Toby Alcock (Logicalis)
The majority of chief information officers (CIOs) around the world are looking at refining customer experience as part of their efforts to tackle new norms post-COVID, new research has found.
Indeed, customer experience has increased in importance for 73 per cent of CIOs around the world and is not expected to slow down in the near future, according to a new report from global IT services firm Logicalis.
The 2021 Global CIO Survey report -- based on the responses of 1,000 CIOs from 28 countries -- revealed that almost 75 per cent of CIOs saw COVID-19 and digital transformation as key drivers of the re-focus on customer experience, while 98 per cent said the pandemic accelerated their own digital transformation projects.
Additionally, customer service was the third-most prominent type of digital transformation project, occurring in 45 per cent of responses.
The report also found that 81 per cent of respondents will seek to redefine customer experience over the next five years.
“Digital experience has become one of, if not the most, important way to reach, connect and communicate with customers in the new digital age,” said Toby Alcock, CTO of Logicalis. “The ability to provide an optimal digital experience will determine the future of an organisation.
“To deliver the digital experience, businesses should overhaul their infrastructure and leverage evolving technologies to interrogate the end-to-end digital customer journey. By being in closer proximity to customers, CIOs can ensure they can keep up with the needs and demands of the modern customer.”
The report also found that so-called "core concepts" were major focuses for CIOs. For example, innovation was said to be key for 79 per cent of respondents, strategic planning for 77 per cent and productivity for 62 per cent.
According to Logicalis, this was a “stark contrast” to previous years’ results, which saw CIOs claiming they had a lack of time to spend on innovation and strategic planning.
