Product development was once predominately outside of the CIO’s realm of responsibility until the product was near completion. Once the majority of the work was complete, tech teams would begin connecting relevant aspects to internal and external systems based on facilitating sales, managing fulfillment, and providing various levels of support.
Now, product development enters the into the purview of CIOs much earlier. Products require a greater level of integration into enterprise systems at more initial stages to ensure the project is successful, making the CIO an active part of the larger product development process. As a result, three trends have emerged that are changing when CIOs get involved in these efforts. Here is an overview of what is changing and how it impacts your responsibilities.
Increased Back Office Connectivity
Products are becoming more connected, enhancing the user experience but taxing back office operations through comprehensive enterprise integration. While the ability to obtain real-time reporting data, monitor configurations and make remote adjustments, and send updates automatically provide significant value, they also require more from IT departments managing back office systems.
These changes require CIOs to be involved in requirement creation and identification, ensuring the IT staff participating in the integration and support of the product are fully aware of the goals, and internal systems are prepared to manage the associated tasks.
Proliferation of Software
More products are dependent on software to manage their operation. This means CIOs will be responsible for resource allocation in regards for development professionals as well as acquiring new talent for a limited talent pool. The use of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and DevOps tools are also reaching into the product development realm to facilitate the creation of goods featuring significant amounts of software during earlier stages.
As more products rely on software to manage their operations, CIOs will be more involved with planning elements as well. It will become more common to be tasked with determining potential features and providing input regarding current technological capabilities and whether future development goals are achievable within the project’s overall timeline. Since product development is often accelerated to help companies remain competitive, being apprised of the current state of technology will continue to be a critical part of a CIOs job.
Advancing As-a-Service and Internet of Things Markets
The addition of software-based operations and the desire to connect products to devices like smartphones and tablets has advanced growth in fields including As-a-Service offerings and IoT. In some cases, CIOs will need to be advocates for the use of As-a-Service solutions to alleviate strains on internal IT teams, bolstering a newer industry along the way. IoT has increased the production of associated applications designed to leverage the power of the new products, creating new user capabilities through companion products which can also be managed by the company.
As a result of the trends above, CIOs have become an integral part of earlier product development efforts, allowing the seamless integration of advancing technology into goods designed to meet the needs of users today and tomorrow.
If you’re a CIO looking for the right employees to make product development efforts more efficient, ITStaff can make the process of finding great candidates faster and simpler than ever before. Contact us today to see how our recruitment expertise can help your business move forward in today’s product development landscape.
