Viewing offline content

Limited functionality available

Dismiss
United States
  • Services

    What's New

    • Register for Dbriefs webcasts

    • Unlimited Reality™

      Metaverse solutions that drive value

    • Sustainability, Climate & Equity

      Cultivating a sustainable and prosperous future

    • Tax

      • Tax Operate
      • Tax Legislation
      • Tax Technology Consulting
      • Mobility and Payroll
      • Legal Business Services
      • Tax Services
    • Consulting

      • Core Business Operations
      • Customer & Marketing
      • Enterprise Technology & Performance
      • Human Capital
      • Strategy & Analytics
    • Audit & Assurance

      • Audit Innovation
      • Accounting Standards
      • Accounting Events & Transactions
    • Deloitte Private

    • M&A and Restructuring

    • Risk & Financial Advisory

      • Accounting & Internal Controls
      • Cyber & Strategic Risk
      • Regulatory & Legal
      • Transactions and M&A
    • AI & Analytics

    • Cloud

    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

  • Industries

    What's New

    • The Ripple Effect

      Real-world client stories of purpose and impact

    • Register for Dbriefs webcasts

    • Industry Outlooks

      Key opportunities, trends, and challenges

    • Consumer

      • Automotive
      • Consumer Products
      • Retail, Wholesale & Distribution
      • Transportation, Hospitality & Services
    • Energy, Resources & Industrials

      • Industrial Products & Construction
      • Power, Utilities & Renewables
      • Energy & Chemicals
      • Mining & Metals
    • Financial Services

      • Banking & Capital Markets
      • Insurance
      • Investment Management
      • Real Estate
    • Government & Public Services

      • Defense, Security & Justice
      • Federal health
      • Civil
      • State & Local
      • Higher Education
    • Life Sciences & Health Care

      • Health Care
      • Life Sciences
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications

      • Technology
      • Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment
  • Insights

    Deloitte Insights

    What's New

    • Deloitte Insights Magazine

      Explore the latest issue now

    • Deloitte Insights app

      Go straight to smart with daily updates on your mobile device

    • Weekly economic update

      See what's happening this week and the impact on your business

    • Strategy

      • Business Strategy & Growth
      • Digital Transformation
      • Governance & Board
      • Innovation
      • Marketing & Sales
      • Private Enterprise
    • Economy & Society

      • Economy
      • Environmental, Social, & Governance
      • Health Equity
      • Trust
      • Mobility
    • Organization

      • Operations
      • Finance & Tax
      • Risk & Regulation
      • Supply Chain
      • Smart Manufacturing
    • People

      • Leadership
      • Talent & Work
      • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Technology

      • Data & Analytics
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Technology Management
    • Industries

      • Consumer
      • Energy, Resources, & Industrials
      • Financial Services
      • Government & Public Services
      • Life Sciences & Health Care
      • Technology, Media, & Telecommunications
    • Spotlight

      • Deloitte Insights Magazine
      • Press Room Podcasts
      • Weekly Economic Update
      • COVID-19
      • Resilience
      • Top 10 reading guide
  • Careers

    What's New

    • Our Purpose

      Exceptional organizations are led by a purpose. At Deloitte, our purpose is to make an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society.

    • Day in the Life: Our hybrid workplace model

      See how we connect, collaborate, and drive impact across various locations.

    • The Deloitte University Experience

      Explore Deloitte University like never before through a cinematic movie trailer and films of popular locations throughout Deloitte University.

    • Careers

      • Audit & Assurance
      • Consulting
      • Risk & Financial Advisory
      • Tax
      • Internal Services
      • US Delivery Center
    • Students

      • Undergraduate
      • Advanced Degree
      • Internships
    • Experienced Professionals

      • Additional Opportunities
      • Veterans
      • Industries
      • Executives
    • Job Search

      • Entry Level Jobs
      • Experienced Professional Jobs
      • Recruiting Tips
      • Explore Your Fit
      • Labor Condition Applications
    • Life at Deloitte

      • Life at Deloitte Blog
      • Meet Our People
      • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
      • Corporate Citizenship
      • Leadership Development
      • Empowered Well-Being
      • Deloitte University
    • Alumni Relations

      • Update Your Information
      • Events
      • Career Development Support
      • Marketplace Jobs Dashboard
      • Alumni Resources
  • US-EN Location: United States-English  
  • Contact us
  • US-EN Location: United States-English  
  • Contact us
    • Dashboard
    • Saved items
    • Content feed
    • Subscriptions
    • Profile/Interests
    • Account settings

Welcome back

Still not a member? Join My Deloitte

Forging alliances: How tech leaders and boards collaborate to deliver agility, resilience, and performance

by Khalid Kark, Debbie McCormack, Robert Lamm
  • Save for later
  • Download
  • Share
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Share on Linkedin
    • Share by email
Deloitte Insights
  • Strategy
    Strategy
    Strategy
    • Business Strategy & Growth
    • Digital Transformation
    • Governance & Board
    • Innovation
    • Marketing & Sales
    • Private Enterprise
  • Economy & Society
    Economy & Society
    Economy & Society
    • Economy
    • Environmental, Social, & Governance
    • Health Equity
    • Trust
    • Mobility
  • Organization
    Organization
    Organization
    • Operations
    • Finance & Tax
    • Risk & Regulation
    • Supply Chain
    • Smart Manufacturing
  • People
    People
    People
    • Leadership
    • Talent & Work
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
  • Technology
    Technology
    Technology
    • Data & Analytics
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Technology Management
  • Industries
    Industries
    Industries
    • Consumer
    • Energy, Resources, & Industrials
    • Financial Services
    • Government & Public Services
    • Life Sciences & Health Care
    • Tech, Media, & Telecom
  • Spotlight
    Spotlight
    Spotlight
    • Deloitte Insights Magazine
    • Press Room Podcasts
    • Weekly Economic Update
    • COVID-19
    • Resilience
    • Top 10 reading guide
    • US-EN Location: United States-English  
    • Contact us
      • Dashboard
      • Saved items
      • Content feed
      • Subscriptions
      • Profile/Interests
      • Account settings
    7 minute read 24 July 2020

    Forging alliances: How tech leaders and boards collaborate to deliver agility, resilience, and performance CIO Insider

    7 minute read 24 July 2020
    • Khalid Kark United States
    • Debbie McCormack United States
    • Robert Lamm United States
    • Save for later
    • Download
    • Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Linkedin
      • Share by email
    • Technology is a strategic lever for high-performing companies
    • Three essential elements of alliances between tech leaders and boards
    • Key recommendations: Essential questions for boards and technology leaders

    A defining trait of high-performing organizations is the strong relationships between their technology leaders and boards—an alliance that can become even more crucial during a crisis. What steps can CIOs take to build and foster these strong alliances?

    Some organizations have quickly and effectively responded to the 2020 global pandemic, while others are struggling. What traits contributed to the high performers’ agility and resilience? And what can technology leaders do now to help their organizations prepare for future disruptions?

    Learn more

    Explore the CIO Insider collection

    Learn about Deloitte’s services

    Go straight to smart. Get the Deloitte Insights app

    Our 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study identified several factors that distinguish high-performing organizations, but one stood out: The corporate directors of these organizations have a strong positive relationship with technology and the CIO. Their leaders and board members advocate for, prioritize, and appreciate the value of technology. These organizations are often better positioned to respond to crises, jump-start their recovery, and develop new business opportunities that make it possible to thrive in the future.

    While tech leaders are likely to engage in strategic business conversations with CEOs and business leaders in their day-to-day work, frequent interactions with board directors are typically not a natural, everyday occurrence. Building a strong alliance with boards to support tech-enabled strategies is an intentional act driven by tech leaders that requires purposeful planning and effort.1

    Technology is a strategic lever for high-performing companies

    Tech leaders and boards of high-performing organizations share a bold, tech-enabled vision of the future that guides their priorities, decisions, and investments. These boards actively champion transformative change and are more highly engaged in strategic decisions around how to use technology to drive organizational performance and growth. They advocate for, prioritize, and appreciate the value of technology—traits that could improve organizational agility and resilience, enabling the organization to prosper in both stable and uncertain environments.

    High-performing companies use technology to drive transformation, not simply incremental change. Compared to baseline organizations, high performers are four times more likely to use technology to drive corporate strategy than other organizations. One board director said it well: “Technology is the essence of our strategy; it is the essence of everything that we're doing.”2

    What is a high-performing organization?

    According to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study, high-performing organizations (referred to as technology vanguards in the report) are more advanced than their peers in vision and strategy, technology function maturity, and market leadership. The study showed that high performers made up 11.6% of the participating organizations; the remainder (88.4%) were identified as baseline organizations.

    Compared to baseline organizations, high performers are more likely to emphasize innovation, customers, and growth. They look to innovation to capture new revenues and expand to new markets. They’re customer-first, leveraging technology to improve customer experiences and even engaging customers in the innovation process. This growth orientation will likely encourage them to continue to invest in the future even as they respond and recover from a crisis environment.

    High-performing companies also are more likely to have directors with a technology background. Our survey data suggests that 79% of high performers have at least one board member with tech experience, compared to only 52% of baseline organizations. Across industries, only about half of the surveyed organizations have a director with tech experience, except for the technology industry, where, unsurprisingly, the number is significantly higher (figure 1). As technology is a key driver for corporate strategy across industries, organizations should consider increasing the tech-savviness of all directors, regardless of whether they have a work or educational background in technology.

    Surveys and interviews show that directors and CEOs are counting on their tech leaders to lead transformational change—which implies that having tech leaders who are visionary and persistent is the need of the hour. Bill Freda, board member, State Street Corporation, Guardian Life Insurance Company, and Hamilton Insurance Group, says, “Innovators—and the ability to execute—are going to be the key to success for future tech leaders.”3

    Three essential elements of alliances between tech leaders and boards

    Foundation of trust to pursue a bold vision

    Boards and leaders of high-performing companies share a bold vision around how technology investments can help them meet the strategic goals that they aggressively pursue (figure 2).

    But not every CIO can go to the board and expect directors to buy into these investments. To convince the board to pursue a technology-enabled vision, the tech leader should have a track record of delivering successful projects and consistently providing system reliability and security. Without the credibility of past performance or experience delivering transformative change, CIOs may find it difficult to convince the board to risk making substantial technology investments.

    “Tech leaders need tenacity, which means making a decision, standing by it, and staying the course.”

    —Gaurdie Banister, former CEO of Aera Energy, board member of Tyson Foods and Russell Reynolds Associates, former board member of Bristow Group and Marathon Oil.4

    Ongoing opportunities for informal and ongoing engagement

    Nearly three-quarters of tech leaders of high-performing companies have frequent, informal touch points with their boards of directors, compared to only 44% of baseline organizations (figure 3). These recurrent interactions can allow for iterative conversations, not just status checks, which can deepen relationships and understanding. Beyond sharing ideas about how technology can help the organization reach its goals, tech leaders gain insights into directors’ interests and concerns, as well as their interpersonal dynamics. This could also serve as an opportunity to educate and engage the directors on technology topics and increase the technology acumen of the board.

    With more boards moving to virtual meetings, consider reviewing the governance rules to increase meeting frequency. This can help management be more nimble since corporate and tech leaders can get insights into the board’s mindset without waiting for a quarterly meeting. These ongoing conversations can also help the management team stay in sync with the board, which is one of the defining characteristics of high-performing organizations (81%, versus 56% for baseline organizations).

    High-performing companies engage differently with boards

    Balanced oversight across resilience issues and growth opportunities

    Most high-performing companies (68%) report that boards and tech leaders engage on strategic issues, compared to 37% of baseline organizations (figure 4). Our interviews with high-performing boards reveal that they not only have more strategic conversations with their tech leaders, they are also much more likely to balance their offensive and defensive conversations. Of course, a crisis warrants leaders and boards to focus on defensive responses and capital preservation; however, it’s important not to lose sight of potential long-term opportunities.

    Tech leaders may introduce ideas for continuing to pursue growth—even during difficult economic times—while still addressing immediate operational resiliency and other concerns. For example, if funding is not available for major tech initiatives that carry higher risk, some savvy tech leaders propose creative funding and financing options—such as vendor subsidies, ecosystem investments, university partnerships, and carveout leasebacks.

    Key recommendations: Essential questions for boards and technology leaders

    As technology becomes a key lever for corporate performance, collaboration between the tech leaders and boards will be essential for shaping and delivering on corporate strategies. Periodic touch points on capital allocation, risk, and audit issues, although essential, will not be sufficient. Boards will need to find ways to be savvier on technology topics, and tech leaders will need to be more creative in articulating the impact and value of technology across the organization. All this will require a deeper appreciation and continued intentional effort by boards and tech leaders. As these engagements take place, the following questions can be used to deepen this dialogue:

    • What are the governance guidelines for technology investments?

      Many high-performing organizations have flexible investment and governance guidelines. Unfortunately, our 2018 global CIO survey suggests that 14% of organizations don’t have a consistent way to measure the return on technology investments that adjusts for commensurate risks and rewards. For example, investing in new technologies with high potential rewards and a low initial cost should require a lower minimum return on investment than a high-risk, high-cost business transformation project. Similarly, some fast-moving projects may deliver a minimal viable product that could lead to competitive advantage. In this case, the technology governance process should allow for flexibility and agility.

    • What percentage of technology spend is fixed cost?

      Gone are the days when the bulk of the IT budget was spent on fixed costs, such as licensing, data center, and complex multiyear projects. Many tech leaders today understand the importance of reducing fixed costs and are figuring out ways to shift technology spend quickly as market conditions change. The business disruptions resulting from the global pandemic provided a wake-up call for organizations that have not begun to shift to cloud-based models that offer scalable, flexible technology infrastructures and services that can adapt to fast-changing conditions.

    • How much technical debt do we have?

      Technical debt reflects the cost that would be required to fix problems with existing applications, systems, and infrastructure that resulted from taking shortcuts and quick fixes, which compound over time. Technical debt can drag down the tech function because there is little incentive or budget to invest in fixing these nagging problems. High-performing organizations actively manage and minimize technical debt to improve performance and agility.

    • Will the current technology operating model and culture support future strategy?

      Collaboration is difficult in a siloed organization, and innovation cannot thrive in a work environment that doesn’t tolerate mistakes. In high-performing organizations, boards and tech leaders oversee the technology function’s culture and operating model to anticipate roadblocks and potential areas of conflict that would hamper strategy execution.

    • How do we compare to our competition?

      Traditionally, boards have benchmarked performance against industry competitors to assess their technology function. This alone is no longer an effective measure. Boards and technology leaders should instead ask, “Will technology be a key enabler for the future of our business?” If yes, they should look beyond their industry for potential disruptors, which are increasingly turning current business models upside down.

    • What technology capabilities can help reimagine the future of work and the workplace?

      Savvy technology leaders are helping the business reimagine future workplaces and physical footprints by helping define new roles, digitizing and automating work, and leveraging technologies like learning platforms, virtual collaboration tools, and AI to augment human skills and increase productivity.

    • What are the key obstacles in attracting and engaging top technology talent?

      Top technology talent is required for organizations to maintain competitiveness. As one board member says, “To assess a technology leader, I pay special attention [to] his or her direct reports – a high-performing technology leader will attract high-performing talent.” Many savvy boards oversee tech leaders’ compensation, succession plans, and engagement to help create environments where high-performing technology talent can thrive.

    It will take time, effort and tenacity to forge this alliance. But once established, it can help launch the organization into a new era of greater agility, resilience, and performance through good times and bad.

    Acknowledgments

    The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of Linda Holland, lead writer; Matt Calcagno, project manager; and Tiffany Stronsky, marketing lead. Thank you to Anh Phillips, Kelly Gaertner, Eliz Moore, and Allen Qiu for their valuable contributions to the data this report referenced from the 2020 Global Technology Leadership Study.

    Junko Kaji, Rithu Thomas, Blythe Hurley, Preetha Devan, and the entire Deloitte Insights team continue to provide outstanding editorial and production assistance.

    Cover image by: Charlie Hill

    Endnotes
      1. Khalid Kark et al., Technology and the boardroom: A CIO’s guide to engaging the board, Deloitte Insights, February 22, 2019. View in article

      2. Anonymous board director, interview with the author, October 29, 2019. View in article

      3. Bill Freda (board member, State Street Corporation, Guardian Life Insurance Company, and Hamilton Insurance Group), interview with the author, November 11, 2019. View in article

      4. Gaurdie Banister (former CEO of Aera Energy, board member of Tyson Foods and Russell Reynolds Associates, former board member of Bristow Group and Marathon Oil), interview with the author, October 29, 2019. View in article

    Show moreShow less

    Topics in this article

    Chief Information Officer , Leadership , Technology Management

    CIO Program

    CIOs lead unique and complex lives—operating at the intersection of business and IT to deliver value to their organizations. To help CIOs manage these challenges and issues, Deloitte has created the CIO Program. The program provides distinctive offerings to support the CIO career life cycle through leadership development programs, immersive lab experiences, insight on provocative topics, and career transition support to complement the technology services and solutions we provide to our clients. 

    Learn more
    Get in touch
    Contact
    • Khalid Kark
    • Managing director, US CIO Program
    • Deloitte LLP
    • kkark@deloitte.com
    • +1 214 840 7754

    Download Subscribe

    Related content

    img Trending

    The kinetic leader: Boldly reinventing the enterprise

    Article 2 years ago
    img Trending

    Bridging the boardroom’s technology gap

    Article 5 years ago
    img Trending

    The tech-savvy board

    Article 3 years ago
    img Trending

    Technology and the boardroom: A CIO’s guide to engaging the board

    Article 3 years ago

    More from the CIO Insider collection

    • Reimagining the technology operating model Article2 years ago
    • The new CIO: Business-savvy technologist Article2 years ago
    • Reinventing tech finance: The evolution from IT budgets to technology investments Article3 years ago
    • Beyond innovation by shotgun Article3 years ago
    • Cracking the code: How CIOs are redefining mentorship to advance women in the workplace Article3 years ago
    • Nine competencies that can elevate the CIO to business leader Summary
    Khalid Kark

    Khalid Kark

    Global CIO Research Director

    Khalid is a director with Deloitte LLP where he leads the development of research and insights for the CIO Program. Khalid has served as a trusted advisor to large, multinational clients, and has decades of experience helping technology leaders anticipate and plan for the impacts of new technology. Previously, Khalid led the CIO Research practice at Forrester Research. His research has been widely featured in media outlets such as MSNBC, The Boston Globe, and CIO magazine.

    • kkark@deloitte.com
    • +1 214 840 7754
    Debbie McCormack

    Debbie McCormack

    Debbie McCormack is a managing director in Deloitte LLP’s Center for Board Effectiveness, which is committed to advising executives, boards of directors, and others active in governance by providing them with resources such as symposiums, insights, and labs pertaining to current boardroom issues and governance trends. McCormack is specifically focused on learning and development for current and future board members. She is based in McLean, Virginia.

    • dmccormack@deloitte.com
    Robert Lamm

    Robert Lamm

    Robert Lamm is an independent senior advisor at the Center for Board Effectiveness, Deloitte LLP. He is a leading member of the Society for Corporate Governance and served as chair of the society’s Securities Law Committee, among other positions; he holds the society’s Bracebridge H. Young Award, its highest, for distinguished service. Lamm also cochairs the Securities and Corporate Governance practice at Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart, P. A. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In addition, he is a senior fellow of The Governance Center of The Conference Board, and a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Lamm was awarded Corporate Secretary magazine’s lifetime achievement award for corporate governance.

    • insights@deloitte.com

    Share article highlights

    See something interesting? Simply select text and choose how to share it:

    Email a customized link that shows your highlighted text.
    Copy a customized link that shows your highlighted text.
    Copy your highlighted text.

    Forging alliances: How tech leaders and boards collaborate to deliver agility, resilience, and performance has been saved

    Forging alliances: How tech leaders and boards collaborate to deliver agility, resilience, and performance has been removed

    An Article Titled Forging alliances: How tech leaders and boards collaborate to deliver agility, resilience, and performance already exists in Saved items

    Invalid special characters found 
    Forgot password

    To stay logged in, change your functional cookie settings.

    OR

    Social login not available on Microsoft Edge browser at this time.

    Connect Accounts

    Connect your social accounts

    This is the first time you have logged in with a social network.

    You have previously logged in with a different account. To link your accounts, please re-authenticate.

    Log in with an existing social network:

    To connect with your existing account, please enter your password:

    OR

    Log in with an existing site account:

    To connect with your existing account, please enter your password:

    Forgot password

    Subscribe

    to receive more business insights, analysis, and perspectives from Deloitte Insights
    ✓ Link copied to clipboard
    • Contact us
    • Search jobs
    • Submit RFP
    • Subscribe to Deloitte Insights
    Follow Deloitte Insights:
    Global office directory US office locations
    US-EN Location: United States-English  
    About Deloitte
    • About Deloitte
    • Client stories
    • My Deloitte
    • Deloitte Insights
    • Email subscriptions
    • Press releases
    • Submit RFP
    • US office locations
    • Alumni
    • Global office directory
    • Newsroom
    • Dbriefs webcasts
    • Contact us
    Services
    • Tax
    • Consulting
    • Audit & Assurance
    • Deloitte Private
    • M&A and Restructuring
    • Risk & Financial Advisory
    • AI & Analytics
    • Cloud
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    Industries
    • Consumer
    • Energy, Resources & Industrials
    • Financial Services
    • Government & Public Services
    • Life Sciences & Health Care
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications
    Careers
    • Careers
    • Students
    • Experienced Professionals
    • Job Search
    • Life at Deloitte
    • Alumni Relations
    • About Deloitte
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy
    • Privacy Shield
    • Cookies
    • Cookie Settings
    • Legal Information for Job Seekers
    • Labor Condition Applications
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

    © 2023. See Terms of Use for more information.

    Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

    Learn more about Deloitte's work for the US Olympic Committee