Interview with Chris Bedi, Chief Information Officer of ServiceNow: Digitalization is irreplaceable

CIO store: Not only the international community, but every company is not prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic and the months of emergency that followed. In this case, what strategy do you recommend to the CIO? After all, digitalization costs money-and many companies currently don’t know if they will survive.

Chris Brady: There are individual winners of the crisis, such as the video conferencing platform Zoom. On the other hand, the aviation industry, tourism and large-scale trade fairs have almost stalled. For most other industries, the extent of the crisis lies between these two extremes. Crucially, Covid-19 has greatly accelerated the transformation of most companies. Anyone who is already in a good position in digitalization has a huge advantage here.

Now, during the pandemic, and even after the pandemic is over, this means for the CIO: he must find the right balance between the necessary cost-saving measures and continued investment in digitalization. Because future success depends more on the growth of digital services. Many of the CIOs I am currently speaking are encouraging this view. They are looking for effective solutions to increase the productivity of the company and IT, thereby reducing operating costs. Therefore, it is about simplifying and streamlining processes in almost all areas of the company. In short, some people will say: Automation can save money. The CIO can then use the released funds to at least partially maintain the pace of digitization.

CIO store: Therefore, there is no choice but to digitize.

Chris Brady: The reality looks like this: the working methods of employees and the company have undergone fundamental changes, and we have long lived in the future advocated by many. In this regard, there was no other option for digitization before Covid-19, and there was after that. It can be said that the pandemic just forces companies to pay more attention to it to ensure business continuity. In this respect, this road only leads to another transformation. It is mainly related to the speed, efficiency and stability of digital processing.

CIO store: Independent of Covid-19: So far, has digital transformation brought you the most important changes?

Chris Brady: Always related to the speed, efficiency and stability of the digital process. In this context, four decisive changes have been observed in the past 18 months.

First of all, artificial intelligence and machine learning are no longer subjects that are only handled by elite science. These technologies have now entered the company, thus entering the actual business.

Second, we are no longer just talking about digitalization. Now, all forward-looking companies have developed specific implementation roadmaps with ambitious goals and timetables.

Third: Almost every company has now created new digital services-including traditional providers in the manufacturing and automotive industries, such as Philips or Mercedes-Benz, these companies no longer focus solely on hardware products. But in services related to digital products.

Fourth: Anyone who wants to develop digital services needs appropriate skills. Therefore, boldly recruiting talented software engineers has become the company’s new core competitiveness.

CIO store: What does this mean for the role of CIO? In recent years, the competitive position of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) has been established in many companies.

Chris Brady: I think the importance of CIO will not change fundamentally. But the opposite. However, what is important is the ability to bring the new and old technological worlds together. Therefore, on the one hand there is a scalable IT platform and automation, on the other hand it is mobility, agility and consumerization. It is usually summarized under the new position “Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO)”.

CIO store: Should one person be responsible?

Chris Brady: There is no universal answer, yes or no. This largely depends on the size of the company, the industry and their respective business models. And the thinking style and skills of decision makers. In this case, you must not forget the increasingly important role of the chief data officer. For me, it is very important that the company must have the right people responsible for IT operations and business process digitization.

CIO store: Let’s keep in touch with the CIO briefly. The CIO is ideally concerned with and responsible for the old and new IT world you outlined. What would you write in the record book of a modern CIO?

Chris Brady: He is good at work and can manage daily operations and long-term strategic tasks well.

I mentioned before: Automation is a basic requirement for efficient IT operations. Speed ​​and agility are increasingly becoming decisive competitive factors. Therefore, those who provide IT services in a stable, scalable, secure, and low-cost manner have completed the most important tasks. Process automation alone can save more than 60% of costs. And, of course, in this case, we are also talking about achieving sustainable improvement in employee and customer satisfaction through effective processes and smart user interfaces.

However, CIOs should also go beyond convention and think about the role of technology thought leaders. In this role, he served as chief sales officer, responsible for driving transformation. Because he must be able to sell the vision of a “better tomorrow” to the company, it can become more successful with the help of new technologies. From the perspective of the chief human resources officer, the CIO should promote this continuous learning company. Technologies such as machine learning algorithms or modern collaboration platforms are needed, otherwise it is impossible to make quick and informed decisions. Last but not least: As the chief transformation officer, the CIO should bundle all these activities.

CIO store: Finally, let’s talk about the company’s changes. Classic IT Service Management (ITSM) is yesterday. Today, ServiceNow positions itself as the hub for complete workflow management and has vigorously spread the platform concept. What is this all about?

Chris Brady: From a pure product point of view, this is correct. However, if you want, it doesn’t change our philosophy and goals, just the way we get there. CIO wants and must go digital. In this endeavor, they are more guided by the platform approach than ever before, and less guided by the product-centric approach. Therefore, our “Now” platform can not only integrate new digital workflows into the corresponding hybrid cloud infrastructure, but also adapt to a single standard software program-for example in the HR or financial fields. So this is about the benefits of building new applications to increase productivity and increase customer and employee satisfaction.