Strategy
Google; VMare; Align; Nutnanix; Ruobing Su/Business Insider
- Chief information officers, or CIOs, used to have a simpler, low-profile role, focused on managing a company's servers, its network security, and its fleet of PCs.
- That's been changing with the rise of the cloud, which let businesses set up their networks on web-based platforms, and which has paved the way for mass adoption of new technologies, such as AI and blockchain.
- The job of the CIO now goes beyond the in-house data center as companies embrace the cloud amid what is now referred to as a "digital transformation."
- But digital transformation can be a complex process, and mistakes are sometimes inevitable. Business Insider talked to the CIOs of 10 major corporations on their biggest blunders and what they learned from those missteps.
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CIOs, or chief information officers, now have one of the toughest jobs in the business world. And it's largely because their roles have been steadily expanding and growing more complicated over the past 20 years.
There was a time when all a CIO had to worry about was making sure that the company data center was up and running, and its fleet of PCs had-up-to date software and were protected from viruses, and were generally in good shape.
Not anymore.
The rise of the cloud made it possible for businesses to run their networks on web-based platforms run by companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google. The scope of a CIO's job now extends beyond in-house data centers. Then there's the increasing number of tools and trends to consider, from AI and machine learning to blockchain to the Internet of Things - all made possible, thanks to the increased computing power offered by the cloud.
Making the right choices isn't always easy, and today's CIOs need to have not just the technical chops, but also the business-savvy to figure out which technologies make sense for the company's goals, particularly its bottom line.
Mistakes are inevitable. We asked the CIOs of 10 major corporations, including VMware, ServiceNow, Google, Align, Adobe and Comcast, to share the biggest blunders of their careers - and how they fixed and recovered from their mistakes.