-and-investments">Resource constraints and investments</h2> <p>Focusing resources on AI also affects IT sustainability efforts, the survey found, with 38% of CIOs reporting that they had de-prioritizing sustainability initiatives as a result. However, a majority still view AI as a net positive for meeting IT sustainability goals, with only 22% saying that the environmental impact of AI workloads will make it harder to meet them.</p> <p>Financial and human resources are another area of concern: While 96% of CIOs anticipate increasing their investments in AI, only around 20% expect their IT budgets to grow by more than 10% to accommodate that expenditure.</p></div></div></div><category>Artificial Intelligence</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095301/cios-eager-to-scale-ai-despite-difficulty-demonstrating-roi-survey-finds.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095301</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_2240737941-100961588-orig.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="594828" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Oracle adds AI capabilities to its Fusion Cloud CX</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 12:00:05 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Oracle is adding more <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/1647870/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html">AI</a> capabilities to its Fusion Cloud CX that provides software for sales, marketing, and service teams across an enterprise, the company announced on Thursday.</p> <p>The new capabilities, based on the company’s <a href="https://www.infoworld.com/article/3706878/oracle-unveils-its-api-led-generative-ai-service-with-cohere-s-llms.html">OCI Generative AI service</a>, include <a href="https://www.infoworld.com/article/3689973/what-is-generative-ai-artificial-intelligence-that-creates.html">generative AI</a>-assisted answer generation, assisted scheduling for field service, opportunity quality scoring, and seller engagement recommendations.</p> <p>The generative AI-assisted answer-generation capability is designed to ease the workload of service teams by generating contextually aware responses to customer questions.</p> <p>Additionally, it can improve customer response times and free up service agents to deal with complex customer issues or scenarios, the company said.</p> <p>The assisted scheduling for field service, released as part of this update, is designed to help field service technicians optimize their schedules by automatically recommending relevant jobs or tasks based on availability, location, skills, and billing status.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="capabilities-for-marketing-and-sales-teams">Capabilities for marketing and sales teams</h2> <p>Also released as part of this update is the capability to rate opportunities, named opportunity qualification scoring.</p> <p>According to Oracle, this capability will help marketing, and sales teams find the right members of B2B buying groups for marketing activation and direct sales engagement.</p> <p>“The new AI scoring capabilities within <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/350272/oracle-integrates-cdp-data-in-fusion-cloud-for-better-customer-service.html" target="_blank">Oracle Unity CDP</a> enable enterprises to grow account-based revenue and generate more B2B deals by helping identify the right contacts at target accounts and improving opportunity qualification,” the company said.</p> <p>In May 2022, Oracle integrated its <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/350247/what-is-a-customer-data-platform-a-unified-customer-database.html">Customer Data Platform</a> into its service software inside Cloud CX.</p> <p>The latest update includes another capability, named seller engagement recommendations, that aims to help sales teams by increasing buyer engagement and accelerating purchase decisions.</p> <p>“The new AI capabilities within Oracle Sales enable sellers to generate more deals by delivering highly-targeted recommendations on specific products to offer, insights on the buyers’ role and engagement level, and additional contacts for key opportunities,” the company explained.</p> <p>Oracle competes with several companies including Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Tealium, Twilio, Adobe, and ActionIQ in the <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/272365/customer-relationship-management-crm-definition-and-solutions.html">customer relationship management (CRM)</a> market.</p> <p>Salesforce, SAP, and ServiceNow have been adding AI and generative AI capabilities to their sales, marketing, and service software offerings to help enterprises increase efficiency and productivity.</p> <p>Last year in July, Salesforce <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/647033/salesforce-updates-its-commerce-cloud-with-digital-commerce-capabilities.html">updated its Commerce Cloud with digital commerce capabilities</a>. This was followed by the company adding <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/2074693/salesforce-adds-contact-center-updates-to-service-cloud.html">contact center updates to its Service Cloud</a> in March this year.</p> <p>ServiceNow has been slowly adding AI and generative AI capabilities to its service offerings since its <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/652902/servicenow-boasts-industry-first-gen-ai-general-availability-with-vancouver-release-of-now.html">Vancouver release</a> in September last year. It later added other capabilities to its <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/2067653/generative-ai-takes-center-stage-in-latest-servicenow-release.html">Washington DC release this year</a>.</p> <p>SAP, too, since last year has been working on <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/653552/sap-prepares-to-add-joule-generative-ai-copilot-across-its-apps.html">adding its generative AI assistant, Joule, to all its applications</a>. </p> <p>At its annual CloudWorld conference last year,<a href="https://www.cio.com/article/652816/oracles-fusion-cloud-cx-erp-and-scm-get-generative-ai-features.html"> Oracle showcased generative AI capabilities planned for its Fusion Cloud suites</a>, including Cloud ERP and SCM. The announcement came just months after Oracle <a href="https://www.oracle.com/in/news/announcement/oracle-to-deliver-powerful-and-secure-generative-ai-service-for-business-2023-06-13/" rel="nofollow">partnered with large language model provider Cohere</a> and <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/644791/what-is-oracles-generative-ai-strategy.html">unveiled its strategic plan for infusing generative AI features</a> into its products.</p></div></div></div><category>Cloud Computing, Oracle</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095202/oracle-adds-ai-capabilities-to-its-fusion-cloud-cx.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095202</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/20151027-openworld-oracle-cloud-signs-100625232-orig-100696124-orig_1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="3767985" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>What LinkedIn learned leveraging LLMs for its billion users</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 11:45:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>With more than 1 billion users globally, LinkedIn is continuously bumping against the limits of what is technically feasible in the enterprise today. Few companies operate at the scale that LinkedIn does or have access to similar troves of data.</p> <p>For the business- and employment-focused social media platform, connecting qualified candidates with potential employers to help fill job openings is core business. So too is ensuring that post feeds across the platform are relevant to the members who consume them. And at LinkedIn scale, those matchmaking processes have always relied on technology.</p> <p>During the summer of 2023, at the height of the first wave of interest in generative AI, LinkedIn began to wonder whether matching candidates with employers and making feeds more useful would be better served with the help of large language models (LLMs).</p> <p>So the social media giant launched a generative AI journey and is now <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/blog/engineering/generative-ai/musings-on-building-a-generative-ai-product?_l=en_US" rel="nofollow">reporting the results of its experience</a> leveraging Microsoft’s <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/openai-service" rel="nofollow">Azure OpenAI Service</a>. CIOs in every vertical can take a tip or two from the lessons LinkedIn learned along the way.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="fits-and-starts">Fits and starts</h2> <p>As most CIOs have experienced, embracing emerging technologies comes with its share of experimentation and setbacks. For LinkedIn, this was no different, as its road to LLM insights was anything but smooth, said LinkedIn’s Juan Bottaro, a principal software engineer and tech lead.</p> <p>The initial deliverables “felt lacking,” Bottaro said. “Not enough dots were being connected.”</p> <p>Those first waves of hype around generative AI didn’t help.</p> <p>“LLM was the new thing and it felt like it could solve everything,” Bottaro said. “We didn’t start with a very clear idea of what an LLM could do.”</p> <p>For example, an early version of the revised job-matching effort was rather, for the lack of a better word, rude. Or at least overly blunt.</p> <p>“Clicking ‘Assess my fit for this job’ and getting ‘You are a terrible fit’ isn’t very useful,” Bottaro said. “We wanted [responses] to be factual but also empathetic. Some members may be contemplating a career change into fields where they currently do not have a strong fit and need help understanding what are the gaps and the next steps.”</p> <p>So, among LinkedIn’s first lessons was the importance of tuning LLMs to audience expectations — and helping the LLMs understand how to be perhaps not human, but at least humane with its responses.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="a-question-of-speed">A question of speed</h2> <p>Even though LinkedIn has more than a billion members, most of the job search features that would rely on LinkedIn’s LLM work were to be targeted initially to Premium members, a far smaller group. (LinkedIn declined to comment on how many Premium members it has.) </p> <p>When operating at that scale, speed can be essential, especially for something as nuanced as matching candidates with relevant job openings. Here, it was believed an LLM would help, as an oft-touted benefit of LLMs is their speed, enabling them to complete complex steps rapidly. That was notthe case with LinkedIn’s deployment, Bottaro said.</p> <p>“I wouldn’t characterize LLMs as fast. I wouldn’t characterize speed as an advantage,” he said.</p> <p>But speed can be defined in multiple ways. Even though operationally the LLM may not have been as fast as hoped, Bottaro said the acceleration of the overall deployment process was astounding. “The superpower of this new technology is that you can create prototypes very fast, somewhere between two and three months. That was not possible before this technology,” he said. </p> <p>Asked how long the various facets of the project would have taken without LLM, Bottaro said some couldn’t have been accomplished at all while other elements “maybe it would have taken several years.”</p> <p>As an example, Bottaro referenced the part of the system designed to understand intent. Without an LLM, that might have taken two to three months, he said, but the LLM mastered it “in less than a week.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cost-considerations">Cost considerations</h2> <p>One aspect that Bottaro dubbed “a hurdle” was the cost. Again, cost can mean different things in different phases of a project, as LinkedIn’s experience shows.</p> <p>“The amount that we spent to be able to develop was negligible,” Bottaro said. But when it came to delivering data to LinkedIn’s customers, costs exploded.</p> <p>“Even if it was just going to a couple million members,” said Bottaro, potentially hinting at the number of Premium users, the pricing soared. That is because LLM pricing — at least the licensing deal that LinkedIn struck with Microsoft, its LLM provider and parent company — was based on usage, specifically input and output tokens.</p> <p>One AI vendor CEO, Tarun Thummala, explains in a LinkedIn post unrelated to this project that LLM input and output <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tarun-thummala_tarun-can-you-please-help-explain-llm-pricing-activity-7170410171922386944-lnuB/" rel="nofollow">tokens are roughly equivalent to 0.75 of a word</a>. LLM vendors typically sell tokens by the thousands or millions. Azure OpenAI, which LinkedIn uses, charges $30 for every 1 million 8K GPT-4 input tokens and $60 for every 1 million 8K GPT-4 output tokens out of its East US region, for example.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="evaluation-challenges">Evaluation challenges</h2> <p>Another functionality goal LinkedIn had for its project was automatic evaluation. LLMs are notoriously challenging to assess in terms of accuracy, relevancy, safety, and other concerns. Leading organizations, and LLM makers, have been attempting to automate some of this work, but according to LinkedIn, such capabilities are “still a work in progress.”</p> <p>Without automated evaluation, LinkedIn reports that “engineers are left eye-balling results and testing on a limited set of examples and having a more than a 1+ day delay to know metrics.”</p> <p>The company is building model-based evaluators to help estimate key LLM metrics, such as overall quality score, hallucination rate, coherence, and responsible AI violations. Doing so will enable faster experimentation, the company’s engineers say, and though LinkedIn’s engineers have had some success with hallucination detection, they haven’t been able to finish work in that area yet.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="data-quality">Data quality</h2> <p>Part of the struggle LinkedIn experienced with its job match effort boils down to a data quality issue from both sides: employers and potential employees.</p> <p>LLMs can work only with what it is given and sometimes job posts are not precise or comprehensive in what skills an employer seeks. On the flip side, some job applicants post poorly phrased histories that do not effectively reflect their wealth of experience in problem-solving, for example. </p> <p>Here, Bottaro sees potential for LLMs to help employers and potential employees alike. By improving what employers and LinkedIn users write, both sides could benefit, as the company’s job-matching LLM could work far more effectively when its data inputs are higher quality.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="user-experience">User experience</h2> <p>When dealing with such a large member base, accuracy and relevancy metrics can “give a false sense of comfort,” Bottaro said. For example, if the LLM “gets it right 90% of the time, that means that one out of ten would have a horrible experience,” he said.</p> <p>Making this deployment more difficult is the extreme level of nuance and judgment involved in delivering useful, helpful, and accurate answers.</p> <p>“How do you agree what is good and bad? We spent a lot of time with linguists to make guidelines about how to deliver a thorough representation. We did a lot of user studies, too,” Bottaro said. “How do you train the person to write the right response? How do you define the task, specify how the response should look? The product may be trying to be constructive or helpful. It is not trying to assume too much because thatis where hallucinations start. The consistency of the responses is something we are super proud of.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="operating-in-real-time">Operating in real-time</h2> <p>LinkedIn’s sheer scale presents another challenge for job matches. With a billion members, a job ad can have hundreds — if not thousands — of responses within a few minutes of posting. Many job applicants won’t bother to apply if they see that hundreds have already applied. That puts the onus on the LLM to very quickly find members that are matches before less qualified applicants submit their material. After that, it’s still a matter of that member seeing the notification and reacting to it quickly enough.</p> <p>On the employer side, the struggle is finding the applicants that are the best fit — not necessarily those who respond the quickest. The reluctance of some companies to post salary ranges further complicates both efforts as the best qualified applicants may not be interested in a role depending on its compensation. That is a problem that an LLM can’t fix.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="apis-and-rag">APIs and RAG</h2> <p>LinkedIn’s massive trove of data includes a lot of unique information about individuals, employers, skills, and coursework, which its LLMs have not been trained on. As a result, its LLMs are unable to use these assets, as they are currently stored and delivered, for any of their reasoning or response-generating activities, according to LinkedIn’s engineers.</p> <p>Here, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) is a typical work-around. By setting up a pipeline of internal APIs, enterprises can ‘augment’ LLM prompts with additional context to better guide — and guardrail — the LLM’s response. Much of LinkedIn’s data is exposed via RPC APIs, something the company’s engineers say is “convenient for humans to invoke programmatically,” but “is not very LLM friendly.”</p> <p>To solve this issue, LinkedIn’s engineers “wrapped skills” around its APIs to give them an “LLM friendly description of what the API does and when to use it,” as well as configuration details, input and output schema, and all the necessary logic to map the LLM version of each API to its underlying (actual) RPC one, LinkedIn said.</p> <p>“Skills like this enable the LLM to do various things relevant to our product like view profiles,</p> <p>Search articles/people/jobs/companies and even query internal analytics systems,” the company’s engineers wrote in a statement. “The same technique is also used for calling non-LinkedIn APIs like Bing search and news.”</p></div></div></div><category>Generative AI, Software Development, Technology Industry</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095140/what-linkedin-learned-leveraging-llms-for-its-billion-users.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095140</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/greg-bulla-auITmXWF3Qw-unsplash.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="3545112" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>IBM doubles down on hybrid cloud with $6.4B HashiCorp acquisition</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 10:43:32 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>In a move that significantly bolsters its position in the cloud services market, <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ibm-to-acquire-hashicorp-inc-creating-a-comprehensive-end-to-end-hybrid-cloud-platform-832158042.html" rel="nofollow">IBM has announced it is acquiring HashiCorp</a>, a multicloud infrastructure automation company, for $6.4 billion.</p> <p>HashiCorp is known for its Terraform product, an infrastructure automation tool, which is considered an industry standard for infrastructure provisioning in hybrid and multicloud environments.</p> <p><a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ibm-to-acquire-hashicorp-inc-creating-a-comprehensive-end-to-end-hybrid-cloud-platform-832158042.html" rel="nofollow">In the statement</a>, the company said HashiCorp’s suite of products offers “enterprises with extensive Infrastructure Lifecycle Management and Security Lifecycle Management capabilities,” which enable businesses to automate their hybrid and multicloud environments. “Today’s announcement is a continuation of IBM’s deep focus and investment in hybrid cloud and AI, the two most transformational technologies for clients today.”</p> <p>“This is a great acquisition for IBM to formally plug a big gap in the hybrid cloud market which includes Infrastructure Lifecycle Management as well as Security Lifecycle Management, as most enterprises’ primary focus remains on Application Lifecycle Management but not on the structural foundation driving the application,” said Neil Shah, VP for research and partner at Counterpoint Research.</p> <p>“Since IBM’s software business has been on the rise in recent times and its consulting business is not doing that great, this (HashiCorp’s acquisition) makes a right fit there,” said Techarc’s chief analyst and founder, Faisal Kawoosa. “Every company is trying to see how AI can help automate processes> That is where I see this acquisition is fitting right into IBM’s scheme of things because IBM has a lot of AI-related order books already confirmed, so instead of getting into tool and applications development, the acquisition makes a good sense here.”</p> <p>The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024, <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ibm-to-acquire-hashicorp-inc-creating-a-comprehensive-end-to-end-hybrid-cloud-platform-832158042.html" rel="nofollow">the statement added</a>.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="addressing-the-challenge-of-hybrid-cloud-complexity">Addressing the challenge of hybrid cloud complexity</h2> <p>The complexity of managing multicloud and hybrid environments has become a daunting task for enterprises in recent times with the rise of cloud-native applications and <a href="https://www.infoworld.com/article/3689973/what-is-generative-ai-artificial-intelligence-that-creates.html">generative AI</a> (GenAI) deployments. The acquisition of HashiCorp by IBM fortifies IBM’s position in the rapidly growing AI and cloud computing market, two game-changing technologies shaping the future of how enterprises operate.</p> <p>“Enterprise clients are wrestling with an unprecedented expansion in infrastructure and applications across public and private clouds, as well as on-prem environments. The global excitement surrounding generative AI has exacerbated these challenges and CIOs and developers are up against dramatic complexity in their tech strategies,” Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and CEO, said in a press statement. “HashiCorp has a proven track record of enabling clients to manage the complexity of today’s infrastructure and application sprawl. Combining IBM’s portfolio and expertise with HashiCorp’s capabilities and talent will create a comprehensive hybrid cloud platform designed for the AI era.”</p> <p>Managing the infrastructure lifecycle is often an afterthought or is assumed to be done by the systems integrator or the cloud infrastructure provider, Shah noted. “But it is becoming more and more complex for enterprises with variety and velocity of workloads in a hybrid cloud setting with different policies, security, troubleshooting, migrations, feature updates across clouds,” Shah said. He said with the onset of GenAI integrations, it would become even more complex and would need greater automation and policy management. “This is where IBM can gain an edge with HashiCorp’s capabilities and potential customers,” he added.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="what-ibm-gains-from-hashicorp-acquisition">What IBM gains from HashiCorp acquisition</h2> <p>IBM’s acquisition of HashiCorp strengthens the company’s play in the hybrid cloud and DevOps market. HashiCorp’s well-regarded open source tools, particularly Terraform, bolster IBM’s portfolio and provide a path to attract a wider developer base, potentially fostering further innovation, said Prabhu Ram, head for Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research (CMR).</p> <p>Combining IBM’s existing cloud solutions with HashiCorp’s infrastructure automation tools is expected to create a robust platform for managing hybrid and multi-cloud environments. “Our strategy at its core is about enabling companies to innovate in the cloud while providing a consistent approach to managing cloud at scale. The need for effective management and automation is critical with the rise of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, which is being accelerated by today’s AI revolution,” Armon Dadgar, HashiCorp co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a statement.</p> <p>Notably, HashiCorp’s multicloud focus aligns with the market’s increasing demand for flexibility, said CMR’s Ram backing the move. “By integrating these capabilities with its established customer base, IBM can create significant cross-selling opportunities. The combined entity positions IBM as a more comprehensive player in a fiercely competitive landscape, addressing the needs of both traditional infrastructure and emerging AI-driven workloads.” </p> <p>Besides, the HashiCorp acquisition is also expected to accelerate growth for IBM in areas such as RedHat, watsonx, IT automation, and data security. “IBM has done well with RedHat acquisition and has maintained its independence and openness, and if it can follow the same with this acquisition without a hard upsell of its offerings, IBM can become a key open player in the hybrid cloud market,” Shah said.</p></div></div></div><category>IBM, Multi Cloud</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095185/ibm-doubles-down-on-hybrid-cloud-with-6-4b-hashicorp-acquisition.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095185</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IBM-building.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="95237" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>DIY cloud cost management: The strategic case for building your own tools</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 10:01:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Cloud cost management remains a critical CIO priority. With questions around ROI, increasing outlay, and corporate scrutiny on IT cost savings on the rise, CIOs must know not only what contributes to their organization’s overall cloud spend but also how to optimize it. And that’s all before considering the need to fuel <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/657832/cios-sharpen-cloud-cost-strategies-just-as-gen-ai-spikes-loom.html">new AI initiatives</a>, which can push cloud costs up further.<br><br>The dynamic nature of the cloud — and the need for continually optimize operations — often drives requirements unique to a CIO’s enterprise, meaning that even some popular third-party cloud cost optimization tools may no longer fit an enterprise’s specific requirements.</p> <p>For CIOs who may need to customize their cloud cost information streams or manage a complex cloud estate, do-it-yourself cloud cost management may be the way to go. Here’s a look at why you might want to roll your own cloud cost solution, what makes a successful DIY approach, and how some leading organizations have already done so.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-case-for-diy-cloud-cost-management">The case for DIY cloud cost management</h2> <p>While <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/189652/top-13-cloud-cost-management-tools.html">commercial cloud cost optimization tools</a> do the job just fine for the average cloud enterprise, several factors are driving enterprises to build their own cloud cost management tooling internally, including:</p> <ul><li>Commercial cloud optimization tools can come with high costs, especially as some vendors move to usage-based pricing and charge a percentage of your enterprise’s cost savings.</li> <li>Evolving enterprise needs often outpace the product roadmaps of SaaS cost optimization solutions providers.</li> <li>Efforts to customize commercial cost management tools can be just as challenging as building a DIY cloud cost optimization solution.</li></ul> <p>“It gets costly very quick,” says Jim Ducharme, CTO of ClearData, a cloud security posture management (CSPM) and managed detection and response (MDR) SaaS provider for the healthcare industry.</p> <p>Ducharme cites the complexity of cloud cost optimization tools and “AI washing” in the commercial market as reasons behind his company’s move to DIY. He and his teams tried a few off-the-shelf tools but were never satisfied with the support for linking a cloud resource to a line of business to determine ownership. He also wanted to structure a set of governing policies in which each team must answer questions about the cloud resources they use, the expense associated with their use, and other management options for their resources. This strategy alone — achieved with the DIY approach — was responsible for saving $300,000 when his team dug into expenses surrounding Google Cloud Platform log storage, resulting in his team moving the logs to a lower tier of cloud storage and rightsizing the data they retain to adhere to retention requirements.</p> <p>Kevin Garcia, vice president of cloud solutions for IT services firm Presidio, sees larger customers with cloud spends in the $10 million per month range for any one cloud service provider (CSP) encountering issues with commercial offerings. For example, the aggregation of billing data, and the act of grouping tags to populate all the attributes that must be applied after data ingestion, can be burdensome on some cloud cost optimization tools, slowing down efforts to react to the spending data. Garcia gives the example of the AWS cURL file, written three times daily.</p> <p>“You don’t know when it will be written, and you must be ready to consume it. So, [larger customers must] be able to consume that subset of data and run all of the kinds of jobs they want to run on top of it — moving by tags, moving by account ID or business unit, whatever the case might be, in a meaningful way that they can react quickly,” he says.</p> <p>Here, a DIY approach can help enterprise IT teams be more nimble in making adjustments to their cloud resource use, thereby keeping fine-grained, responsive control over cloud usage before costs have a chance to spike.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="anatomy-of-a-diy-cloud-cost-management-program">Anatomy of a DIY cloud cost management program</h2> <p>For most enterprises, custom cloud cost management strategies will begin by leveraging tools available from CSPs themselves.</p> <p>Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all provide native tools for monitoring your cloud usage and spend within their respective cloud platforms.</p> <p>Chris Hennesey, an enterprise strategist with AWS and a former technology CFO for Capital One, advises enterprises CIOs to first consider cloud-native tools from their CSP.</p> <p>“For AWS, many of the key capabilities are tools available to all our customers, such as AWS Cost Explorer and the AWS Cost and Usage report,” he says. “Recently, AWS also announced Cost Optimization Hub, which centralizes many cloud cost recommendations.”</p> <p>Other CSP-native tools, such as Microsoft Cost Management for Azure, Power BI, and Looker, can be a foundation for your DIY cloud cost optimization solution. You can then augment these solutions with open source and commercial reporting tools you may already have in-house, such as Tableau.</p> <p>Beyond these foundational tools, DIY cloud cost optimization <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1272476/5-ways-to-maximize-your-cloud-investment.html">requires a strategy</a> that enables your organization to leverage spot instances, reserved pricing, cloud savings plans, and similar strategies to save on cloud storage costs.</p> <p>Moreover, it requires a culture shift, says Hennessy, stressing the need for a “builder culture” in order for DIY cloud cost optimization to succeed.</p> <p>Ducharme agrees, adding that teams asking questions about their cloud environment is a necessity. Also, your DIY tool is best served in a culture where iteration is accepted as you add new features to your platform over time, on your schedule.</p> <p>Hennesey also advises tackling DIY cloud cost management in “somewhat of a constrained way.”</p> <p>“That could be constraining the number of resources, maybe putting a constraint on time,” he says, offering some “think big, act small” tips for CIOs who’ve put a priority on cloud cost management, including:</p> <ul><li>Dedicate enough staff resources and capacity to ensure a viable effort.</li> <li>Assign a product owner.</li> <li>Follow an agile model to iterate and deliver value over time.</li> <li>Set an eight-week development cycle with two-week sprints.</li> <li>Have a demo of the proof of concept at the end of the eight weeks.</li></ul> <p>“I think a CIO can make a minimal investment … to build that out and see the progress they’ve made,” says Hennessey, who also advocates pitting your DIY proof of concept of against a commercial tool. “If you have a desire to build. I don’t think you have to look past that option because we just see plenty of customers pursuing it.”</p> <p>Presidio’s Garcia believes a key first step to building a DIY cloud cost optimization solution is understanding how your organization manages cloud and cloud costs today versus what’s not being done. He gave the example of a large organization where some departments practiced good cloud hygiene but the same couldn’t be said for three-quarters of the other departments. Building out a governance strategy based on the practices of departments that are getting it right is vital for tracking — and reining in — your cloud budget.</p> <p>At a minimum, your DIY cloud cost optimization team will require an enterprise architect who understands the technology, says Garcia, who also recommends a financial developer or somebody with financial and data science experience. Granted, that can be a hard combination to find, but they’re out there, he says. You can then start building data lakes and models around your data.</p> <p>“Having the financial aspect under control is key,” he stresses. The cross-section of financial and developer background becomes important in running queries using BigQuery and other tools and packaging the financial data into stakeholder reports. A data science engineer who understands business stakeholder needs and ties them back to developing the financial features of your DIY cost optimization solution is another recommendation. The team also needs finance engineers — hands-on keyboard individuals — who can employ the governance controls in each CSP.</p> <p>For smaller companies, Ducharme recommends adding cloud cost management responsibility to the cloud operations team, which he did at ClearData. His cloud ops team already had access to the data and just needed to add governance processes to their duties. According to Ducharme, a small company’s cloud operations team can readily draw on their application performance and resource management skills and experience to support cloud cost optimization better, especially when DIY tools come into play.</p> <p>Of course, not every IT department may be set up for DIY cloud cost optimization success. For example, when discussing DIY approaches with AWS customers, Hennesey will ask what their balance is between in-house and third-party developers.</p> <p>“I would say if a company fully outsources a lot of their third-party capacity into a managed service arrangement, I think leveraging a third-party tool would be the best first choice in that regard,” he says.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="diy-tools-in-action">DIY tools in action</h2> <p>A number of leading organizations have already taken a DIY approach for cloud cost optimization rather than relying on a third-party solution. Here are a few notable examples.</p> <p><strong>Airbnb: </strong>The online property rentals company provides <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/airbnb-optimizes-usage-and-costs-case-study/?did=cr_card&trk=cr_card" rel="nofollow">a prime example</a> of optimizing cloud costs using a DIY approach. The company uses the AWS Cost & Usage Report and Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering and Savings Plans to cut expenses. Amazon OpenSearch Service is used to manage costs within logging infrastructure. The service provides interactive log analytics, real-time application monitoring, website searches, and more. Airbnb has employed UltraWarm storage for Amazon OpenSearch Service, resulting in a 60% reduction in costs to help fuel sustainable growth.</p> <p><strong>Formula 1:</strong> The automobile racing organization has achieved an 80% reduction in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation time and a 30% decrease in the cost of running workloads by using a combination of Amazon EC2 instances. This has enabled Formula 1 to better accomplish its strategic objectives of increasing competitiveness and unpredictability on the track, as well as delivering a world-class spectacle for fans.</p> <p><strong>ClearData:</strong> The 200-person company optimized cloud costs using the same CSPM it sells to customers. The tool collects cloud inventory from AWS, Azure, and GCP into a central environment and implements a tagging strategy for resources during provisioning. ClearData’s tech stack ensured that appropriate tags remained during deployment. According to Ducharme, his team saved over half a million dollars in cloud costs in the past quarter using its own tool and strategies.</p></div></div></div><category>Budgeting, Cloud Computing</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2088981/diy-cloud-cost-management-the-strategic-case-for-building-your-own-tools.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2088981</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_669226204.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="4565978" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>FTC’s noncompete decision signals major shifts in IT job market ahead</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 09:45:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>The Federal Trade Commission has voted <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes" rel="nofollow">to prohibit</a> for-profit US employers from enforcing noncompete clauses in employment agreements.</p> <p>The FTC decision is expected to have significant ramifications for the IT talent market. Experts believe that removing restrictive clauses could lead to a more competitive job market, enabling tech professionals to negotiate better conditions and to access a wider pool of better jobs.</p> <p>“What the FTC’s official ban means for CIOs is a greater awareness that noncompetes do not create a barrier to employment with any company, or any sense of comfort that other employees leaving the company will not work for a competitor or start up their own business using skills they have acquired during their employment,” said Linda Ashar, an employment lawyer and an associate professor at the American Public University System.</p> <p>“It also improves wage prospects” for IT workers, she said.</p> <p>With a 3-to-2 vote, the FTC set a timeline of 120 days for the new regulation to come into effect, abolishing noncompetes for most workers. Unlike lower-level counterparts, for whom current noncompetes will no longer be enforceable, senior executives may still be bound by existing agreements.</p> <p>During its decision-making process, the FTC listened to testimonies from thousands who felt stifled by these agreements. FTC Chair Lina Khan highlighted that noncompetes have been “robbing people of their economic liberty.” As an entity, the FTC is dedicated to protecting the American public from unfair business practices.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="room-for-debate">Room for debate</h2> <p>The decision caused a partisan divide among FTC commissioners, with the FTC’s two Republican members opposing the rule. They argued that the FTC overstepped its bounds and that Congress should legislate such regulatory changes.</p> <p>Shortly after the ruling, the US Chamber of Commerce <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/finance/antitrust/u-s-chamber-to-sue-ftc-over-unlawful-power-grab-on-noncompete-agreements-ban" rel="nofollow">announced its intention</a> to challenge the ban in court, criticizing it as “unnecessary and unlawful” and warning that it might compromise the competitive edge of American businesses. The Chamber’s strong reaction underscores the contentious nature of this new rule and signals a heated legal battle ahead. The Chamber’s mission is to advocate for the interests of business and free enterprise.</p> <p>Senior tech workers may be less affected by the ruling. Keith Noe, an intellectual property lawyer with Lando & Anastasi, pointed out that the ban has a carve-out for “senior executives” making over $151,164 annually in “policy-making” roles. He said, “A CIO may fall within this category, and senior developers may as well.”</p> <p>Gregory S. Bombard, a trial lawyer for tech noncompetition agreements, pointed out that there are “some significant questions” about whether the FTC has the legal authority to ban the enforcement of noncompete agreements.</p> <p>“The US Chamber of Commerce has already filed a lawsuit challenging the FTC’s action. We will have to see how legal challenges to the FTC’s rule play out,” he said.</p> <p>According to Bombard, if the FTC’s rule is upheld and becomes effective, software industry employers will likely focus more on protecting trade secrets.</p> <p>“Noncompete agreements are just one tool in an employer’s tool belt for protecting confidential information or trade secrets from being used by a competitor,” he said. “For example, California has long banned noncompete agreements but leads the country in trade secret misappropriation litigation. We can expect that if the FTC’s rule goes into effect, then we will see more litigation over whether departing employees took confidential information or trade secrets to their new employers.”</p> <p>Jonathan Landesman, head of the Labor and Employment Group at Cohen Seglias law firm, predicted that banning noncompetes would allow employees at all levels to pursue job opportunities that were once off-limits.</p> <p>“Whether employees actually experience a boost in pay remains to be seen; however, there is no question that the new rule will also make it more challenging for software developers to protect the investments they have made in intellectual property and trade secrets,” he said.</p> <p>“Without using noncompete agreements, businesses in the software industry will need to increase their focus on alternative ways to protect themselves and their assets, including implementing policies and practices that better track the access and use of confidential and proprietary information and developing agreements that more specifically address restricting the use of trade secrets,” he added.</p> <p>Although the ban could lead to more job movement, fostering innovation, it may also increase business risks, said Lauren Aydinliyim, a former in-house lawyer in the software industry and a current professor at Baruch College in New York City whose research focuses on employee noncompete agreements.</p> <p>“Software companies will need to find new ways to protect their confidential information without relying on traditional noncompetes or perhaps even existing NDAs and the like,” she said. “This could require reevaluating current practices and exploring alternative strategies for maintaining business continuity.”</p></div></div></div><category>Government, Hiring, IT Jobs, Regulation, Salaries</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095133/ftcs-noncompete-decision-signals-major-shifts-in-it-job-market-ahead.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095133</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_1823014802-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="12671456" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Salesforce debuts Zero Copy Partner Network to ease data integration</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 08:30:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>At Salesforce World Tour NYC today, Salesforce unveiled a new global ecosystem of technology and solution providers geared to help its customers leverage third-party data via secure, bidirectional zero-copy integrations with Salesforce Data Cloud.</p> <p>“The big thing we hear from many of our customers is, ‘I already have data in N number of XYZ data platforms. How do I use that data within the context of all of these products that you’re offering, but in a way that I don’t have to create multiple iterations of that data and lose data lineage?’,” said Tyler Carlson, VP of business development and strategic partnerships at Salesforce.</p> <p>Currently, a handful of startups offer “reverse” extract, transform, and load (ETL), in which they copy data from a customer’s data warehouse or data platform back into systems of engagement where business users do their work.</p> <p>“The challenge that a lot of our customers have is that requires you to copy that data, store it in Salesforce; you have to create a place to store it; you have to create an object or field in which to store it; and then you have to maintain that pipeline of data synchronization and make sure that data is updated,” Carlson said.</p> <p>The zero-copy pattern helps customers map the data from external platforms into the Salesforce metadata model, providing a virtual object definition for that object.</p> <p>“It works in Salesforce just like any other native Salesforce data,” Carlson said. “You can do flows and automations on it. You can use it within Prompt Builder in our generative AI tools. You can have it just referenced on the record. It’s a much more seamless process for customers than having to purchase a third-party reverse ETL tool or manage some sort of pipeline back into Salesforce.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="streamlining-third-party-data-connections">Streamlining third-party data connections</h2> <p>Dubbed the Zero Copy Partner Network, the new ecosystem brings together ISVs and SIs in an effort to get rid of the custom integrations and complex data pipelines previously required to integrate and move data from Salesforce to external data warehouses and vice versa. Carlson said zero-copy integration offers businesses a more efficient, secure, and user-friendly way to connect data to business applications compared with traditional ETL processes and data pipelines.</p> <p>The traditional methods of accessing data from third-party systems require businesses to build and maintain the connection and reconcile data changes over time. Zero-copy integration means teams access data where it lives, through queries or by virtually accessing the file.</p> <p>Salesforce pioneered zero-copy bidirectional integrations with Data Cloud via partnerships with Amazon Redshift, Databricks, Google Cloud’s BigQuery, and Snowflake. With today’s announcement, integrations with BigQuery and Snowflake are generally available. Carlson noted that integrations with Redshift and Databricks are still in pilot but will go live later this year.</p> <p>“We’re expanding the network to include our ISV ecosystem, enabling them to build on top of those zero-copy connectors to offer enrichment datasets, SaaS applications, and business applications with zero-copy integration to the data that resides in their platforms,” he added. “We are also extending that to our SI ecosystem to make sure that all of the global SIs we work with are certified and ready to help our customers with this distributed zero-copy integration pattern.”</p> <p>According to Carlson, the benefits of zero-copy integrations include:</p> <ul><li><strong>Accessing live external data without copying (no reverse ETL). </strong>Zero-copy integration means accessing live data where it lives. If the source data changes, it updates everywhere immediately.</li> <li><strong>Acting on data from anywhere in the flow of work.</strong> The data becomes part of Salesforce’s metadata framework and can thus be used in multiple ways, including generating BI or AI insights, marketing segmentation or activation, or creating unified customer experiences. For instance, a Data Cloud-triggered flow could update an account manager in Slack when shipments in an external data lake are marked as delayed.</li> <li><strong>Sharing Customer 360 insights back without data replication.</strong> Not only does zero-copy integration provide the ability to read data from data warehouses and data lakes, it also enables sharing insights back to those systems without data replication.</li> <li><strong>Maintain governance and security.</strong> Zero-copy integration eliminates the need for manual data movement, preserving data lineage and enabling centralized control fat the data source.</li> <li><strong>Ground generative AI.</strong> Zero-copy integrations can connect to unstructured data (like PDFs, call transcripts, and emails) in addition to structured data, making it possible to bring unified business data into any AI prompt.</li></ul> <p>Currently, Data Cloud leverages live SQL queries to access data from external data platforms via zero copy. Carlson said that makes sense for data warehouses that have a query interface, but Salesforce also plans to use Apache Iceberg to provide a new, low-latency way of virtualizing data in Data Cloud with direct file access at the storage level. When released, this will extend zero-copy data access to any open data lake or lakehouse that stores data in Iceberg or can provide Iceberg metadata for its table.</p> <p>Later this year, Salesforce will also add zero-copy support to the Data Kits that ISVs use to distribute datasets and enrich customers’ data in Data Cloud. Data Kits are containers of Data Cloud metadata that can be packaged and installed from the Salesforce AppExchange. The zero-copy support for Data Kits will enable customers to access third-party datasets from partners via the same zero-copy integrations they use for accessing their own data platforms.</p> <p>“What it allows a third party to do is to do the heavy lifting of mapping that data into Salesforce’s canonical Customer 360 data model, so when a customer downloads that Data Kit, they get this rich data from a third party, but it’s pre-mapped so it’s zero ETL into the Data Cloud data model,” Carlson said. “We’re announcing the extension of that Data Kit framework to include the zero-copy connectors that we’ve built with our technology partners.”</p> <p>For example, a partner like The Weather Company could offer a third-party Data Kit of real-time weather data with zero-copy support. An insurance company could procure that data set to support a gen AI application that generates email alerts for customers about an impending weather event. With zero-copy support, the insurance company wouldn’t have to load that weather data into their platform. It could just reference the data virtually from The Weather Company’s data set.</p> <p>Salesforce also announced zero-copy support for Heroku Postgres. Carlson claimed this will allow developers to leverage Heroku Postgres data across Data Cloud-powered Salesforce experiences and existing Heroku applications.</p> <p>“We have heard from our customers about unlocking trapped enterprise data for use in CRM and grounding generative AI,” he said. “This zero-copy pattern we’re seeing is going to become more and more prevalent.”</p></div></div></div><category>CRM Systems, Data Management, Salesforce.com</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095136/salesforce-debuts-zero-copy-partner-network-to-ease-data-integration.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095136</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_editorial_1639536604.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="10686412" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Salesforce launches Einstein Copilot for general availability</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 08:15:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>At its World Tour NYC today, Salesforce announced the general availability of Salesforce Einstein Copilot, its conversational AI assistant for CRM. The company <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/652017/salesforce-readies-einstein-copilot-to-unleash-generative-ai-across-its-offerings.html">first announced Einstein Copilot</a> in September last year, and <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1311863/salesforce-rebrands-its-low-code-platform-to-einstein-1-studio.html">released Einstein 1 Studio</a> in March as part of its <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1312132/salesforce-bids-to-become-copilot-building-platform-of-choice.html">bid to become the platform of choice</a> for building AI assistants for business.</p> <p>Salesforce also unveiled new enhancements to the platform, including “Copilot Actions,” a library of preprogrammed capabilities to help sellers benefit from conversational AI in Sales Cloud.</p> <p>“This is built for Salesforce users no matter what they’re using,” said Sanjna Parulekar, VP of Einstein AI product marketing at Salesforce. “The way our Salesforce admins and developers — or Trailblazers — are going to add enterprise value to conversational AI is through these actions.”</p> <p>Parulekar explained that Copilot Actions are workflows that can be built via the Einstein 1 Studio platform. Business process automation (BPA) can be an action, for instance, as can anything that updates a record, populates information, and pulls data. New preprogrammed Copilot Actions include:</p> <ul><li><strong>Close Plans.</strong> Using this action, sales reps and managers can ask Einstein Copilot to create a personalized close plan for an opportunity, including step-by-step tactics based on historical opportunity and account data, as well as recommended dates of action.</li> <li><strong>Forecast Guidance.</strong> This action enables sales managers to ask questions, such as which deals are at risk, and receive a summarized list of deals that could explain why a rep might not hit their quota, as well as top reasons why those deals were chosen, including close data or lack of recent activities.</li> <li><strong>Call Explorer. </strong>Using retrieval augmented generation (RAG), this action enables sales reps to query prior call transcripts captured in Einstein Conversation Insights. It also allows sales reps to ask questions about customer sentiment.</li> <li><strong>Follow-up Emails.</strong> This action gives sales reps the power to ask Einstein Copilot to write customized follow-up emails based on prior calls.</li></ul> <p>“When an end-user asks Copilot, ‘Help me identify my top opportunities,’ Copilot can answer by reasoning across the actions that are available to it,” Parulekar said.</p> <p>She noted that Salesforce plans to release new packs of actions for its various cloud offerings on a regular cadence.</p> <p>“Einstein has always been predicated on this notion that we’re going to deploy AI in an out-of-the-box way for use cases we know our customers are looking to us to solve, but always provide a customization option,” she said.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="greater-ease-of-use">Greater ease of use</h2> <p>High-level users can leverage Copilot Builder in Einstein 1 Studio to build their own actions, but the beauty of the preprogrammed actions, Parulekar said, is that users can leverage them without having to train or fine-tune a large language model (LLM). For CRM use cases such as writing an email or providing forecast guidance that draws on well-defined customer data and workflows, users can simply enable those actions and go, she said.</p> <p>“For our more sophisticated customers that might have data scientists, and maybe have built their own LLM [and] have the money and resources to train on their own corpus of data, they can absolutely do that,” Parulekar said. “But that’s a small fraction of our customer base. It’s all about flexibility and making sure that AI is not cost-prohibitive for our customers.”</p> <p>Salesforce has also introduced new platform enhancements, including:</p> <ul><li><strong>Copilot Analytics. </strong>Parulekar said a preconfigured analytics dashboard can help admins visualize key Einstein Copilot metrics such as actions used, average interactions per user, and success rates.</li> <li><strong>Recommended Actions.</strong> The Copilot can now recommend single-click standard actions specific to the page a user is on. Examples include “summarize opportunity” on the opportunity page, or “draft an email” on the contact page.</li> <li><strong>Mobile app access. </strong>Einstein Copilot is now live on the Salesforce mobile app, and voice-to-text functionality gives mobile users the ability to talk with their data and workflows.</li></ul> <p>“With Copilot Analytics, folks can measure the efficacy, the usage they are getting out of Copilot — who’s using it, and what they’re asking,” Parulekar said. “Copilot Analytics is really a trust feature because you need to be able to measure something and understand how to improve it in order to trust it’s doing the thing you hope it is.”</p> <p>Einstein Copilot, Copilot Sales Actions, and Copilot Analytics are all now generally available. Salesforce notes that customers looking to scale Einstein Copilot can invest in its new AI Implementation Bundle, which includes discounted sandbox environments, and reduced-cost licenses to customize and deploy conversational AI.</p></div></div></div><category>Artificial Intelligence, Salesforce.com</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095127/salesforce-einstein-copilot-now-available.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095127</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/150914-salesforce-dreamforce-2-100614575-orig-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="1170308" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>7 tendenze del 2024 per una valida strategia cloud aziendale</title> <pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2024 05:00:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Ogni CIO sa bene che il mercato del cloud è sempre in movimento, nelle più disparate direzioni. Tuttavia, forse, non si rende conto che è possibile tenere il passo con i cambiamenti del mercato della “nuvola”, e persino avere la meglio sui vendor, modificando la strategia della propria impresa per trarre vantaggio da nuovi approcci e da nuove opportunità emergenti.</p> <p>I CIO devono considerare il cloud come una necessità aziendale, non solo come una potente tecnologia, afferma Andy Tay, responsabile di Accenture Cloud First, una società di consulenza e servizi specializzati nella nuvola.</p> <p>“Il cloud si è evoluto nel sistema operativo dell’impresa del futuro, trascendendo il suo ruolo iniziale di misura di risparmio”, spiega. Secondo Tay, la nuvola è, oggi, la spina dorsale fondamentale di un nucleo digitale pronto per essere re-inventato, abile a fornire i componenti necessari per alimentare il rapido sviluppo di nuove capacità e modelli di business.</p> <p>La vostra azienda sta facendo tutto il possibile per trarre vantaggio da un mercato cloud in rapida evoluzione? Ecco sette tendenze che vi aiuteranno a trasformare l’evoluzione del mercato che vi sottende in un’opportunità.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="1-centralizzare-le-cloud-operation-per-ottenere-vantaggi-a-livello-aziendale">1. Centralizzare le cloud operation per ottenere vantaggi a livello aziendale</h2> <p>Un CIO dovrebbe poter contare su un appoggio sia commerciale che tecnico per il suo programma cloud, consiglia JB McGinnis, direttore di Deloitte Consulting. A questo dovrebbe seguire la creazione di un centro di eccellenza, un’entità centralizzata che fornisca indicazioni, competenze e supporto per le iniziative cloud in aree specifiche.</p> <p>“Investire nell’apprendimento e nello sviluppo, per esempio, per massimizzare la possibilità di trattenere i talenti esistenti e attrarne di nuovi”, osserva.</p> <p>McGinnis raccomanda anche di incoraggiare i team di sviluppatori cloud a esplorare e innovare in un contesto sicuro. “Attività come le giornate immersive e dedicate all’innovazione, nonché gli hackathon, possono favorire le opportunità di leadership e contribuire alla cultura di una comunità vivace in tal senso”.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="2-ripensare-le-strategie-per-contenere-i-costi-e-concentrarsi-sui-benefici">2. Ripensare le strategie per contenere i costi e concentrarsi sui benefici</h2> <p>Le innovazioni nel mercato del cloud, in particolare quelle abilitate dall’IA, stanno superando la domanda effettiva, dichiara Anay Nawathe, direttore della società di ricerca e consulenza tecnologica ISG. “Di conseguenza, quando si tratta della nuvola, molti Chief Information Officer si sentono sopraffatti da una moltitudine di scelte, hanno paura di perdere qualcosa, e prendono decisioni affrettate e non opportune”.</p> <p>L’ambito delle strategie cloud si è notevolmente ampliato negli ultimi anni, evidenzia Nawathe. “Se, un tempo, li si poteva considerare come un esercizio puramente infrastrutturale, oggi i servizi cloud risultano posizionati in una posizione elevata dello stack tecnologico, fino a poterli ritenere allo stesso livello dei dati e delle applicazioni, incorporando tutta l’infrastruttura nei cloud privati aziendali, nei cloud pubblici multipli e nell’edge”, aggiunge. “Tuttavia, non tutti i carichi di lavoro applicativi e di dati appartengono al cloud pubblico e le aziende devono assicurarsi di distribuirli nel modo corretto”.</p> <p>Il modo migliore per affrontare l’attuale mercato della nuvola è attraverso investimenti ben ponderati e orientati ai casi d’uso, prosegue ancora il manager. “Ciò richiede che le aziende comprendano le loro strategie applicative individuali e che utilizzino tale consapevolezza per costruire un ecosistema e tutto il corredo di funzionalità di supporto che consentano ai team applicativi di operare al giusto ritmo, gestendo, al contempo, costi e rischi”. Nel frattempo, aggiunge, una forte attenzione alla governance per fornire ai team applicativi le linee guida e i binari di sicurezza, potrà rivelarsi fondamentale per un’implementazione di successo.</p> <p>A differenza delle strategie del passato, che davano la priorità alla rapida crescita del cloud in nome dell’innovazione, l’approccio attuale <strong><a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1309572/cios-rethink-all-in-cloud-strategies.html">enfatizza il rigore finanziario e la due diligence tecnica [in inglese]</a></strong>. “L’obbligo di sviluppare un’analisi completa del total cost of ownership e del ritorno sull’investimento prima di effettuare investimenti nel cloud, non solo consente alle aziende di gestire i loro budget, ma richiede anche ai team applicativi di articolare chiaramente i loro requisiti, e di stabilire una strategia per adottare con successo le nuove tecnologie”, precisa Nawathe.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="3-collaborare-per-linnovazione">3. Collaborare per l’innovazione</h2> <p>Tay di Accenture ritiene che i CIO dovrebbero sfruttare i loro partner del cloud per acquisire un vantaggio strategico. “Gli hyperscaler e gli altri fornitori di ecosistemi emergenti stanno investendo molto nell’innovazione e nelle tecnologie avanzate, compresi gli strumenti e le capacità dell’IA generativa in grado di accelerare in maniera massiccia la modernizzazione”, osserva. Rivolgersi a partner di fiducia per raggiungere questo obiettivo è una mossa corretta, suggerisce Tay. “Questi esperti aiuteranno a guidare le decisioni e a introdurre pratiche moderne in ogni fase del viaggio nel cloud e nel digital core”.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="4-diversificare-e-allineare-per-ottenere-efficienza-e-successi-commerciali">4. Diversificare e allineare per ottenere efficienza e successi commerciali</h2> <p>È importante affrontare l’attuale mercato della nuvola tenendo sempre in primo piano i risultati e le metriche aziendali, consiglia Arvind Joshi, Chief Operating Officer per la global technology e co-responsabile del cloud pubblico di JPMorgan Chase. “Con un approccio multicloud, le grandi imprese possono distribuire i carichi di lavoro, dotandosi di strumenti migliori per mitigare le interruzioni dei servizi, gestire i dati e aumentare l’efficienza dei costi”. D’altra parte, avverte che i vantaggi di una strategia di questo tipo non possono essere facilmente ottimizzati senza mantenere una stretta attenzione alla misurazione dei progressi, monitorando i KPI sull’esecuzione, sui rischi, sui i risultati positivi e sui costi.</p> <p>Joshi sottolinea anche l’importanza di una pianificazione completa che coinvolga gli stakeholder aziendali e tecnici, secondo lui fondamentale quando si costruisce una strategia cloud. “Deve esserci un allineamento con le priorità generali dell’organizzazione tecnologica e dell’azienda”, afferma. “Con un modello operativo coerente tra il cloud e l’on-premise, e le integrazioni senza soluzione di continuità che aiutino gli sviluppatori di applicazioni a costruire ed eseguire il codice, la strategia cloud ha il potenziale per generare valore aziendale”.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="5-essere-full-cloud">5. Essere “full-cloud”</h2> <p>Abbandonare la tecnologia legacy è il consiglio di Daragh Mahon, CIO dell’azienda di trasporto merci e logistica Werner Enterprises. “Aggiungere soluzioni cloud moderne a uno stack tecnologico ormai datato è come costruire una casa nuova su fondamenta marce: alla fine causerà problemi che sarà costoso risolvere”.</p> <p>Mahon raccomanda un’azione immediata per le aziende ancora impantanate nelle tecnologie legacy. “Liberarsi dei sistemi di questo tipo consentirà di evitare il problema di separarli dallo stack tecnologico quando, inevitabilmente, diventeranno obsoleti”, spiega. “Sulla nuvola il rischio dell’obsolescenza non sussiste, perché le soluzioni sono costantemente aggiornate e più facili da sostituire”.</p> <p>Dare priorità al cloud è un primo passo importante quando si esplorano nuove opzioni tecnologiche, dice Mahon. “Se possibile, è consigliabile acquistare la soluzione piuttosto che costruirla”. Osserva, inoltre, che i prodotti di questo tipo sono più rapidi da implementare rispetto al software on-premise e, in genere, richiedono meno manutenzione, eliminando la necessità di aggiornamenti manuali e di gestione delle patch. “Vengono upgradati continuamente, assicurando che si utilizzi sempre l’ultima versione”.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="6-ri-focalizzare-le-strategie-sul-valore-aziendale">6. Ri-focalizzare le strategie sul valore aziendale</h2> <p>Una strategia cloud moderna richiede un allineamento continuo tra azienda e tecnologia, rileva Seth Robinson, vice president della ricerca nel settore industriale di CompTIA. Osserva che, finora, la maggior parte dei reparti IT si è concentrata sulla costruzione di sistemi dedicati al supporto delle attività aziendali, seguiti dal monitoraggio delle prestazioni e dal mantenimento della salute del sistema. “In un modello di cloud moderno, occorre svolgere ancora del lavoro tecnico per la creazione di risorse virtuali e per affrontare gli ostacoli tecnologici, ma è molto più importante garantire che i sistemi siano allineati con gli obiettivi aziendali”, chiarisce.</p> <p>La moderna strategia cloud richiede una solida comprensione degli obiettivi aziendali, accompagnata da competenze tecniche e acume finanziario, prosegue Robinson. Sebbene un CIO possa “possedere” la decisione finale su uno specifico approccio, il processo decisionale collaborativo, che risulta oggi applicato da molte aziende, coinvolge anche altri leader aziendali.</p> <p>Guardando al futuro, Robinson ritiene che una pianificazione cloud attenta e dettagliata sia essenziale. “Una strategia ben gestita può migliorare notevolmente la flessibilità e la resilienza dei sistemi aziendali ma, senza un’adeguata attenzione ai dettagli, le imprese possono incorrere in un eccesso di costi e in vulnerabilità di sicurezza”.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="7-impegni-piu-selettivi-nel-cloud">7. Impegni più selettivi nel cloud</h2> <p>Il mercato odierno della nuvola è molto più attento ai costi rispetto agli anni passati, tiene a precisare Randy Shore, vice president del delivery e del supporto alla produzione del provider di attrezzature per la movimentazione delle merci Kion. “Lo stato dell’economia e dei finanziamenti incoraggia le aziende a trovare il modo di far fruttare di più il loro denaro”.</p> <p>I CIO che un tempo erano disposti a sperimentare o a giocare con i servizi cloud ora stanno maturando, e portano nel cloud casi d’uso specifici, aggiunge Shore. L’aumento della selettività significa anche che alcuni leader IT stanno valutando di riportare determinati carichi di lavoro on-premise, in particolare per quanto riguarda gli strumenti. Tale approccio, osserva, consente di utilizzare il cloud per scalare dinamicamente l’infrastruttura e sfruttare i servizi gestiti dai loro vendor. “Ha dato agli utenti la possibilità di lavorare con i fornitori di servizi cloud, consentendo loro di fare ‘shopping di tariffe’ e di determinare quale sia il piano più adatto, e il prezzo migliore, per il loro caso d’uso”, conclude il manager.</p></div></div></div><category>Cloud Computing, Cloud Management, Hybrid Cloud</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095054/7-tendenze-del-2024-per-una-valida-strategia-cloud-aziendale.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095054</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/japan-data-center-it-specialist-man_shutterstock_1363031135.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="238521" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>変革をもたらす人材を育成するためにエリーインシュアランスが行っていること</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 21:00:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>エリー・インシュアランスのリーダーシップ・チームが大規模な変革を計画したとき、ITだけの取り組みではだめだとわかっていた。変革のテーマである近代化、クラス最高の代理店体験、マルチチャネルでの顧客体験、卓越した商品、イノベーションは、非常にビジネス中心的なものであり、全社的な取り組みによってのみ達成できるものだった。</p> <p>2年前にCIOとして入社したパルタ・スリニヴァーサは、この取り組みを推進する重要なリーダーの一人となった。「私たちの戦略で最も重要なのは、企業マインドを持った統一チームとして働くことです」と彼は言う。「その作業は製品、保険金請求、サービス、ITのどれをとっても、エリーの企業変革推進室という1つのチームによって行われる。」</p> <p>変革の主要テーマは、近代化、デジタル、データ、クラウドである。モダナイゼーションの取り組みの多くはITに関わるものだが、スリニヴァーサ氏は、それがITに限定されることなく、ビジネスの取り組みであることを保証している。これを実現するために、1つ目のポイントは、スポンサーシップの重要性、特に変革の重要性を強調するCEOの働きかけである。</p> <p>2つ目は、エリーの企業変革推進室である。「私たちは戦略に基づいてすべての優先順位を決定し、その戦略に沿わない仕事はすべて優先順位を下げることにした。また、戦略、計画、実施に責任を持つ企業変革推進室を率いるリーダーで構成されるクロスファンクショナル・チームを結成した。」</p> <p>最後に、エリー・インシュアランスが変革を推進する方法は、企業のビジネス・アジリティを活用することである。その鍵となるのが進捗状況の透明性であり、スリニヴァーサは、主要テーマに関する進捗状況を示すスコアカードを通じて、同僚や取締役会に定期的な最新情報を提供することでこれを実現している。「私のダッシュボードは、当社の近代化プログラムの進捗状況を示しており、取締役会には、AからBに針が動いたことを伝えている」と彼は言う。</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="%e4%ba%ba%e6%9d%90%e3%81%ae%e5%95%8f%e9%a1%8c">人材の問題</h2> <p>エグゼクティブ・レベルのスポンサーシップと協力的な変革オフィスは非常に重要だが、IT内部と企業全体の人材が適切なスキルやマインドセットを持っていなければ、その効果は期待できない。</p> <p>変革をもたらす人材を特定し、その実行に焦点を当て続けるために、スリニヴァーサ氏はIDEATE（イノベーション、デリバリー、効率性、加速、人材、実行品質）という概念を用いている。IDEATEの必要性を念頭に、同社は人材育成に多方面からのアプローチをとっている。</p> <p>IT部門には、人材の獲得、維持、育成に重点を置いたハイレベルな人材プログラムがいくつかある。重要な人材パイプラインのひとつが、18カ月間実施される見習いプログラムで、研修生はITの少なくとも3つの分野に触れ、学びながら生産性を高めることが期待される。プログラムが終了すると、彼らは自分のスキルと関心が最も合致する部門の職務に就く。</p> <p>スリニヴァーサはまた、ITのコア・スキルはないが強力なリーダーである人を対象としたITリーダー・プログラムも実施している。「私たちのITリーダー・プログラムは、軍歴があったり、IT以外の部門でリーダー経験があったりするシニアのためのものです」と彼は言う。「しかし、彼らは優れたコミュニケーション能力を持ち、物事を成し遂げる方法を知っている。このプログラムによって、ITチームは技術的スキルとリーダーシップ・スキルの適切なバランスを持つことができる。」</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="%e5%a4%89%e9%9d%a9%e3%82%92%e6%8e%a8%e9%80%b2%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b%e6%b0%97%e9%a2%a8">変革を推進する気風</h2> <p>エリー保険のIT組織では、技術者がレガシー技術から新興技術にシフトする「横移動」プログラムも実施している。彼はまた、ストレッチ・アサインメントというアプローチもとっている。「本業はビジネス・アナリストだが、プロジェクト・マネジャーとしてストレッチ・アサインメントを受けることになるかもしれない」と彼は言う。</p> <p>このようなプログラムと同様に重要なのは、IT組織の全員がクラウド認定を取得し、アジャイル開発のトレーニングを受けることだ。このトレーニングの定着率は高く、IT部門の離職率は業界最低水準であるとスリニヴァーサ氏は言う。</p> <p>スリニヴァーサ氏がこれらのプログラムすべてに求めているのは、変革人材にとって最も重要なスキルセットであると彼が考えているもの、すなわち、顧客中心主義、先駆的な考え方、協調性、適応性である。しかし、これらのスキルのどれよりも重要なのは、変革を推進する能力だと彼は言う。</p> <p>「時に企業は、全員が変革に真にコミットする前に変革を始めることがある」と彼は言う。「私が人材に求める最も重要なスキルは、日々の活動をより広範な変革のゴールに結びつける能力であり、古いものから新しいものへとシフトする情熱を持っていることだ」。</p></div></div></div><category>Careers</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095023/%e5%a4%89%e9%9d%a9%e3%82%92%e3%82%82%e3%81%9f%e3%82%89%e3%81%99%e4%ba%ba%e6%9d%90%e3%82%92%e8%82%b2%e6%88%90%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b%e3%81%9f%e3%82%81%e3%81%ab%e3%82%a8%e3%83%aa%e3%83%bc%e3%82%a4%e3%83%b3.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095023</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Partha-Srinivasa-CIO-Erie-Insurance.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="409608" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Top 4 focus areas for securing your software supply chain</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 17:50:47 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>The complexity of the software supply chain (SSC) has the potential to expose your organization to greater risk than ever before. In today’s fast-paced software development landscape, managing and securing the software supply chain is crucial for delivering reliable and trusted software releases. Thus, it’s important to assess whether your organization is set up to handle the continuous expansion of the open-source ecosystem and an ever-growing array of tools to incorporate into your supply chain.</p> <p>Leaders who choose the right tools, processes, and practices for their organizations will be able to harness the power of the most diverse software supply chain we’ve ever seen and, in turn, solidify their security posture and secure their competitive advantage.</p> <p>To help IT and security leaders prepare, we’ve compiled a comprehensive report that combines JFrog’s extensive usage data from millions of users, meticulous CVE analysis conducted by the JFrog Security Research Team and commissioned third-party survey data from 1,224 professionals in Security, Development, and Ops roles. Here, you’ll find a high-level synopsis of the report’s key findings and recommendations. <a href="https://jfrog.com/software-supply-chain-state-of-union-ppc/?utm_source=foundry&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=GatedBrandpost%7CFoundry%7CSoftwareArtifactoryStateoftheUnion%7CAMER%7C202404&utm_content=u-bin" data-type="link" data-id="https://jfrog.com/software-supply-chain-state-of-union-ppc/?utm_source=foundry&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=GatedBrandpost%7CFoundry%7CSoftwareArtifactoryStateoftheUnion%7CAMER%7C202404&utm_content=u-bin" rel="sponsored">You can also check out the full report</a>.</p> <p>This year’s report yielded four key themes:</p> <ol start="1"><li><strong>An exploding software supply chain (SSC) with a vast range of languages and package types: </strong>While development organizations can and should take advantage of the programming languages best suited to the needs of their project, every additional programming language or package type creates an additional threat vector and another layer of complexity to manage, from both a DevOps and security perspective. For large companies especially, managing the secure use of 10+ technologies can be a nightmare without the right tools and processes in place.</li> <li><strong>Where risk is hiding (and where it’s not).</strong> While risk lies beyond the open-source ecosystem, not all reported vulnerabilities are worth spending time remediating. Traditional CVSS ratings look purely at the severity of the exploit as opposed to the likelihood it will be exploited, which requires context to make an effective assessment.</li> <li><strong>Security taking a toll on productivity: </strong>40% of survey respondents said it typically takes a week or longer to get approval to use a new package/library, extending time to market for new apps and software updates. Additionally, approximately 25% of security teams’ time is spent remediating vulnerabilities, even when those vulnerabilities may be overrated or even non-exploitable given their current context.</li> <li><strong>The serious impact of AI/ML. </strong>While it’s exciting to see organizations taking an important step in bringing ML model development into their secure software supply chain by managing models alongside all their other software artifacts, organizations need to be intentional about how they’re leveraging AI-based tools and move quickly to adopt security best practices for model use.</li></ol> <p>In a nutshell, the overwhelming amount of change and the rate of expansion in terms of the tools, technologies, and languages available today has the potential to put a massive strain on organizations, but if managed properly, the power of an end-to-end software supply chain strategy can help companies leapfrog their competition.</p> <p><a href="https://jfrog.com/software-supply-chain-state-of-union-ppc/?utm_source=foundry&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=GatedBrandpost%7CFoundry%7CSoftwareArtifactoryStateoftheUnion%7CAMER%7C202404&utm_content=u-bin" data-type="link" data-id="https://jfrog.com/software-supply-chain-state-of-union-ppc/?utm_source=foundry&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=GatedBrandpost%7CFoundry%7CSoftwareArtifactoryStateoftheUnion%7CAMER%7C202404&utm_content=u-bin" rel="sponsored">Read the full report.</a></p></div></div></div><category>Security</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2095078/top-4-focus-areas-for-securing-your-software-supply-chain.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2095078</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SASU-no-logo-Final-2.png" length="1458710" type="image/png" /> </item> <item> <title>A changing market landscape requires constant evolution: Our mission for VMware customers</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:25:43 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Our goal since the Broadcom/VMware acquisition was completed last November has been to help our customers move fast in their digital transformation to position themselves for success.</p> <p>Even before the transaction was finalized, we had been listening to VMware’s customers. As we moved from transaction to integration, we began to translate customer thoughts into a comprehensive go-to-market strategy for VMware Cloud Foundation, or VCF. Early in this process, I concluded that the previous go-to-market model was too complex and costly for VMware and its customers. It demonstrated that all too often, as innovative companies expand, decisions are made incrementally, not holistically as part of a larger, comprehensive strategy.</p> <p>Last month, I reflected on the <strong><a href="https://www.cio.com/article/2067593/vmware-by-broadcom-the-first-100-days.html" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.cio.com/article/2067593/vmware-by-broadcom-the-first-100-days.html" target="_blank">first 100 days</a></strong> since we completed the acquisition, and I shared what I was hearing from customers. They want a simpler product and constant innovation with an eye toward security and resilience. There have been many questions about how we’re putting this feedback into action. Today, I want to clarify what we’re offering VMware customers and address those questions head on.</p> <p><strong>First, we remain steadfast in our decision to focus our resources on R&D, and continuing to develop a true, seamless private cloud experience for customers through VCF – one that is competitive with the public cloud.</strong> We are backing it up with billions of dollars in new investment to ensure its success. And, we have dramatically reduced the price of VCF to promote customer adoption.</p> <p>This refreshed strategy to increase competition with the public cloud and promote customer adoption will result in changes for our customers and partners, and we have moved to implement them. These changes were designed to lead to an integrated VCF solution that will bring broader long-term benefits to our valued customers both in their own data centers and in the cloud with increased portability to move workloads among on-premise data centers and supported cloud providers. Those benefits will accrue, whether the customer is a global enterprise seeking to leverage its digital capabilities, or a government looking to utilize VMware innovation to advance regional digital sovereignty.</p> <p>We are at a pivotal point in which infrastructure needs to scale and be resilient. That’s why we announced a simplified portfolio based on two core solutions – VCF and VMware vSphere Foundation, or VVF. VCF includes all compute, storage, networking, management, and support capabilities that deliver consistent infrastructure and operations across clouds, and comes at half the list price compared to past pricing. VVF is the alternative with enhanced compute, operational and management capabilities for customers who are not yet ready to take the plunge into a full-stack solution but need to manage across VMs and containers.</p> <p>We know our customers have a lot of options, so we continue to innovate and adapt to be ever more relevant for them.</p> <p><strong>Second, we’re making changes to deliver consistent customer experiences.</strong></p> <p>One of the hot topics across customer and partner communities has been the changes to how we engage with cloud service providers. Broadcom will continue to create value within the VMware partner ecosystem, because partners are critical to our customers’ success and our own success. That said, Broadcom is updating and incorporating the VMware partner ecosystem into the Broadcom partner programs, which requires some adjustments.</p> <p>The core principle for our new engagement with cloud providers is that end customers should have complete freedom to move their workloads from their own data centers to cloud providers, and between cloud providers. We are accomplishing this new engagement in two main ways:</p> <ul><li>Standardizing the metric for our pricing across cloud providers to per-core licensing – the same metric used in our end-customer licensing – and providing license portability for VCF. This ensures customers will not face any licensing mismatch as they move between providers, and will avoid switching and additional licensing costs. This licensing metric is also consistent across our entire ecosystem, which will enable customers to compare proposals from partners, and increase choice and competition.</li> <li>Standardizing the technology stack for cloud providers on VCF. This ensures customers will enjoy the same technology and support experience across any VMware-supported cloud provider, and will remove technical barriers to customers moving from on-prem to cloud, switching their workloads from one cloud provider to another, or back to on-premise data centers, if their needs change.</li></ul> <p>This freedom for customers to move workloads will intensify competition between cloud providers, leading them to deliver greater value to end customers. The license portability feature we have added to VCF is key to this strategy. Google Cloud is the first hyperscaler to support VCF license portability and we expect other partner and hyperscaler clouds to follow with similar support.</p> <p>We strongly believe this strategy will benefit our end customers. Given the need to set up the on-boarding process to accommodate our smallest cloud provider partners, and to help with the transition and ensure there is continuity of service for this partner group, we will expand the Broadcom Partner Advantage Premier Tier to accommodate any qualified, existing service provider and offer programmatic initial-year discounts for their existing installed base. In addition, smaller service provider partners who do not yet meet the Premier Tier criteria can take advantage of the ‘white label’ offers from Pinnacle and Premier Tier Service Providers. To ensure there is continuity of service for this smaller partner group, we will continue existing operations with this group under modified monthly billing arrangements until the white-label offers are available.</p> <p><strong>Third, VMware will complete its transition plan to a subscription model</strong> that provides access to the most recent version plus support for a fixed term. VMware began this transition since at least 2018, and was one of the last software companies to adopt this model.</p> <p>Subscription licensing is the model all major enterprise software providers deploy today and ensures that customers have the latest and greatest in VCF while providing the kind of predictability needed to fuel continuous innovation for our customers.</p> <p>The subscription model ends “upsell” practices that were common in the software industry before the subscription transition, such as branding incremental features as new higher editions of the same product or new add-on products. These practices do not represent true innovation in core products, and cause customer confusion and frustration about missing out on new features. Subscription licensing eliminates these incentives.</p> <p>It is important to emphasize that nothing about the transition to subscription pricing affects our customers’ ability to use their existing perpetual licenses. Customers have the right to continue to use older vSphere versions they have previously licensed, and they can continue to receive maintenance and support by signing up for one of our subscription offerings. </p> <p>To ensure that customers whose maintenance and support contracts have expired and choose to not continue on one of our subscription offerings are able to use perpetual licenses in a safe and secure fashion, we are announcing free access to zero-day security patches for supported versions of vSphere, and we’ll add other VMware products over time. </p> <p>As we roll out this strategy, we continue to learn from our customers on how best to prepare them for success by ensuring they always have the transition time and support they need. In particular, the subscription pricing model does involve a change in the timing of customers’ expenditures and the balance of those expenditures between capital and operating spending. We heard that fast-moving change may require more time, so we have given support extensions to many customers who came up for renewal while these changes were rolling out. We have always been and remain ready to work with our customers on their specific concerns. </p> <p>The evolution of VCF’s go-to-market strategy demonstrates that we’re listening to and helping our customers by continually making our products better for them, and represents our ongoing, active engagement with our customers and partners to deliver an integrated, simplified solution. We will continue to move fast, innovate, and evolve our go-to-market strategy for the long-term benefit of our customers.</p> <p><em><strong>About Hock Tan:</strong></em></p> <div class="extendedBlock-wrapper block-coreImage undefined"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?quality=50&strip=all" alt="" class="wp-image-2095048" style="width:274px;height:auto" srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?quality=50&strip=all 700w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=206%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 206w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=479%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 479w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=115%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 115w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=58%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 58w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=330%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 330w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=247%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 247w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Hock_Tan-Headshot-2023.jpeg?resize=172%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 172w" width="700" height="1019" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" /></figure><p class="imageCredit">Broadcom</p></div> <p><em>Hock Tan is Broadcom President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. He has held this position since March 2006. From September 2005 to January 2008, he served as chairman of the board of Integrated Device Technology. Prior to becoming chairman of IDT, Mr. Tan was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Circuit Systems from June 1999 to September 2005. Prior to ICS, Mr. Tan was Vice President of Finance with Commodore International from 1992 to 1994, and previously held senior management positions with PepsiCo and General Motors. Mr. Tan served as managing director <em>of Pacven Investment, a venture capital fund in Singapore from 1988 to 1992, and served as managing director for Hume Industries in Malaysia from 1983 to 1988.</em> </em></p></div></div></div><category>Cloud Computing</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094780/a-changing-market-landscape-requires-constant-evolution-our-mission-for-vmware-customers.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094780</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-965148702_cr-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="1068706" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Microsoft and Cognizant team up to boost enterprise Copilot adoption</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:27:11 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Microsoft is opening another route for extending the reach of its Copilot offerings in the enterprise through an expanded partnership with global professional services company Cognizant. </p> <p>As part of the deal, Cognizant has acquired 25,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot seats, and 500 each of Sales Copilot and Services Copilot, for use by its associates across the globe. The multinational IT services giant aims to leverage the tools internally to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences.</p> <p>But the partnership seeks to go beyond Cognizant’s internal use, with Microsoft and Cognizant <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/2024/04/22/cognizant-and-microsoft-announce-global-partnership-to-expand-adoption-of-generative-ai-in-the-enterprise-and-drive-industry-transformation/" rel="nofollow">teaming up</a> to promote generative AI use across Cognizant’s global client base through the advisory and digital transformation services arm of Cognizant’s business.</p> <p>The service provider plans to help deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot across its extensive client network, targeting a million users among its 2,000 global customers in 11 different industries. To support the effort, Cognizant’s Synapse skilling program, which has already trained 35,000 developers on GitHub Copilot, aims to uplevel more than 1 million individuals with AI skills by 2026, according to the company.</p> <p>“Generative AI can be a game-changer for virtually every business in every industry, opening up new possibilities for innovation, efficiency and growth,” Ravi Kumar S, the CEO of Cognizant, said in a <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/2024/04/22/cognizant-and-microsoft-announce-global-partnership-to-expand-adoption-of-generative-ai-in-the-enterprise-and-drive-industry-transformation/" rel="nofollow">news release</a>. “That’s why we are investing $1 billion in generative AI over the next three years and leading the development of new research to explore its potential for our clients, their employees, and end customers.”</p> <p>The announcement comes amid reluctance among some CIOs <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/2089717/cios-not-entirely-sold-on-generative-ai-copilots.html">regarding the ROI of generative AI copilots</a>. Many see the high price tag of initial offerings and a lack of understanding as to <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1304030/sharepoint-premium-highlights-the-hard-road-cios-face-with-generative-ai.html">how workflows will need to be adjusted</a> to truly capture the value of copilots as deterrents to signing on for the added functionality.</p> <p>The partnership between Cognizant and Microsoft may help ease some of that, as Cognizant’s consulting services can help enterprises find ways to leverage copilots as part of their business processes.</p> <p>Bernard Marr, author of the book <em><a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Generative+AI+in+Practice%3A+100%2B+Amazing+Ways+Generative+Artificial+Intelligence+is+Changing+Business+and+Society-p-9781394254248" rel="nofollow">Generative AI in Practice: 100+ Amazing Ways Generative Artificial Intelligence is Changing Business and Society</a></em>, sees the partnership representing a significant shift in how CIOs approach digital transformation.</p> <p>“It means they can now leverage AI technology to enhance operational efficiency, reduce manual work, and innovate at scale,” he said. “CIOs will need to focus on aligning AI-driven solutions with broader business strategies, ensuring seamless integration into existing processes while addressing potential challenges like data security and ethical AI use. This partnership provides CIOs with access to AI tools that can greatly accelerate innovation and improve customer experiences.”</p> <p>However, Marr said that the reduced need for labor due to AI automation does not necessarily translate into reduced costs. While AI can streamline workflows and enhance productivity, there’s a significant investment in AI infrastructure, training, and ongoing maintenance, he said.</p> <p>“Moreover, the value delivered by AI goes beyond simple task automation — it includes enhanced innovation, improved quality, and additional capabilities that would otherwise require extensive human resources,” he added. “Therefore, while AI can reduce manual labor, its impact on costs should be viewed within the broader context of the added value it brings.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="ai-concerns-remain">AI concerns remain</h2> <p>While the collaboration between Microsoft and Cognizant might help CIOs better integrate generative AI into their enterprise strategies, its use still carries uncertainties, Marr said.</p> <p>“Copilot, like other AI tools, should be seen as an assistant that requires human oversight to ensure accuracy and reliability,“ he said.</p> <p>As generative AI (genAI) becomes more widespread among the public and businesses, its integration <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/1612465/ai-hallucination-mitigation-two-brains-are-better-than-one.html">faces challenges</a> like errors, copyright issues, and hallucinations, which can erode trust in its accuracy. A <a href="https://hai.stanford.edu/news/hallucinating-law-legal-mistakes-large-language-models-are-pervasive" rel="nofollow">Stanford University study</a> revealed that genAI often incorrectly answers legal questions, performing as poorly as random guessing in tasks such as assessing the precedential relationship between court cases, for example. The issue stems from the underlying large language models (LLMs), which are vague in their parameters and influenced by the biases of the humans who train them.</p> <p>A further issue is determining who bears responsibility for mistakes that generative AI copilots introduce into a work product. Marr emphasized that multiple factors need to be considered to establish who is responsible when AI tools lead to mistakes.</p> <p>“Generally, companies deploying AI solutions like Copilot are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and quality of their outputs,” he said. “If an error arises due to AI, it is the company’s responsibility to rectify it and address any repercussions. Clear contractual agreements and a thorough understanding of AI limitations are crucial to navigating liability issues. Ensuring human oversight and rigorous quality checks can mitigate the risks associated with AI errors.”</p> <p>Another ongoing challenge that many companies face is navigating the <a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/1612453/new-ai-copyright-lawsuit-targets-nvidia.html">competing copyright claims </a>surrounding AI technology. If a company uses a tool like GitHub Copilot to create code, the company is responsible if the AI’s work violates copyright laws, Marr said.</p> <p>“Companies must ensure that AI tools like Copilot are trained on datasets with appropriate copyright clearance and that their use complies with intellectual property laws,” he added. “Organizations should implement robust checks to prevent copyright infringement and have clear policies on handling such issues if they arise. This reinforces the need for a responsible and ethical approach to using AI in business.”</p> <p>Having big names like Microsoft and Cognizant involved in implementing generative AI could assuage fears about the risks surrounding its use. Craig Powers, who leads digital business strategies research for the market intelligence firm IDC, said the primary concerns for CIOs when it comes to AI technology are security and privacy. “Many have worked with Microsoft as part of their digital business transformation efforts before, so using a product from a trusted platform provider delivered by a leading services organization should help address some of those concerns,” he said. “However, it’s important to consider that two-thirds of CIOs polled by IDC in a recent CIO Quick Poll say they don’t believe their technology vendors fully understand the risks of AI, so it will be incumbent upon Cognizant and Microsoft to articulate and address those risks with CIOs at end-user companies.”</p></div></div></div><category>Generative AI, IT Consulting Services</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094896/microsoft-and-cognizant-team-up-to-boost-enterprise-copilot-adoption.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094896</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_2405485271-2.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="9255642" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>How CIOs align with CFOs to build RevOps</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>The first use of generative AI in companies tends to be for productivity improvements and cost cutting. But there are only so many costs that can be cut. Growing revenues, on the other hand, is where you can see an unlimited upside.</p> <p>CIOs are well positioned to cut costs since they’re usually well acquainted with a company’s digital processes, having helped set them up in the first place. All it takes is an understanding of how gen AI works, its applications, and limitations. But to find ways it can help grow a company’s bottom line, CIOs have to do more to understand a company’s business model and identify opportunities where gen AI can change the playing field. That means using the technology to improve a company’s marketing, sales, customer success, and RevOps: the process of aligning all three operations across the full customer life cycle in a way that drives growth, improves efficiency, and breaks down silos.</p> <p>To become full partners in revenue operations, CIOs have to build on their relationships with CFOs and other leaders on the business side, upgrade their business skills, and truly understand both the business benefits and limitations of new gen AI technologies.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="revenue-leaders-embracing-ai">Revenue leaders embracing AI</h2> <p>The interest is there on the business side. Sales and marketing departments have long been at the forefront of embracing new technologies, and according to data provided by the Alexander Group, a revenue consultancy, 80% of hundreds of survey responses detailed that CROs have formally invested in AI for their marketing teams. That includes many technologies based on machine learning, such as sales forecasting, lead scoring and qualification, pricing optimization, and customer sentiment analysis. But the single biggest AI-enabled tool used this year so far is marketing content generation, a gen AI-powered technology used by 58% of the leaders surveyed. Another 40% say they’re using AI chatbots or virtual sales assistants. In addition, 66% are making investments this year in AI for marketing, 65% for sales, 62% for service, and 52% for RevOps.</p> <p>“Using the models for content creation is the leading use case on the marketing side and the sales side,” says Mitch Edwards, principal at the Alexander Group. “And hyper-personalization at scale.”</p> <p>But each company’s revenue operations are different, he adds, and CIOs should understand their companies’ business needs as well as the AI itself.</p> <p>“You should be on the forefront of the technology, and be the one who translates the business need into how to adjust the tech stack to drive those goals,” he says.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cross-disciplinary-ai-groups">Cross-disciplinary AI groups</h2> <p>Matthews International, a manufacturing industry conglomerate with $2 billion in annual revenues, set up its AI council early last year, soon after ChatGPT launched. The council has people on it from both the IT and the business sides, says company CIO Davor Brkovich, and technologists are needed in order to understand what’s possible and to make sure the AI is governed appropriately.</p> <p>“But you don’t want to be totally technology focused,” he says. “The point of AI isn’t to create AI, but to solve business problems.”</p> <p>Brkovich, who also teaches a financial management class for CIOs at Carnegie Mellon University, says, in his experience, the relationship between the CIO and the CFO is the most important relationship a CIO has.</p> <p>“Strategic planning, revenue enhancement, budgeting — all of those are incredibly important topics that CIOs need to work on with their CFOs,” he says.</p> <p>And revenue operations is part of that.</p> <p>For Matthews International, this mostly involves traditional aspects of RevOps, such as customer relationship management, lead generation, and closure.</p> <p>“We’re mostly still optimizing our sales and marketing processes with CRM tools,” he says. “But we’re certainly looking at AI as an organization across our lines of business.”</p> <p>The first and most obvious use cases for gen AI are all about improving efficiency, he adds.</p> <p>“We’ve been doing proof-of-value and different test cases on efficiency opportunities within our organization as it relates to AI,” he says.</p> <p>Increasing revenues, however, is a more challenging proposition, and the company is just starting to think about the potential opportunities here.</p> <p>“We’re discussing ways to optimize and maximize revenues from a CRM perspective,” he says. “We’re also having discussions with both the CFO and the lines of business relative to AI, and we have the AI council, which is responsible for making sure we’re doing AI responsibly and governing it securely, and for workshopping opportunities for AI in different lines of business.”</p> <p>Progress in this area will require tearing down silos, he says, and closer working relationships with sales, marketing, and customer success. So for technology leaders who want to be key players in their companies’ transformations, the first step, he says, is to pivot from focusing on bits and bytes to debits and credits, starting with the finances of the IT organization itself. Then the CIO can use that knowledge to ensure the success of technology initiatives that support business strategy, and then continue to expand their knowledge of finance and business from IT to the company as a whole.</p> <p>“The most successful CIOs are those who spend time and energy on financial management,” he says. “You can’t have an efficient and effective IT function if you don’t know the finances there. Nor can you help the business if you’re not knowledgeable in the overall finances of the organization.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="find-key-business-partners">Find key business partners</h2> <p>For some technology executives, launching a gen AI project that eventually leads to corporate transformation can start small, with just a couple of key relationships.</p> <p>“What I’ve always tried to do is go where the energy and value is, and find the one or two willing partners in the business who want to start something and make it big,” says Christopher Paquette, chief digital transformation officer at Allstate Insurance. Years ago, when mobile was the big technological wave, this meant finding people on the business side who were enthusiastic about building a mobile app.</p> <p>“Now, with generative AI, ask who are those one or two executives who are really leaning into this,” he says. “Partner with them and create value from it.”</p> <p>Being able to speak their language is critical, too, and the place to start, he says, is with the core economics of the business.</p> <p>“How does it make money and what are the levers you want to pull?” he asks. “If you’re coming from a technical background, and you don’t know the industry, learn it. Take a class. Spend time with executives. Do a tour so you can understand the business.”</p> <p>At Allstate, for example, customer retention is one of its biggest revenue drivers, and all of that is dependent on having the best possible customer experience, which is an area where gen AI can make a difference.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="gen-ai-turns-it-from-cost-center-to-revenue-generator">Gen AI turns IT from cost center to revenue generator</h2> <p>In some cases, an internal IT project, when led by business-savvy tech execs, can become a revenue opportunity in itself. That’s exactly what Bill Fandrich, EVP of technology and operations, is doing at Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan, the state’s largest HMO with more than 10,000 employees and $36 billion in annual revenues.</p> <p>But the company also has two gen AI projects already in production bringing in revenues, and a third about to go live, but they’re in a different category.</p> <p>Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan is taking gen AI systems it built to improve security, efficiency, and customer service, and turning them into products and services it can sell to other Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations.</p> <p>“We quickly learned we needed to build models internally in a dedicated environment or a cloud environment that’s 100% secured and controlled,” he says. “We have a HITRUST certified health care environment and we bring in publicly-available models.” The models then get additional training and controls within that environment, he adds.</p> <p>The first gen AI model, called SecureGPT, was designed to help with cybersecurity, he says.</p> <p>“We have a unique security solution that addresses every facet of what we’re required to do for our customers and members, including integration with our existing security systems for authentication and role-based access,” he says. “And there are audit trails for everything.”</p> <p>In addition to selling this product to other Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations, Fandrich says, he’s also using it internally.</p> <p>The second model was trained on contracts and developed with the help of an outside vendor.</p> <p>“There are hundreds of thousands of contracts constantly in a state of change that support our business,” he says. “This solution can read, interpret, analyze, and build taxonomies.”</p> <p>Both systems were released earlier this year and are commercially available via a subsidiary, which provides services to other Blue Cross Blue Shield companies. And they’re already bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenues.</p> <p>A third gen AI product, BenefitsGPT, isn’t yet commercially available, but is currently being tested by three other Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations.</p> <p>“Everyone knows how challenging it is in healthcare to get the right information about what’s covered or how much it costs,” he says. “This brings in intelligence from all the data, and from unstructured documents, so for an individual, we can answer the questions they need answered.”</p> <p>The income streams from these new projects are small compared to the total size of Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan, he says. But that could change. “I expect we can generate a significant amount of new revenue by helping other health plans transform themselves,” he says.</p> <p>And that’s just the start. In the health insurance industry, there are plenty of opportunities for transformation if you know where to look. For example, gen AI can help staff understand the unique needs of individual patients. “It opens up new revenue opportunities and also brings access to things the individual needs at that particular point in their life,” he adds.</p> <p>It’s too early in the process for him to talk about specifics, though, but these kinds of projects can be truly transformative. And it’s more of a business transformation than a technological one, requiring a team with multi-dimensional skills sets.</p> <p>Fandrich says he’s had a business-centric attitude toward technology since he joined the organization seven years ago, with a focus on how to work with the business side differently, and bring in the domain knowledge needed to build successful solutions.</p> <p>With gen AI, he says, things are moving faster than ever before. “And I think we all know the only thing we can guarantee is that the pace of change is only getting faster,” he says. “What we traditionally called change management is now unbelievably bigger.” And that means IT executives need business and financial skills more than ever.</p> <p>“The macroeconomic challenges and opportunities of generative AI dramatically change the economics of companies,” he says. And that means the roles of the IT organization and the roles of the business units are starting to blur.</p> <p>“The power of generative AI is its transformative nature,” he adds. “You can’t do that purely from the technology or the business — you need the marrying of the two.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-future-of-the-cio">The future of the CIO</h2> <p>CIOs who transition IT from being a cost center to being a driver of innovation, transformation, and new revenues, can become the leaders that the new economy needs.</p> <p>“We used to say that business runs technology,” says David Kadio-Morokro, EY Americas financial services innovation leader. “You tell me what you want, and I’ll code it and support you.” Now it’s switched, he says.</p> <p>“I really believe technology drives the business, because it’s going to impact business strategy and how the business survives,” he adds, and gen AI will force companies to rethink the value of their organizations to customers.</p> <p>“Developing and envisioning an AI-driven strategy is absolutely part of the equation,” he says. “And the CIO has this role of enabling these components, and they need to be part of the conversation and be able to drive that vision for the organization.”</p> <p>The CIO is also in a position to help the CFO evolve, too. CFOs are traditionally risk averse and expect certainty and accuracy from their technology. Not only is gen AI still a new and experimental technology that’s evolving quickly but is, by its very nature, probabilistic and nondeterministic.</p> <p>“The CFO may have to be a little bit more comfortable with ambiguity and things being experimental,” says John King, partner at Lotis Blue Consulting. “A lot of these tools are still cutting edge, and it may be a little unsettling for the CFO.”</p> <p>There’s also a lot of wild information out there about what gen AI can do, some of which might be true, but some isn’t, he says.</p> <p>“As a CIO, you’re helping them understand what the technology can really do,” he adds. “And you want to have some guardrails so you’re not doing things that don’t make sense.”</p> <p>He recommends that CIOs just entering on this journey should start small.</p> <p>“Get your feet wet in something that’s well understood,” he says. “It’s a mistake to try to go too far, too fast.”</p> <p>You don’t want to get out too far ahead of the technology, he adds, but, at the same time, you don’t want to miss opportunities.</p> <p>“A CFO would just say to wait and see what the risks are,” he says. “But then you’re just playing catch-up. You might wind up losing revenue opportunities when you do that.”</p></div></div></div><category>Artificial Intelligence, C-Suite, CFO, CIO, Finance and Accounting Systems, Generative AI, IT Leadership</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094438/how-cios-align-with-cfos-to-build-revops.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094438</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_1919479694.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="4725825" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>A comparative assessment of digital transformation in Italy</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>It’s universally accepted that to thrive, enterprises must embrace transformation through technology. CIOs are at the forefront of this as they help shepherd their organizations through digitalization.</p> <p>“Digital is a powerful business lever,” says Alessandra Luksch, director of the Digital Transformation Academy Observatory at Politecnico di Milano, which has been mapping trends in ICT spending by Italian organizations since 2016. “In large companies, the digital journey is well underway, especially in the digital, media, and finance sectors.</p> <p>In other industries, and mostly in SMEs, digital transformation can happen in a non-organic way through piecemeal projects. But until there’s a change in corporate will and the CIO’s vision combines with other management to drive a full-scale project, success can only be measured by the strength of the corporate culture.</p> <p>“I believe that change management is a fundamental issue every CIO has to deal with,” says Andrea Roero, global CIO of Molteni, a household name in Italian designer furniture companies.</p> <p>Lucio D’Accolti, CIO of AMA, the in-house company of the City of Rome in charge of waste collection and management, and street cleaning, agrees. “The challenge of digital transformation projects lies not so much in the technological implementation, but in the operational change required of people and the entire business organization,” he says.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="the-data-platform-and-digital-twin">The data platform and digital twin</h2> <p>AMA is among many organizations building momentum in their digitization. The company has been a public utility since 2000, with the City of Rome as its sole shareholder. AMA employs about 7,600, serves a catchment area of nearly 2.5 million people, and operates in an area seven times the size of Milan, from which it collects more than 1.5 million tons of waste annually. This is the basis for a complex digital transformation project, which the company recently accelerated with the arrival of new GM Alessandro Filippi and, shortly after, new CIO D’Accolti, ahead of the 2025 Jubilee, when 50 million visitors are expected in Rome during a series of pilgrimages.</p> <p>D’Accolti outlined his action plan followed by initiatives to implement in preparation for the Jubilee. He then moved to the technology procurement part, in accordance with the new Procurement Code on the Consip platform, which allows projects to proceed quickly in accordance with principles of a transparent, sustainable, and digital public administration. From there, the actual digitization project can be implemented.</p> <p>“We started with an evolution of the CRM to manage the citizen relationship, and the various requests and reports: those who come into contact with the AMA must be recognized on any channel and receive consistent answers in a multichannel perspective,” he says. “Plus, we’re building a digital twin of Rome so the situation of our assets on the ground — namely the 600,000 waste bins — can be updated in real time based on alerts. Therefore, we can directly alert our colleagues on their smartphones for possible interventions. Finally, the flow of AMA reports and activities generates a lot of data for the SAP system, and to be more effective, we’ll start managing it with data and business intelligence.”</p> <p>In fact, AMA collects a huge amount of structured and unstructured data from bins, collection vehicles, facilities, and user reports, and until now, this data has remained disconnected, managed by disparate systems and interfaces, through Excel spreadsheets. So the digital transformation involves gradually moving to the new data platform to collect and aggregate data from the data lake with business Information modelling systems, and then putting it on dashboards and performing analysis with business intelligence.</p> <p>“The goal is to correlate all types of data that affect assets and bring it all into the digital twin to take timely action,” says D’Accolti.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="digital-transformation-bi-ai-and-the-metaverse">Digital transformation: BI, AI, and the metaverse</h2> <p>IT as a business partner is the vision that Roero has brought to Molteni to implement a complete digital transformation that includes a change in corporate culture.</p> <p>“The CIO has to add value to the business; he isn’t just the IT manager, managing servers and networks and associated costs,” Roero says. “The CIO is an information and innovation officer, driving implementations that have direct value for business growth. His strategic contribution means, for example, creating and facilitating process efficiencies, and new lines of business and revenue streams.</p> <p>Gruppo Molteni has been a model of Italian excellence in the world of high-end furniture for 80 years, but the future growth of the business through digitalization is very recent. The owners, CEO, and CIO have launched a review of the operating model in which the technology implementations fit. The project will be completed in the next few years and consists of elements around management software, workflow digitization, data analysis, and AI, AR, and VR applications.</p> <p>“There are different methods and systems across companies and geographical regions, and a lot of emails, PDF files, and even sheets of paper are still used to create, share, and store information,” Roero says. “So we’re committed to completing the digitization of workflows in order to make a real leap in efficiency. Unifying processes means standardizing the reading of the business and paving the way for organic and inorganic growth.”</p> <p>Another element of the digital strategy is a more significant use of BI to analyze and visualize data. Roero is also considering introducing AI to make processes more fluid and controlled, and the company data-driven.</p> <p>“For a company like Molteni, it doesn’t mean adopting ChatGPT, a solution that has generated a lot of enthusiasm but isn’t currently useful for our business case,” he says. “We’re looking at established AI technologies that allow us to streamline internal processes, create a lean back office and lean production management, and verify workflows.</p> <p>The sales channel is also a component of transformation, with virtual and augmented reality, using Oculus Quest and metaverse applications for product configuration on the web. “The goal is not true e-commerce, which is very difficult for the type of product we sell,” Roero says, “but a more effective model of online channel management.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="linking-the-digital-journey-and-change-management">Linking the digital journey and change management</h2> <p>In Molteni’s complex digital transformation project, the focal point, similar to AMA, is the strengthening of digital culture, which is still not widespread in company units.</p> <p>Change management is the real heart of digital transformation, even before technologies. For example, in Molteni’s new contract management business, or the design and implementation of projects for large customer orders, the ability to audit and map the entire supply chain is essential. “It’s a question of combining processes, culture, and technology to achieve an omnichannel operating model of the future,” says Roero.</p> <p>AMA’s change management activities aim to attract experienced big players in the private world, and learn about best practices of their CIOs and take cues to operationalize. “The next step will be program management activities to learn how to deal with complex and ambitious programs, helping people not only understand how to work with new technology tools, but also to share the strategic direction of the company and manage vendors more consciously,” says D’Accolti.</p> <p>According to recent data from the Digital Transformation Academy Observatory, 55% of companies with more than 250 employees choose training as the first method to introduce a new mindset on digital and innovation in the company. Then 52% say they act first on managers, trying to shape a new leadership style in which managers value their resources differently, move away from traditional control and leave room for goal-oriented work, and consider each person a possible source of innovation, Luksch points out, “Innovation has fast times and is unpredictable, and managers need to be able to bring a spirit of entrepreneurship to teams,” she says, “Anyone can introduce innovation.”</p> <p>Data also shows that 35% of large companies practice change management through activities such as action learning, competitions, and internal hackathons to formulate new ideas, while 24% send employees to work with startups. “In the latter case,” says Luksch, “it’s a very effective form of change management because it’s an alternative experience to the usual work that develops not only skills but a strong sense of commitment.”</p> <p>This commitment to the business is inescapable. Without it, digital transformation is destined to remain unfinished, because if it’s the CIO who designs, implements, and manages it, it’s all the people in the company who have to implement and maintain it, day after day.</p></div></div></div><category>Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, Change Management, CIO, Data Architecture, Data Management, Data Quality, Digital Transformation, IT Leadership, IT Operations, IT Strategy</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094533/a-comparative-assessment-of-digital-transformation-in-italy.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094533</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/teamwork_collaboration_discussion_planning_strategy_meeting_conference_room_office_space_BY_Jacob_Lund_Shutterstock_2058784265_CREATIVE_DIGITAL-ONLY_72dpi-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="1144231" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>What is a CTO? The exec who sets tech strategy</title> <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="what-is-a-cto">What is a CTO?</h2> <p>The chief technology officer (CTO) is the senior executive who focuses on the technological requirements, opportunities, and challenges within an organization. The CTO role has emerged as a key player in the enterprise C-suite, especially with digital transformation being such a high strategic priority for so many organizations.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="what-does-a-cto-do">What does a CTO do?</h2> <p>These executives, in many cases working in collaboration with CIOs, are oftentimes at the forefront of innovative technology products and services. And they can help steer their organizations toward greater efficiencies and better performance by adopting these tools.</p> <p>As such, CTOs are among the most important hires organizations are making today, and it can be challenging finding the right person who possesses all the right skills.</p> <p>“When hiring a CTO, you’re looking for a technologist, a technology architect, an innovator, and someone who can enhance the company’s products for customers while partnering with the CIO,” says Ash Athawale, senior vice president and senior group managing director for the executive search practice group at Robert Half.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-role-and-key-responsibilities">CTO role and key responsibilities</h2> <p>As a senior executive focused on an organization’s technical requirements and challenges, the CTO’s role can be similar to that of the CIO. But while the CIO is tasked with overseeing the IT department, staff, and infrastructure to support everyday operations and working with business leaders to align IT with business goals, the CTO is responsible for the overall technology strategy.</p> <p>Some CTOs are also responsible for managing research and development initiatives and overseeing intellectual property at their organizations.</p> <p>“The role of the CTO continues to evolve,” says Craig Stephenson, managing director for the North America Technology Officers Practice at organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry.</p> <p>“Unfortunately, [the role] means many things to different industries and organizations,” Stephenson says. “Years ago, the CTO most often led the infrastructure function. This may still be true today, but the title of CTO may also mean a highly strategic role which often incorporates engineering, technology, and product development. The CTO title is more challenging to define today than ever before.”</p> <p><strong>[ Related: <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/409200/career-roadmap-chief-technology-officer.html">Career roadmap: Chief technology officer</a> ]</strong></p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-job-description">CTO job description</h2> <p>CTOs oversee the effectiveness of technology resources within an organization, including everything from phone systems to enterprise software platforms. “Their duties include communicating with other executives, performing research on new technologies that could enhance their business, and monitoring the use and implementation of new and existing technologies across departments,” according to online hiring platform Indeed.</p> <p>Because the role is dynamic and responsibilities can vary depending on the type and size of the organization, industry, and other factors, there isn’t really such thing as typical day for a CTO.</p> <p>Indeed lists a number of tasks a CTO might be expected to carry out. These include presenting reports on the company’s technology status, goals, or progress; creating and implementing technology strategies; aligning the company’s technology resources with its short- and long-term goals; serving on the executive committee to align technology goals to other departmental and organizational objectives; identifying which technologies can be used to improve the company’s products and services; creating and overseeing high-level key performance indicators; helping with recruiting, onboarding, and training technology professionals; and managing a budget.</p> <p>“It is difficult to be precise [about job description] based on the many definitions of the chief technology officer title,” Stephenson says. “However, if the CTO is overseeing infrastructure, the executive is likely overseeing a balanced portfolio of strategic and tactical objectives.”</p> <p>These might include infrastructure modernization, resiliency, cloud services, extensive interactions with security teams, and continued partnership with the engineering/software teams focused on quality and release management, Stephenson says. That means CTOs are likely spending a lot of time working in collaboration with others.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-vs-cio">CTO vs. CIO</h2> <p>The responsibilities and day-to-day functions of the CTO and CIO might overlap depending on the organization, how it’s structured, its business model, and other factors. In most cases, however, it’s the CTO who is charged with staying on top of emerging technologies that might be of value to the organization.</p> <p>The CTO also creates policies and procedures that leverage technology to enhance products and services delivered to external customers.</p> <p>When an organization has both a CIO and CTO, the CTO usually has more technical know-how and expertise, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The CTO typically reports directly to the CIO and is responsible for designing and recommending the appropriate technology solutions to support the CIO’s policies and directives, the bureau says. CTOs also work with various departments to implement the organization’s technology plans.</p> <p>When a company doesn’t have a CIO, the CTO determines the overall technology strategy and presents it to top executives, according to the BLS.</p> <p><strong>[ Related: <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/189278/cio-vs-cto-chief-collaborators-in-tech.html">CIO vs. CTO: Chief collaborators in tech</a> ]</strong></p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-skills">CTO skills</h2> <p>As a member of the C-suite, the CTO needs to possess natural leadership skills, including the ability to delegate tasks and inspire staff in their work.</p> <p>“As companies push to effectively drive technology transformation, we believe there is a very strong push to find technology leaders [who] bring experience and capabilities from hands-on leadership and stewardship of such activities,” Stephenson says.</p> <p>The CTO role naturally requires a strong knowledge of various technologies, and “real technology acumen, especially in the architecture, software, and technology strategy areas to address legacy technology challenges,” Stephenson says.</p> <p>Knowing how technology works is crucial, but it’s also important to be able to explain the business value of a particular technology to C-level colleagues who might not be technically inclined. It’s also vital to be able to see how technology fits with strategic business goals.</p> <p>“Technology vision coupled with strategic thinking beyond technology” is important, says Ozgur Aksakal, president of the Global CTO Forum, an independent, global organization for technology professionals.</p> <p>“There are a lot of technology trends that do not live up to their promises,” Aksakal says. “Investing in wrong strategic choices can even kill a company. “A CTO should not be blinded by engineering superiority, but see how that engineering will fit into the company goals and the market.”</p> <p>CTOs also need to have a number of soft skills as well, including strong communications and collaboration. These executives work with many people across various functions, and the ability to collaborate well is essential.</p> <p>They also need the ability to grasp what others in the organization are looking to accomplish and the challenges they face, and to guide them in how to meet goals and address hurdles. “The CTO should convince diverse stakeholders to commit and invest in unknowns,” Aksakal says. “This requires strong conviction and empathy.”</p> <p>Other soft skills CTOs should have include good problem-solving, time management, multi-tasking, and creative thinking.</p> <p><strong>[ Related: <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1251532/the-skills-and-traits-of-elite-ctos.html">The skills and traits of elite CTOs</a> ]</strong></p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-background-and-requirements">CTO background and requirements</h2> <p>CTOs need at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field, according to Indeed. In some cases, a degree in business administration or management is valuable. Many CTOs have at least a master’s degree, and some even have PhDs in IT or business administration fields.</p> <p>Most CTOs undergo training throughout their careers in IT departments, and they might also earn certifications in development, programming, database administration, or other related fields.</p> <p>“CTOs typically need at least 10 years of experience in IT and management,” Indeed says. “They usually start in entry-level roles in technical support, development and programming, database and network administration, or engineering. After several years, they typically enter a management or leadership role, where they get the necessary leadership skills.”</p> <p>Since CTOs need to possess knowledge of every department role, experience in several different technology positions is valuable.</p> <p>A CTO without an engineering background is quite rare, Aksakal says. “A CTO who doesn’t have technology background is a no-go,” he says. “A CTO should understand technology, if possible a very wide spectrum of the technology.”</p> <p>Organizations looking to hire a CTO should seek someone who is ambitious and bold, “someone who can shake the status quo, stay resilient, and turn technology into something useful for the organization,” Aksakal says. These traits can be demonstrated by earlier career choices and accomplishments.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="reporting-structure">Reporting structure</h2> <p>Depending on the organizational structure, CTOs can report to various other C-level executives. These include the CIO, CEO, COO, or CFO.</p> <p>“If it is the top technology leadership role within an organization, we believe the strategic approach [is to] ensure this role reports to the chief executive officer,” Stephenson says. “This conveys a very important message to the market, technology function, and potential candidate community to attract the best and brightest talent to an organization.”</p> <p>According to the <a href="https://foundryco.com/research/state-of-the-cio/">2024 State of the CIO Survey</a> from Foundry/CIO.com, 56% of CTOs report directly to the CEO, while 35% report to the CIO or other top IT executive and 2% report to the CFO.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-salary">CTO salary</h2> <p>CTOs on average earn a base salary of $175,864 per year, according to PayScale, a firm that provides a compensation platform to calculate compensation rates. With bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 and profit sharing up to $98,000, total compensation for these positions ranges from $100,000 to $305,000 per year.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="cto-jobs">CTO jobs</h2> <p>The job outlook for CTOs should remain strong, particularly since so many organizations are undergoing digital transformations and are looking for the latest, most innovative technologies and someone to lead the charge in deploying these tools.</p> <p>The CTO job market is “extremely hot,” Aksakal says. “We observe it on the Global CTO Forum every day. [Being] a great CTO requires having a magnitude of skills in a single person. It is like a Swiss army knife. There isn’t a high number of people with the best combination of technology, people, and business skills.”</p> <p>This versatility provides opportunities for CTOs to advance to the highest levels of organizations. “As understanding of technology becomes more and more crucial for every function of a company, the CTO can have a major impact on [the] success of every function of a company — marketing, sales, product, HR, and even the CEO function,” Aksakal says.</p></div></div></div><category>CTO, IT Leadership</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/189155/what-is-a-chief-technology-officer-the-exec-who-sets-tech-strategy.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">189155</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_2420639439.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="15115931" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>US government extends warrantless FISA monitoring</title> <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 21:24:59 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>A controversial provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was renewed this weekend, despite concerns from lawmakers and other critics that it allows for the largely unregulated gathering of Americans’ personal information.</p> <p>The reauthorization of FISA Section 702, dubbed the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, and the Senate on Saturday, after which President Biden signed off on the move, over opposition on both sides of the aisle in both chambers. Sen. Ron Wyden, a long-time critic of Section 702, issued a statement on Saturday, after voting “no” on the reauthorization.</p> <p>“The Senate waited until the 11<sup>th</sup> hour to ram through renewal of warrantless surveillance in the dead of night,” he said. “Time after time anti-reformers pledge that their band-aid changes to the law will curb abuses, and yet every time, the public learns about fresh abuses by officials who face little meaningful oversight.”</p> <p>Under the new RISAA law, “any … service provider” providing a means of electronic communication can be required to turn over any communications to the authorities, <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/fisa_section_702_renewed/" rel="nofollow">according to a report from The Register</a>. This broad mandate appears to implicate both personal and enterprise accounts from major tech companies such as Google and Microsoft.</p> <p>Section 702 is designed to provide for the collection of electronic communications from overseas among individuals who are considered threats by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, without the need for warrants or exigent circumstances typically required for this type of surveillance. The problem, according to critics, arises because the section authorizes the collection of information about US citizens who communicate with others abroad. That lack of oversight, the critics say, has led to numerous abuses, with even dedicated FISA courts — which have generally been quite favorable to law enforcement and intelligence — criticizing the FBI for failing to follow the rules in obtaining its information via Section 702.</p> <p><a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/whats-next-reforming-section-702-foreign-intelligence-surveillance-act" rel="nofollow">According to the Brennan Center for Justice</a>, US intelligence agencies perform more than 200,000 “backdoor” searches on Americans’ private communications every year, despite the rules stating that such searches are only to be run in instances where they are reasonably likely to uncover foreign intelligence or criminal activity.</p> <p>“Information collected under [Section 702] can be used to prosecute and imprison people, even for crimes that have nothing to do with national security,” <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/warrantless-surveillance-under-section-702-fisa" rel="nofollow">according to the ACLU.</a></p> <p>“It is profoundly disheartening that leadership in Congress chose to bypass meaningful, bipartisan reform bills and jam through a bill that entrenches and expands the government’s warrantless surveillance authority under FISA Section 702 despite years of abuse while undercutting amendments to protect Americans’ privacy and civil rights,” said Electronic Privacy Information Center senior counsel Jeramie Scott, in a statement.</p></div></div></div><category>Government, Privacy, Regulation</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094743/us-government-extends-warrantless-fisa-monitoring.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094743</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_119973388.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="8260085" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>Will AI kill jobs? History says otherwise</title> <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:26:51 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>In April 1860, the Pony Express launched its operation to much fanfare. Using a series of riders on horses to relay messages from Missouri to California, it became an instant icon of the Wild West.</p> <p>The service lasted all of <a href="https://www.ponyexpress.org/historical-timeline" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.ponyexpress.org/historical-timeline" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">eighteen months</a>. The Pony Express couldn’t compete with the transcontinental telegraph, completed in 1861, which delivered messages in a fraction of the time.</p> <p>With AI poised to transform work today, we all have some degree of fear that our jobs will go the way of the Pony Express. But we miss the full story when we focus only on the fate of the famed riders.</p> <p>How the newfangled technology of the telegraph made one job obsolete while spawning countless others is an example of an important historical lesson for today: major technological advancements are catalysts for creating jobs, even entire new industries.</p> <p>AI stands to be the next revolutionary advancement because it has the ability to learn and far surpass human intelligence, enabling it to analyze data more deeply and generate insights that would be impossible for humans alone. Rather than killing jobs, AI will create new jobs that were unimaginable just a few years before.</p> <p>What should enterprises learn from the past in order to thrive during this rapidly advancing intelligence revolution?</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="new-technology-same-pattern">New technology, same pattern</h2> <p>Every major technological revolution follows a similar pattern: a new technology comes along which upends the old ways of doing things, resulting in major changes to how we live, work, and think.</p> <p>During the agricultural revolution, we built villages and towns, took on new jobs to support farming, and started thinking differently about things like land ownership and trade. The industrial revolution that followed saw us moving to cities, working in manufacturing, and developing new ideas like consumerism and automation.</p> <p>Electricity, telecommunications, the computer, and every other major technological development has had the same effect: the world transformed in ways that we’d never imagined just a generation before.</p> <p>The level of change these technological revolutions bring about is monumental. For example, in 1870 half of all workers in the United States were agricultural; by 1900, one generation later, that number had dropped to <a href="https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41667073v5p6ch4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">one-third</a>. Now that number is around <a href="https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3126" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">4%</a>. There are more people to feed today but that’s offset by how much more efficient agricultural work has become.</p> <p>Artificial intelligence is the next great disruptor. We are witnessing an intelligence revolution where AI will give us access to capabilities, information, and insights that go well beyond human capacity. Just like the revolutions before, this one will fundamentally transform how we live, work, and think.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="technology-as-a-job-creator">Technology as a job creator</h2> <p>One change we already see unfolding is how we consume data. We do not need to find data, search through results, or spend time compiling information in the same way as the past. As a result, how we think about information, including authorship, may change dramatically. This example is just the tip of the iceberg for what is coming.</p> <p>So what will work look like in the AI-first era? It can be hard to predict because these moments are so transformative. After all, you couldn’t imagine the job of electrician before electricity.</p> <p>We can see patterns emerging. Companies are wanting to build large language models, so we know jobs to build, maintain, and utilize these LLMs will multiply. But we also know jobs will be created that are beyond the limits of our current imagination.</p> <p>Fifty percent of the workforce no longer in agriculture today doesn’t mean that fifty percent of workers are unemployed. Instead, they moved into other industries. History shows us that during each of these technological revolutions, the net outcome is job creation, especially in entirely new sectors.</p> <p>Yes, the telegraph killed the Pony Express, but anyone looking around in 1861 would have found a job market flourishing with new professions like line repair staff and skilled operators. It’s crucial to note that many of these new jobs <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/828559" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">went to women</a> and provided better pay, mobility, and independence during a time of limited opportunity.</p> <p>The intelligence revolution will be just as transformative for work, and we can look back for insight into what changes AI might bring. Most of the new jobs created during other tech revolutions fall into one of two categories: (1) jobs that support the new technology and (2) jobs that use the new technology.</p> <p>On the support side, we’ll see a major expansion in IT jobs that help develop and implement AI. These will be the steam engine builders and loom fabricators for the AI age. Recently, many companies have prioritized jobs that support AI. They are hyper focused on AI development, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-jobs-demand-tech-layoffs-5b7344c0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">paying a premium for those with AI skills</a>, while <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-job-seekers-without-ai-skills-face-a-new-reality-lower-salaries-and-fewer-roles-db63f6e0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">devaluing or even eliminating other positions</a>.</p> <p>But just as a factory of loom builders alone couldn’t make fabric, an enterprise of AI builders alone cannot use AI. We need to think about what to do with the technology, rather than just having the technology itself.</p> <p>Jobs that use the new technology are equally important as the builders of the technology, even if we don’t know what most of those future jobs might be.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="no-crystal-ball-no-problem">No crystal ball, no problem</h2> <p>Given the lack of clarity on what the jobs and uses of AI will be in the future, what should businesses do? This uncertainty actually suggests a clear path forward. Businesses should of course be investing in jobs that support AI. Chief AI Officer, Prompt Engineer, and AI Research Scientist are a few examples.</p> <p>But what happens when we build all these amazing AI capabilities without developing the use cases? We also must invest in workers with the skills to identify and develop the applications for AI.</p> <p>Companies need workers who can imagine how we might live, work, and think in new ways. Open-mindedness is crucial because, in this moment of transition, fixating on what’s already been done and assumed limitations hinders innovation. Skills like problem solving and critical thinking are invaluable. We need strong analytical thinkers who can get to the root of problems and imagine innovative solutions harnessing AI.</p> <p>In short, creativity is just as important as domain expertise for enterprises looking to capitalize on the intelligence revolution.</p> <p>Such soft skills are harder to quantify or hire for than say a computer science degree, but they are critical. One of AI’s many future use cases will be to help enterprises better map employees’ full skillsets and develop workers’ soft and hard skills.</p> <p>Just like with past technological revolutions, we can’t predict what is coming. But we can work to have the right people in place at the right time to help enterprises and society transform.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="a-fast-revolution">A fast revolution</h2> <p>Today’s intelligence revolution does differ from the past because of the pace of change. After decades of effort, the first telegraphs appeared in the <a href="https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1830-1860/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">1830s</a>. It took another thirty years, and <a href="https://www.ponyexpress.org/historical-timeline" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">financial support from Congress</a> to help complete the line, before the telegraph could actually outcompete the Pony Express.</p> <p>Today, geography and money are not holding AI back and the technology has already advanced substantially in a matter of months. AI may follow the same pattern as past tech advancements, but it is on an exponentially accelerated timeline. We’re right at the start and will get to witness, and also hopefully shape, how this new technology will transform the world.</p> <p>Much of the textbook chapter on the intelligence revolution is still being written, but I feel pretty confident that the chapter title will not be “job killer.” Given how fast things are changing, we shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out.</p></div></div></div><category>Artificial Intelligence, Careers, Enterprise</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/2094693/will-ai-kill-jobs-history-says-otherwise.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2094693</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/teams_teamwork_collaboration_discussion_planning_meeting_communication_by_tinpixels_gettyimages-628038796_2400x1600-100853241-orig-100922903-orig-100945181-orig.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="230025" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> <item> <title>7 enterprise cloud strategy trends for 2024</title> <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:01:00 +0000</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[<body><div id="remove_no_follow"> <div class="grid grid--cols-10@md grid--cols-8@lg article-column"> <div class="col-12 col-10@md col-6@lg col-start-3@lg"> <div class="article-column__content"><section class="wp-block-bigbite-multi-title"><div class="container"></div></section> <p>Every CIO knows the cloud market is always drifting in new directions. But what you may not realize is that it’s possible to keep pace with cloud market changes, and even gain the upper hand on vendors, by adjusting your enterprise’s cloud strategy to take advantage of fresh approaches and emerging opportunities.</p> <p>CIOs need to view the cloud as a business necessity, not just a powerful technology, says Andy Tay, lead at Accenture Cloud First, a cloud advisory and services firm.</p> <p>“The cloud has evolved into the operating system of the future enterprise, transcending its initial role as a cost-saving measure,” he explains. According to Tay, the cloud is now the foundational backbone of a reinvention-ready digital core, providing the components needed to power the rapid development of new capabilities and business models.</p> <p>Is your organization doing all it can to take advantage of a rapidly changing cloud market? Here are seven trends that will help you turn cloud market evolution into an opportunity.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="1-centralizing-cloud-operations-for-enterprise-wide-advantages">1. Centralizing cloud operations for enterprise-wide advantages</h2> <p>A CIO should secure both business and technical sponsorship for their cloud program, advises JB McGinnis, a principal at Deloitte Consulting. This should be followed by establishing a center of excellence, a centralized entity that provides guidance, expertise, and support for cloud initiatives in specific areas.</p> <p>“Invest in learning and development, which can help to retain your existing talent and attract new talent,” he says.</p> <p>McGinnis also recommends encouraging cloud developer teams to explore and innovate within a safe framework. “Activities such as immersion days, hackathons, and innovation days can all foster leadership opportunities and contribute to a vibrant community culture.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="2-rethinking-strategies-to-rein-in-costs-and-target-benefits">2. Rethinking strategies to rein in costs and target benefits</h2> <p>Cloud market innovations, particularly those enabled by AI, are outpacing actual demand, says Anay Nawathe, a director with technology research and advisory firm ISG. “As a result, many CIOs now feel overwhelmed by a multitude of choices, experience fear of missing out, and make hasty, suboptimal cloud decisions.”</p> <p>The scope of cloud strategies has expanded significantly over the past several years, Nawathe observes. “Once a purely infrastructure-driven exercise, cloud services have rapidly moved up the technology stack to the data and application layers, incorporating all infrastructure across enterprise private clouds, multiple public clouds, and at the edge,” he says. “Yet not every application and data workload belongs in the public cloud, and enterprises need to ensure they are deploying these workloads in the right manner.”</p> <p>The best way to approach today’s cloud market is through intentional, use-case-driven cloud investments, Nawathe says. “This requires enterprises to understand their individual application strategies, and to use that understanding to build a cloud ecosystem and supporting capabilities that will empower application teams to run at the pace they need while managing costs and risk.” Meanwhile, he adds, an increased focus on governance to provide the guidelines and guardrails for applications teams is critical for successful implementation.</p> <p>Unlike past strategies, which prioritized rapid cloud growth for the sake of innovation, the current approach <a href="https://www.cio.com/article/1309572/cios-rethink-all-in-cloud-strategies.html">emphasizes financial rigor and technical due diligence</a>. “A requirement to develop a comprehensive total cost of ownership and return on investment analysis, prior to making cloud investments, not only allows enterprises to manage their budgets, but it also requires application teams to clearly articulate their requirements and establish a strategy for successfully adopting new technologies,” Nawathe says.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="3-partnering-for-innovation">3. Partnering for innovation</h2> <p>Accenture’s Tay says CIOs should leverage cloud partners to their strategic advantage. “Hyperscalers and other emerging ecosystem providers are investing heavily in innovation and advanced technologies, including generative AI tools and capabilities that can massively accelerate modernization,” he observes. Bringing in trusted modernization partners is a pro move, Tay suggests. “These experts will help guide decisions and infuse modern practices across every step of the cloud and digital core journey.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="4-diversifying-and-aligning-for-efficiency-and-business-gains">4. Diversifying and aligning for efficiency and business gains</h2> <p>It’s important to approach today’s cloud market with business outcomes and metrics top of mind, advises Arvind Joshi, chief operating officer for global technology and co-head of public cloud at JPMorgan Chase. “With a multicloud approach, large enterprises can distribute workloads, making them better equipped to mitigate service disruptions, manage their data, and boost cost efficiency.” On the other hand, he warns that a multicloud strategy’s benefits can’t be optimized without maintaining a strict focus on measuring progress by tracking KPIs on execution, risks, beneficial outcomes, and cost.</p> <p>Joshi also stresses the importance of comprehensive planning involving business and technical stakeholders, which he believes is critical when building a cloud strategy. “There must be alignment with overarching priorities for the technology organization and the business,” he says. “With a consistent operating model across-cloud and on-prem, and seamless integrations that help application developers build and run code, cloud strategy has the potential to drive business value.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="5-going-full-cloud">5. Going ‘full-cloud’</h2> <p>You’ve got to get off the legacy tech, advises Daragh Mahon, CIO at freight carrier and transportation and logistics company Werner Enterprises. “Adding modern cloud solutions to a legacy tech stack is like building a new house on a rotten foundation — it will eventually cause problems and be expensive to fix.”</p> <p>Mahon recommends immediate action for enterprises still mired in legacy technologies. “If you move off your legacy systems now, you’ll save yourself the trouble of disentangling them from your tech stack when they inevitably become obsolete,” he explains. “You don’t have to worry about cloud solutions becoming outdated because they’re constantly updated and easier to replace.”</p> <p>Prioritizing cloud solutions is an important first step when exploring new technology options, Mahon says. “If possible, purchase the solution rather than building it.” He observes that cloud solutions are quicker to deploy than on-premises software and generally require less upkeep, eliminating the need for manual upgrades and patch management. “They’re continuously updated, ensuring you’re always using the latest version.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="6-recentering-strategies-around-business-value">6. Recentering strategies around business value</h2> <p>A modern cloud strategy calls for ongoing business/technology alignment, says Seth Robinson, vice president of industry research at CompTIA. He notes that until now most IT departments have focused on building systems dedicated to supporting business activities, followed by monitoring performance and maintaining system health. “In a modern cloud model, there’s still technical work in standing-up virtual resources and addressing technology hurdles, but there’s far more importance on ensuring that systems are aligned with business objectives,” he says.</p> <p>Modern cloud strategy requires a solid understanding of business objectives, accompanied by technical skills and financial acumen, Robinson says. While a CIO may “own” the final decision on a specific cloud strategy, the collaborative decision-making process now favored by many enterprises brings other business leaders into the picture.</p> <p>Looking forward, Robinson believes that careful, detailed cloud planning is essential. “A well-managed cloud strategy can greatly improve flexibility and resiliency in business systems, but without enough attention to detail enterprises can run into cost overruns and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.”</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="7-making-more-selective-cloud-commitments">7. Making more selective cloud commitments</h2> <p>Today’s cloud market is far more cost-conscious than in past years, says Randy Shore, vice president of delivery and support at cloud management platform vendor Kion. “The state of the economy and funding is encouraging companies to find ways to make their dollar go farther.”</p> <p>CIOs who were once willing to experiment or play around with cloud services are now maturing and bringing specific use cases to the cloud, Shore says. Increased selectivity also means that some IT leaders are now considering moving some of their workloads back on-prem — particularly on the tooling side. Such an approach, he notes, allows using the cloud to dynamically scale infrastructure and leverage managed services from cloud providers. “It has given users the ability to work with cloud service providers, allowing them to go ‘rate shopping’ and determine which plan is the best fit, and price, for their use case,” Shore says.</p></div></div></div><category>Cloud Computing, Cloud Management, Hybrid Cloud, Innovation, Private Cloud, Technology Industry</category></div></body>]]></description> <link>https://www.cio.com/article/236487/enterprise-cloud-computing-trends.html</link> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">236487</post-id><enclosure url="https://www.cio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_1363031105-2.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" length="4409168" type="image/jpeg" /> </item> </channel></rss> 
