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The Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses

There have been many ups and downs in businesses since COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11th March 2020, and the effect of COVID-19 on businesses have been many since, as countries established lockdowns in early March, following China’s quarantine measures.

At the time, Management Events ran a survey to find the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, what they were facing and anticipating, and the strategies they were forming to ensure business continuity.

In this follow-up report, we uncovered new insights on how top companies in Europe managed business disruptions from the coronavirus, and what their strategies were as the pandemic continued.

 

Recovering from the Impact

Our previous Executive Trend Survey found that 64% of executives anticipated the coronavirus to have short-term negative business impact with the majority expecting ‘business as usual’ within 2 – 3 months.

After 5 months of the pandemic, in one of our surveys with over 1,000 decision makers across Europe, out of the organizations that were negatively impacted by the pandemic, 31% said that they were currently in the recovery stage while 12% were already headway into the growth stage.

As it had been almost half a year since the coronavirus impacted businesses and operations worldwide, it was expected that affected firms would implement steps and processes to ensure the recovery and continuity of their business.

However, post-COVID-19 effects on business growth are another matter. With the anticipation of a volatile demand environment and unpredictable market behavior, organizations started identifying new growth areas and rethinking their corporate strategies to be more resilient and competitive for the coming future.

In fact, according to our survey, 43% of respondents anticipated a growth in business within 3 and 12 months after the survey was made.

Among the industries surveyed, the majority of respondents who anticipated slow revenue were from the banking, insurance, and financial services industries.

 

Covid-19 Effects on Business in Revenues

Based on our survey done 5 months prior, results showed that 86% expected a significant revenue drop due to direct COVID-19 effects on business, whereby 33% predicted a fall of more than 15% while another 33% forecast a 10% decrease or less.

Even 5 months down the road, businesses were still anticipating the negative revenue effects of COVID-19, showing the long-lasting financial impacts of the coronavirus.

44% of respondents were forecasting a drop in revenue in the upcoming 6 months. Meanwhile, the rest expected a revenue increase, but with the majority (40%) forecasting only a rise of less than 15%.

Nevertheless, business leaders were optimistic about their future financial flow, with 52% predicting a revenue increase of at least 15% within the coming 12 months and 18% foreseeing a boost of 15 – 30%.

The healthcare services sector was among the topmost industries that predicted a drop in revenue, followed by banking, insurance and financial services, logistics and transportation, and industrial products and equipment.

 

Budget Revision for Business Continuity

Revisions of budget and business strategy were the top focus areas for organizations in ensuring the smooth continuity of their operations.

59% of business leaders in Europe were reworking their budget plans and predictions in light of the pandemic effects, followed by a revision of business strategies and goals (50%). Meanwhile, cash flow preservation was a key focal point for 42% of businesses facing negative disruptions from COVID-19.

However, a majority of companies that started rethinking their goals and budget for 2021 were only implementing slight changes to their goals albeit with a lower budget.

On another note, organizations were also reviewing their client communication and sales channels, with 47% expanding their digital customer service channels and 37% increasing the adoption of digital sales channels.

 

Remote Work to Continue

As expected, video conferencing and online chat platforms (86%) were top technology investments as organizations continued with remote working. However, a number of respondents commented that their firms were already well-equipped with digital and remote work technology even before the pandemic.

Trailing behind online communication channels was the use of cloud technology, which was a key investment for 47% of executives in helping the effectiveness of remote collaboration and productivity. This was followed by cybersecurity software (29%) and project management and collaboration tools (25%).

Throughout the months prior, it was evident that “enterprises leading in digital transformation were significantly less vulnerable to the epidemic”. However, the number of organizations that were ahead in digitalization efforts and IT initiatives was in the lower percentage.

Only 15% of our survey respondents disagreed that the outbreak forced them to accelerate their digital transformation, compared to 64% of executives who agreed with the statement.

 

Data Reigns over Cybersecurity

Pre-COVID-19, cybersecurity was named as the topmost tech adoption for organizations’ business strategy in our survey.

At the time of this survey, while cybersecurity was still a key investment for 49% of surveyed executives, data science and analytics held the highest priority for 61% of business leaders.

Furthering emphasizing the importance of data, 79% of the respondents agreed that they were looking to update their existing data analytics models to accommodate changing market behavior.

This finding was in line with Forbes’ article on analytics spending, whereby “49% of enterprises were either launching new analytics and BI projects or moving forward without delay on already planned projects.”

 

Bullish in Bouncing Back

Perseverance, determination, and innovation are driving factors for organizations navigating the business implications of the pandemic. And our findings have shown that businesses are bullish in their ability to bounce back to ‘normal’.

As seen from our previous survey, 88% of business leaders expected to have their businesses back to operational levels within 6 months.

The finding corroborates with our previous survey, by which more than 75% of surveyed executives had a positive business outlook for 2021. 39% were predicting stability for the coming year while 38% were expecting business growth.

 

Moving Forward Post-Covid-19

For certain industries, the few months prior to this survey were a bleak time for their businesses, and for some, the impact of COVID-19 on businesses might be longer-lasting than others.

However as stated by a respondent, there are positive effects of the coronavirus crisis, such as the acceleration of digital transformation and IT initiatives.

COVID-19 clearly showed that businesses cannot afford to be complacent, and to constantly reevaluate their processes and strategies – not just for the resilience and sustainability of the company, but for the good of their workforce and customers as well.

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Get your employees on board: The most important conditions for realising an innovative mindset.

Gjis van Zon, Innovation Consultant at Freshheads.

We all know change is necessary to remain relevant in a constantly changing world. And in the ideal situation, everyone within your organisation takes part in this important journey. But innovating requires a lot of your people. After all, it is pretty scary to deviate from the familiar path to do something you don’t yet know (very well). How do you get your employees and your organisation as a whole into the right mindset? And what is the best approach: to innovate in a fixed team or organisation-wide? With this article innovation consultant Gijs van Zon helps you to find your own way.

 

An underpinned foundation

“A misconception I encounter quite often is that companies think they have to innovate. Our competition is doing it, so we need to do it too – that sort of idea. This may be true, but innovating as an organisation is not a goal in and of itself. It is a trajectory that emerges in a logical line from the purpose for which your organisation was created.

If you innovate in this way, it’s easier to get your people on board. After all, you’re building on a story they already know, and that makes it less scary or strange. So, my advice is: start from the vision and ambition of your organisation and translate this into strategic goals and frameworks. What developments do we envisage in the market, what is our role in this, where do we see ourselves in three, five, or ten years? And who or what do we need to achieve that?

Share these frameworks in your organisation, so that everyone feels included and your employees feel part of the journey. What can I do or contribute to make this ambition a reality? What is my place in this vision? These are questions to which your employees are looking for answers. After all, everyone wants to do something that has value, and this is how you help them find that value (again). An added benefit: in this way, opportunities – regardless of the level or department of your organisation in which they arise – are also recognised and developed more quickly.”

 

Start small and communicate

“Change is not something you do overnight. Start with one specific goal and with a select group of people in your organisation. Choose low-hanging fruit; opportunities that are up for grabs in your organisation and that produce returns relatively quickly. Share your experiences, ask for input and allow other colleagues to contribute ideas to make it relevant to them. For example, provide demos of the experiments you’re rolling out and what you’ve accomplished with them. Show what was successful, but also certainly where the experiment showed that the idea had failed. Often, this is where the most interesting lessons are to be found.

I can hear you thinking: “But we want to see fast results everywhere!” You achieve that precisely by starting small. Believe me: small steps forward are the key to change in any organisation. Especially when you’re aiming for good and lasting results. Realise that this is necessary to bring about structural change in your organisation. You will see that this leads to more and more people in your organisation becoming enthusiastic about your new way of working. So, keep communicating. Take the people with you. Until it becomes commonplace for everyone.”

 

Choose what suits your business

“If you ask me, it works best to use your own people to make changes in your organisation. In fact, it ensures that you have and retain much-needed knowledge in-house. But where to start? Because yes, change is and remains scary!

Bringing in an outside party can be a great idea to kickstart your innovations. They have specific knowledge that may be missing from your own organisation at the beginning. But preferably choose a mixed form, so that you always keep track of how certain steps come about. At Freshheads, we do just that. For our clients, for example, we do interviews with the end users of potential digital services to find out their needs. Those conversations always include someone from our client. At a certain point, things change around. They do the interviews and we just help with the preparation. In this way, the client acquires indispensable knowledge directly and will be able to understand how results are produced and how they can be translated into the next experiment or prototype. Being fully in control as an organisation is the result. The next step? Carry on with the changes that have been initiated, with or without outside help – but above all with your own people.”

 

Gijs van Zon is an innovation consultant at Freshheads. Together with the client, he looks at whether everything is in place for innovation projects to succeed: the right people with the right expertise, the ability to scale up if it’s a success or to pull the plug in time if the project fails.

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HEINEKEN’s Magne Setnes: Resiliency, Risk Management, and “The Swiss Army Knife” CSCO

The supply chain continues to be an ever-growing complex system that, just like precariously stacked dominoes, can be affected and disrupted by several things. Be it from transportation breakdowns (Suez Canal obstruction) or shortage of resources (global chip shortage), the chances of something that can impact a business’s supply chain system are correlatively rising.

With the gaps within businesses’ supply chains being evident, especially after the wake of the pandemic, it is obvious that supply chain leaders and CSCO will need to focus on resilience to overcome them.

As the Chief Supply Chain Officer for HEINEKEN, Magne Setnes shares with us his insights on why resiliency and financial understanding need to be the priority for organizations today and why being a “Swiss Army Knife” is necessary for a modern CSCO.

 
Want more insights from Magne Setnes? Join him and many other industry leaders in Management Events’ 600Minutes Supply Chain Management event in the Netherlands.
 

Prioritizing visibility, resiliency, and sustainability in the supply chain

The supply chain landscape has undergone massive change due to the pandemic, a majority of which had negative effects on many companies and businesses. These changes and disruptions have pushed many supply chain leaders to rethink the importance of visibility and resiliency within their organizations.

Setnes echoes these priorities in his role as CSCO for HEINEKEN, but at the same time, highlights the broader picture that other supply chain leaders will need to focus on for the future.

 

What are the priorities for organizations in facing disruptions? What key areas should supply chain leaders focus on for the future?

 

When it comes to disruption, very often you can make the mistake of thinking that once you deal with the disruption, it will go away. I am not so sure that is going to be the future moving forward and we are seeing now that disruptions are staying longer than expected. As we move into the future, we will see more of these disruptions.

So, you must create a resilient supply chain, which is good advice for the future. And there are other areas that your organization needs to be very aware of, such as the various tiers in the supply chain. It’s not enough to just look one tier downstream or upstream. As a CSCO, you need to start looking at, for instance, your supplier’s supplier and try to understand how all of your supply chain system works.

Of course, to operate on that level, you will need to have more visibility in your supply chain. I see many companies, including ourselves, working hard on creating better insights and visibility, both upstream and downstream. In addition to working on other areas like scenario planning and forecasting consumers’ and customers’ needs.

Another one that is also on the table of supply chain officers around the world is the whole impact on the environment and how it impacts us. Sustainability and social responsibility are very much something that will impact more in the supply chain and might lead to some disruption. 

For instance, the availability of certain raw materials and how they are not sustainably supplied can lead to disruption. Your supply chain needs to pursue sustainability and achieve the goal of being a sustainable company.

 

Tackling supply chain risk management and initiating change in operating models

The supply chain is the fuel that keeps the engine moving for all things retail and manufacturing. Take that out, and you have no product, no inventory, and no revenue. When faced with disruptions to the supply chain, retailers and manufacturers are often scrambling to get everything in order.

Based on a survey conducted by Gartner in 2020, only 21% of respondents have built a highly resilient network, which is less than ideal. Setnes highlights the need for having proper risk management strategies and operating models that can help supply chain leaders get ahead of those risk factors. 

 

How should CSCOs strategize their approach in achieving good risk management? What aspects should they focus on?

 

We have a well-regulated and governed risk management process in the company as a whole. But when it comes to strategizing risk management, our approach is to, as a company across all functions, get together and identify what the biggest risks are and make sure we create a picture of success.

I think that it is important to create a picture of success, work your way back from that, and in this way create a plan on how to get there. Of course, this is not an easy task, and quite a lot of work goes into this, but it is also very helpful for organizations as it shows you the things that you need to get done and what you need to get organized in your supply chain or your value chain. 

In managing this, scenario planning becomes very important. To create ideas and consider, “What if this happened, or if that happens”, and to develop scenarios in order to activate solutions when something does happen. In reality, of course, the scenario you plan for is not exactly going to be what’s happening, however, it brings that mindset of being ready and creating some resilience in your supply chain.

Another important aspect is to look at and understand the financials of your value chain. To get away a little bit from averages, to understand not only the average performance but also certain product lines. That way, when a disruption happens or if you experience a big shift from the consumers, you understand how it is going to impact you financially as well.

Last but not least, having a pulse on customers and consumers is very, very important. 

 

What are the challenges and approaches for CSCOs in initiating change within their supply chain operating models?

 

I think many supply chain officers have to deal with the fact that, in the leadership of the companies where they participate, conversations are very often commercially oriented. 

But the supply chain is a collective of small pieces and it can be difficult to convey changes in supply chain operating models in a way that is easy to grasp. You change something here and several tiers further something else changes and this is not always straightforward to work with.

So, having a clear understanding of all your product lines, understanding where the costs are, and where your bottlenecks and difficulties are, are key factors in the decision-making process at the company level as they directly relate to the financial or sustainability outcome of your company.

Typically, when you have a certain product, it will have a product owner, maybe a marketeer who will eventually own a product line. And if you want to make changes, if you cannot illustrate the true impact of the change in terms of sustainability, financials, or customer appreciation, it’s going to be very difficult to have that discussion.

Having that value chain view will be key in these types of decision-making processes and in initiating change. 

And in the past, we were driven by KPIs that were typically about efficiency, productivity, and availability. However, you have to add the financial and sustainability impact and I think CSCOs are finding themselves having more and more conversations with their commercial and financial colleagues to further strengthen the understanding of the value chain as a whole.

 

Equipping The Right Tools and Traits For The Modern CSCOs

The unprecedented disruptions organizations faced in recent years have shown the importance of the chief supply chain officer in encouraging supply chain sustainability and resilience. This newfound importance and influence the role has on the rest of the C-suite and the entire organization means CSCOs must equip themselves with the right tools for the future.

However, Setnes points out that the necessary traits that the modern CSCO must be equipped with are often not so clear-cut. Rather, it’s about being a “Swiss Army Knife” of sorts where they need to use the right tool in the right situation.

 

Are there necessary traits that CSCOs need to be equipped with within today’s post-pandemic landscape?

 

I think it very much relates to the company or the culture in the company and how they are organized. The supply chain has always required deep expertise and you still need core competencies, whether it’s in technology, logistic management, or business.

So, the core competencies are still very much needed but now, you need to be much wider because the supply chain is an end-to-end game, not just a department in a company. It’s a process that runs from one end to the other end of your entire value chain. A process supported by digital tools, to deliver financial results, customer satisfaction, and overcome the sustainability challenge we all face.

Because of that, the future supply chain officer will need to be more oriented towards understanding the dynamics of their entire value chain and also be well-equipped in terms of customers, consumers, digital and financial understanding. So you can talk with marketeers and commercial colleagues just as easily as with the IT and finance departments. Last, but not least, is the whole dimension of sustainability. 

CSCOs today are becoming broader and broader in their orientation. And while you cannot have deep knowledge of everything, you need to have good core competencies from which you can build your “umbrella”. We are like the Swiss Army Knife. The most used tool might differ a little bit from industry to industry, company to company, but in general, the Swiss Army Knife is becoming bigger.

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Alin Kalam: Nurturing Growth and Innovation Through Data, AI, and Sustainability

The IT industry continues to grow and shift rapidly due to the pandemic and CIOs are constantly on the lookout for ways to foster and adopt new technologies into their organization. Whether it is sustainable transformations or implementing AI, change is necessary.

As the Head of International Market Intelligence & Data Strategy for UNIQA international, Alin Kalam shares with us his insights on the need for agility through AI, achieving business competence, and nurturing innovation.

 
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Finding Agility in Artificial Intelligence and Overcoming Disruptions

Businesses and IT leaders today need to be quicker to respond to the ever-changing landscape of their industry and overcome disruptions. Whether it’s to implement hybrid workplace models or to incorporate new technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics, there is a definite need for CIOs to strategize.

Kalam shares his insights on the key challenges that CIOs need to be aware of when incorporating new technology and how to effectively transition towards data-driven business models.

 

What are the key challenges for CIOs who are trying to adopt new technologies especially in the AI field?

 

Surely one of the major challenges of establishing AI technologies in companies is lack of trust and also limited knowledge existing. On the technical side, I see the IT productionizing & operational issues arising since 2019. 

Often it is not the number of best practices, that lack but the ability to align market circumstances with existing technologies with own true business needs. Therefore, I see the cultivation of AI-driven innovation much more as a strategic challenge nowadays than only a technological one.

 

What should CIOs be aware of in the transition towards data-driven business models that serve dehumanization of critical business fields?

 

On the one hand, dehumanization must be done quickly to address short-term issues e.g. through the implementation of RPA or AI products to combat challenges caused by Covid, and on the other hand, CIOs must balance strategically what and where they are automatizing/dehumanizing. I already have seen examples of cost reduction projects through dehumanization that are creating huge strategic risks for companies in the long run. 

For sure there will be someday an “after Covid” and using the current crisis as scapegoat for cost-cutting only without putting the focus on the product portfolio, customer needs, and above all operational risks of IT systems, can become a huge source of risk. 

Here I rather appeal to strategic long-term aspects than short-termed gains only and to address this concern CIOs must become business-driven more than ever!

 

The Need For Sustainability and Competent Business Intelligence

Companies were forced to change their policies, behaviors, and business strategy due to the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. The recent COP26 climate conference showed that companies are committed to making sustainable-focused organizational changes.

For Kalam, the need for sustainability in IT is clear highlights the challenges that many are still facing, in addition to incorporating competent business intelligence to ensure sustainable growth. 

 

Sustainable transformation in the IT & innovation field has become a key topic for upcoming years. What are the specific areas of action for CIOs in this field?

 

For sure sustainability as a topic is here to stay! Not only do we have the macro aspects of it addressing the major concerns of our time, but it has become also a business driver in so many sectors. 

With my initiated project Sustainista I, therefore, have tried to interconnect companies with the scientific community ensuring exchanging of data, know-how, best practices, and transparency. The biggest challenge in this field is the lack of market and scientific standards at the same time. ESGs might be known to many of us but breaking down its info business actions according to standard approaches/processes is the biggest challenge!

In an ideal world, CIOs and related roles are taking ownership of this topic and driving it to doable tasks, otherwise, I am afraid to see sustainability just as a cosmetic and marketing label without a true impact on business and how we do things.

A particular starting point is to understand macro goals as an organization and break them down to a very data level in organizations delivering measures and related actions with the help of existing data. Many companies I know from various sectors have started with external data sets 1st to deliver quick success that can feed this long-term topic.

 

How would you advise companies who are still struggling to incorporate Business Intelligence?

 

Here I clearly follow the storyline of failing fast succeed sooner. Instead of propagating a piece of technology IT must build a bridge with business and deliver quick wins. Even now I am often devastated whenever I see only PDFs and Excel Sheets with numbers/KPIs that do not reflect the fast reality of our businesses and data-driven decision-making across borders! 

Major issues companies face are data quality, integrity, and security issues. CIOs are hereby in the role of process enablers. Instead of being only technology-driven often the implementation of BI must be done in a joint-venture manner.

 

Ensuring Growth Through Data and Overcoming Legacy Challenges

One of the biggest hurdles for digital transformation efforts still stems from legacy systems that are often outdated and not integrated with modern solutions for business uses. Despite the fact that modernizing legacy IT systems is required for businesses to ensure growth, IT leaders are still faced with roadblocks and challenges.

For Kalam, however, legacy systems are not necessarily the main roadblock as it once was. Instead, the focus now for CIOs should be to apply best practices during data-driven business transformation and simplify their approach to nurturing experimentation.

 

With regards to data-driven business models, what are the best practices that CIOs and IT leaders need to keep in mind? 

 

In a matter of fact, the approach of data-driven business transformation is everything but only data-centric! It covers the end-to-end processes of entire product lines and the strategic setup of a company. After many years of data harmonization/migration projects, companies often find out their undone homework regarding “creating true business values to the company itself and its customers”. 

I myself often propagate the term “no business value without data, no data without a business case”. Between this symbiotic relationship lies the true success of transformation efforts. 

Aside from this core topic I often miss the foresight of wisdom! It means seeing the potential of data not only in core businesses but its extensions and added capacities. In my objective point of view, this foresight of wisdom and true added potential is often the key success factor to many.

 

One of the main challenges for organizations is to overcome legacy infrastructure. How can CIOs overcome the legacy obstacle? What are the skills and mindset needed to promote modernization for an organization?

 

To be honest I really do not see legacy infrastructure as the biggest road-blocker anymore. Especially throughout the last decade, there have been so many progressions in simplifications of legacy systems, that I have become more optimistic on that end out of my own experiences! 

I can´t remember when I have seen companies e.g. migrating legacy data systems into new all-in-one and all-ruling superior DWH, Data Lake, etc. Instead of searching for the holy grail, we have become more realistic about using data where they are at their best and being created. 

This Data Mesh approach has become a blueprint for software solutions as well just as agility was cultivated from the IT/Software world into day-to-day business & project management. But this process has just begun a couple of years ago, the community yet does not have a buzzword, but hey, never say never…!

 

Innovation and experimentation are at the heart of data-driven business models. How does one nurture an environment that promotes experimentation within their organization?

 

I rigorously follow the principle of K.I.S.S (Keep it simple, stupid) in the incubation phase of innovation projects. Instead of talking only and selling in this phase, organizations should apply these principles, aside from a minimum set-up of governance, risk mitigation process regarding GDPR, privacy, organizational risks, etc., and allow experimentation. 

Here the old wisdom of “too many rules & regulations kill true innovation & creativity” should be applied. 

If the internal challenges are too big, often I have guided companies and leading bodies into the world of entrepreneurship. 

The most successful CIOs & IT managers are those who run new innovation ideas or projects as a starting business operating from day 1. This can be a guarantee of nursing the true nature of innovation when nothing else is working.

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ECSO’s Luigi Rebuffi: Bridging the Gap In Trust and Talents Within Cybersecurity

The impact that COVID-19 has had on cybersecurity has shown how much work businesses still need to do when dealing with cyber threats. From attacks such as the SolarWinds hack, there is a need for CISOs to build awareness, prevention, and security practices into their organization’s culture.

As the Secretary-General and Founder of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), Luigi Rebuffi shares with us his insights on the role of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in digital security, the challenges that come with it, and how organizations are bridging the talent gap within cybersecurity.

 

Understanding The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Digital Security

Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) in cybersecurity continue to be a necessity for both the government and the private sector to overcome the increase in cyber threats. While PPPs can serve as a foundation for effective critical infrastructure security and resilience strategies, there is still a need for clarity from both sides.

Rebuffi highlights how cooperation will be key in setting up an effective relationship between the government and businesses to effectively use PPP in cybersecurity.

 

How can PPP be used effectively for both the private and public sectors to overcome digital threats?

 

When looking at a public-private partnership, the traditional relationship in the private sector gives information to the public sector, which will then assess the situation and give guidance on how to solve the crisis.

However, a more dynamic cooperation must be continuously built up in order to be ready and react rapidly in an efficient partnership in case of a crisis. That is what we’re trying to set up with ECSO, since 2016, where there is full cooperation in different elements of the cybersecurity ecosystem.

Cooperation with the public for policy and legislation to give certain advice and standards, certifications, investments, discussion on the cyber threats, and what are the cyber threats that the private sector is facing every day, not only during the crisis periods.

And the cooperation should not only be about overcoming the crisis but also about how you support the companies, including SMEs and startups through education training in the development of certain innovative technologies and services.

It is a full spectrum of cooperation. Not just a quick fix in the case of a crisis, like the SolarWind attack. And we need to change that, to have that full public-private cooperation across different ecosystems. It is a bilateral relationship, not just a transfer of information.

 

Establishing Trust and Overcoming the Challenges In Public-Private Partnerships

The creation of the PPP was meant to improve the collaboration between private stakeholders and the public agency for Information Sharing. However, establishing trust has always been the biggest barrier for many businesses to engage in PPP.

Rebuffi reiterates the point that the key foundation in building a solid bridge between the private and the public sector will be on CISOs to build trust while overcoming the challenges that come with incorporating PPP within their organization.

 

What can organizations do to foster trust and improve the relationship between the public and private sector and bridge the gap in PPP?

 

Trust is not easy to build, especially in this period characterized by COVID-19. Establishing trust via remote connection is not an easy task, especially when you are working on sensitive matters such as cyber security. You need a kind of bottom-up approach where you first build up trust in your sector.

For example, if you are in the private sector, it is easier to build up trust with the people that you know, the people who are around you, in your region, in your country, and your sector. So you build trust from the bottom up.

The problem then is to see how you can link with other sectors or from other countries.

 

What challenges does the CISO face in establishing and nurturing PPP within their organization?

 

CISOs are still struggling because they are still trying to convince their management of the importance of cybersecurity, IT systems, and the investments needed. It is something that I imagine will be exacerbated by the acceleration of the digital transformation due to COVID-19.

The challenge will be more pushed towards getting the system working to have better control of data so that when we talk about digital sovereignty, we can think about better control of data. Looking ahead to cybersecurity trends in 2024, CISOs will likely encounter evolving challenges in managing these aspects, necessitating even more robust and forward-thinking strategies. They will need to stay abreast of the latest developments and adapt to the rapidly changing cyber landscape. And CISOs who are dealing with security, sensitive applications, and services, would need trusted and reliable supply chains.

So, on one end, they have to overcome the skepticism within their organization while finding resources to “feed” their systems correctly and find trust in reliable solutions. Of course, there’s also the problem of educating employees, as the human factor is also non-negligible.

 

Fostering Talent to Bridge The Cybersecurity Skill Gap

With cybersecurity becoming an integral part of an organization’s business strategy, the demand for talent has grown significantly as well. However, the number of skilled and qualified workers is still well below the demand, with gender balance still being a major issue.

Rebuffi continues to advocate for more gender balance in cybersecurity through the Women4Cyber Foundation and highlights how CISO and IT leaders can still help nurture an environment for building talents in cybersecurity.

 

How can IT leaders and CISOs attract, retain, or build cybersecurity talents within their organization?

 

CISOs, IT leaders, and I would also say human resources, have to show to the talents that they have the opportunity in this cybersecurity domain for a structured and well-paid career.

Some people are interested in working in cybersecurity as it is a career that is evolving continuously. You keep learn and you face challenges in a very dynamic environment while somehow contributing to the growth of the society or organization. But talents want to be properly compensated and want to see a path in their career.

And of course, IT leaders and CISOs have to show their employees that they can give adequate education and training to those who want and are looking to transition from a traditional job to one that is more linked to the digital sector due to the digital transformation.

 

How have initiatives such as Women4Cyber helped in fostering cybersecurity talents?

 

We are at the beginning stages with Women4Cyber, which is growing like a strong wave, and now we see the creation of national chapters across Europe. We are starting to see that people want to cooperate with different activities, support inclusion, and increase the participation of women in cybersecurity.

And this is important to us because we cannot exclude 50% of the population from the talent pool simply because they are women, and businesses are slowly learning that and trying to be better.

I will say that we are seeing smaller companies, like IT startups, and larger companies awakening and looking for experts, as well as hiring more women. But as I said, the movement is a strong wave that will come up and businesses have to realize that we desperately need people and they need to support that.

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Siemens Mobility’s Bernhard Karollus: Mobilizing Digital Change Towards Hybrid Work Culture

At the heart of hybrid work culture and digital transformation in IT, CIOs play a pivotal role in nurturing these initiatives to ensure their organizations maintain consistent business growth in a volatile market. From data and analytics to cyber security and more, the CIO will push the Digital Strategy of organizations to the next level. 

As the Head of Regional IT EMEA2 for Siemens Mobility Austria, Bernhard Karollus shares with us his insights on digital transformations, post-pandemic growth, and the key technologies for organizations making the shift towards new work environments.

 
Want more insights from Bernhard Karollus? Join him and many other industry leaders in Management Events’ 600Minutes Executive IT event in Austria.
 

The Transition Towards Digital Transformation

Digital transformation and change culture continue to be the main focus for IT leaders across industries. The pandemic has shown that organizations that are agile enough to incorporate digital strategies while prioritizing flexibility will be the ones that survive.

For Bernhard, however, identifying the challenges shouldn’t be the focus. Instead, keeping the organizations focused on the big picture while understanding what it means to embrace change culture should be the priority of CIOs.

 

What remains as major challenges for companies in achieving digital transformation? How do you, and Siemens Mobility, approach these challenges?

 

Defining remaining challenges would mean we know a target state. I perceive this approach as wrong. We are playing the infinite game, tackling the challenges of today, realizing there are new ones just around the corner.

As part of Siemens, we are concentrating on the platform economy and digital ecosystems when looking at the very broad picture.

 

Are organizations still resistant to change? What can those in IT leadership roles do to nurture the culture of change?

 

Tough cookie, because there is no general response to this question. There is a wide range of positions towards change even within single organizations. 

Avoiding the view and prejudices of one’s own IT bubble helps to understand the pace that a specific organization can take when going through massive change. As a permanent activity, I like the approach of small life hacks to nudge diverse parts of the organization and single employees to embrace change.

 

New Work Culture and Hybrid Environments 

With over 60% of companies allowing or incentivizing remote work, it’s clear that the home office is here to stay. While there are still challenges in complete remote working, the idea of hybrid working culture is an area in which IT leaders need to consider seriously.

However, the transition towards new work culture comes with its unique pitfalls, and Karollus outlines the challenges and how Siemens Mobility approached the idea of a hybrid workplace environment.

 

What are the pitfalls the CIOs should be aware of when transitioning into and implementing new work cultures?

 

When the pandemic started, the challenge for IT was to act quickly and provide technology solutions. Implementing new work cultures is a different corporate challenge with employees and a complex mix of stakeholders involved.

Technology is part of the solution but considering the digital dexterity of your workforce, resistance to change, and close attention to the interests of other stakeholders should be carefully considered.

 

What was Siemens Mobility’s approach toward a hybrid workplace environment?

 

We are using a holistic new normal approach with our HR, real estate, IT, and EHS departments joining forces to provide a wide variety of components building the hybrid work environment of the future. It all started with top management attention when our CEO announced 3 of 5 days working outside of the office wherever legally possible. 

What should I add? Tone from the top plus all relevant organizational units working together simply is a successful approach.

 

Incorporating Emerging Tech and Modern CIO Traits

The journey towards a hybrid working world will require IT leaders to work hard to build and maintain team dynamics. At the same time, investing in tools that will help further strengthen their business strategy can go a long in establishing a solid foundation for a successful new landscape of work

From initiating small-scale PoCs to encouraging the adoption of emerging technologies, Bernhard shares his insights on how Siemens Mobility faced these challenges and what other IT leaders need to be aware of in their journey towards a new working world.

 

What are the key investments in emerging technologies that companies need to focus on in the transition towards hybrid work culture?

 

Companies should derive their investment focus from their business strategy using tools like technology radars and core technology definitions. Gladly, many technologies can be tested in small-scale PoCs or garage projects when looking further down the horizon, while others looking at industry or topic leaders can provide guidance.

There is only a very limited technology scope that Siemens in general is not active in when it comes to digitalization. Siemens Mobility is part of the Siemens innovation ecosystem and has defined corporate core technologies. 

 

What are the strategies for IT leaders to encourage team growth and collaboration while maintaining talent wellbeing in a hybrid environment?

 

There was never something like a one-fits-all solution in the productivity/wellbeing equilibrium. Even less, when it comes to growth and collaboration. Especially as managers of managers, IT leaders, in my opinion, are well-advised to be members or partners to decisions that influence the large picture of the new work environment, actively shaping it.

At the same time coaching your direct reports openly and inclusively, while carefully optimizing team structure will shape teams that grow and collaborate in a good way. 

A word of warning: all the teams within one’s organization are different, there can be conflicts between different areas of responsibility due to the more and more individual approach of leaders. These need to be sensitively managed or avoided.

 

Finally, in the post-pandemic world, what are the traits that CIOs and IT leaders should possess to lead the workforce and the overall organization’ into the new working world?

 

Closeness to all business and support functions units is key for sure. Being open and having a team that is open to challenges from whatever topic field will not only allow to lead the workforce into the new working world but also one’s organization.

And finally, nothing told us as the pandemic did, that continuous learning is key to overcoming the challenges from permanent change.

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How Banks Stay Competitive in a Digital Landscape with Increased Cyber Threats

Ricardo Ferreira, Field CISO, Fortinet

In banking and finance, the transformation strategy needs to have the customer experience in focus to build trust, which is crucial in today’s digital life with fewer physical customer meetings.

Banks must be agile in their business model to quickly create new applications that are required for an optimized user experience, says Ricardo Ferreira, Field CISO at Fortinet.

With DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), European financial institutions get new guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of cyber-attacks. Fortinet helps its customers comply with these regulatory requirements. – We can protect everything that has access to the network and banks should have a security architecture that includes multiple private and public cloud platforms. What makes Fortinet unique is that we can take a holistic approach to security in the financial institutions’ digital transformation journey, says Lars Berggren, Country Manager Fortinet Sweden.

 

An improved user experience with Bank 4.0

In the Nordics, cash handling has decreased significantly in recent years, while digital payment solutions have increased rapidly. Swedish banks, for example, were early in launching internet banks, but in recent years the focus has shifted to make sure they comply with the regulatory requirements. With new Fintech companies attracting customers, Swedish banks need to put more effort into their digital development to be competitive. Cyberattacks and threats are becoming more and more sophisticated. Fortinet provides support in the digital transformation and has crucial expertise in risks and threats

– Cloud-based platforms, both private and public cloud, are crucial for banks when developing solutions for a better, high-quality user experience. The transformation that banks need to go through, with new digital platforms and a more agile business model, is what we refer to as Bank 4.0. Today, you need to be fast and flexible to protect yourself and there must be a proactive security platform that supports the business and provides a holistic view, says Lars Berggren.

 

Secure the brand reputation of your bank

Digitalization brings many opportunities for the banks, such as increased sales, finding new business models and applications as well as refined customer offerings. Fortinet can help improve user-friendliness and at the same time secure the bank’s brand reputation by reducing the risk of cyber-attacks, says Ricardo Ferreira.

Read more about the driving forces in the market that are affecting banks right now, and how an improved infrastructure for cyber security can strengthen your competitiveness, in this e-book.

 

About Fortinet

According to Gartner, Fortinet is a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions and enables companies to build secure digital infrastructure and be at the forefront of their digitalization journey. The Fortinet Security Fabric platform provides broad, integrated, and automated protection for the entire digital attack surface, by securing critical devices, data, applications, and connections from the data center to the cloud as well as to the home office.

*This article was contributed by Lars Berggren of Fortinet.

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Brussels Airlines’ CFO Nina Oewerdieck: Managing Change, Challenges, and Culture In a Crisis

The airline industry was hit the hardest during the pandemic as the number of global passengers drastically reduced to 1.76 billion compared to the 4.5 billion before COVID-19. As chief financial officer (CFO) of Brussels Airlines, Nina Oewerdieck was tasked with overseeing a crisis that saw the role of finance changing from one of support to strategy.

In this interview, we dive into and talk about how Oewerdieck approached the challenges as a finance leader in the airlines’ industry, how she managed and encouraged a “change” mindset, and the traits of a modern CFO in a post-pandemic world.

 

Weathering The Crisis and Challenging Legacy Habits

 

COVID-19 has pushed many financial executives beyond their traditional role as a support for an organization. To weather the crisis caused by the pandemic, the role and scope of the CFO function have expanded to include leadership roles and to act as an agent of change.

As CFO of Belgium’s largest airlines, it was a challenge for Oewerdieck to ensure that the company survived during the pandemic. However, focusing on flexibility and challenging legacy habits proved to be the key factor in Brussels Airlines’ survival.

 

How were you forced to change your role as a CFO for Brussels Airlines? What were your challenges and key focuses as a finance leader during the pandemic?

 

For us as an airline, it was the heaviest crisis we have ever seen. We were used to managing crises such as “9/11”, the bird flu, or the bomb attack in Brussels 2016. But this crisis was heavier and longer than expected and even caused that Brussels Airlines’ fleet to be grounded for several weeks in 2020. That means we were not able to operate any flights, and really, to come out of this crisis was a tremendous challenge for everybody. 

Our priority was to save the company and we were in discussions with the Belgian state to get a loan to overcome these challenging times. It was a heavy challenge for everybody, not only on the personal side, to safeguard the future of this company and its employees. 

We made it through the crisis with very strict cash management and changing our perspective from EBIT-driven and bottom-line to a cash focus. We switched to micro-management on a C-level and challenged every single expenditure, every flight that we were operating to make sure all our operations were cash-positive, meaning covering all variable costs. That was the change in our view.

 

How did you make the change from support to strategy from a finance position and grow the business? What were the initiatives you had to take and what can other businesses learn from this?

 

We are not yet in a position to talk about substantial growth. I would love to focus a little bit more on strategy because we are still in crisis mode. And we are tackling this very carefully. However, it was part of our business plan, which we also went through with the government, to do a very thorough restructuring of the company. 

The focus was not to get the money to overcome this challenging period and go back to “normal”, as it was pre-COVID. It is our responsibility not only to lead the company through this crisis but also to do a restructuring to come even stronger out of this and to reach structural profitability. 

What that meant was to challenge the setup of the company, the size of the company, and to question how we have done things before. The crisis allowed us to use the momentum to get rid of some legacy habits and issues.

As a CFO, we need to have a business focus. Not only just as the support role, to provide the data and the numbers, but to also understand the business and to see what the business needs are and then, to jointly find a solution on the financial side.

I think, we have to be able to play different roles: Our finance departments have to provide data, consultancy and support the business with all their knowledge to find the best way for the company. And at the same time we – as CFOs – have to take our C-level responsibility serious and sometimes have to act differently to what our departments recommend, e.g. when it comes to business cases that only foresee a low or negative contribution to the bottom line proposing an investment which will (only) safeguard our market position vs. competition. Usually, these business cases don’t come with a return rate, they are labeled as ‘strategic decisions’.

 

Pushing Change Through Communication and Commitment

 

The pandemic has shown that businesses that are willing to change and adapt will be the ones that survive through the major disruptions. Encouraging change and overcoming legacy operations were key factors for Brussels Airlines’ ability to withstand the COVID crisis.

For Oewerdieck, COVID-19 meant an opportunity to push for change in the processes and take steps towards digitalization. At the same time, overcoming the challenges that come from encouraging change in an industry that is set in its ways.

 

Change is always hard for any company. Was it an uphill battle for you to implement change during a crisis?

 

It was an uphill battle. The need for change was very visible in our situation, which provided good momentum for us to go through this restructuring. Everybody in our organization understands that we can’t go back to how it was before, after the crisis. 

So the need for change was tangible and we were in this position to set up an organization with the right people in place and to define the right size. To go through such a crisis, to go through a restructuring, and to set up a state-of-the-art finance organization, you need to have the right people in place. People who are willing to change, who like change, and maybe also drive the business through change with new ideas and openness.

 

How do you encourage change within the workforce? What were the challenges and initiatives you had to push for?

 

It was a lot of communication work, people-driven communication work. We were very transparent and kept everyone informed throughout. We had to let them know that we were fighting for their jobs and to keep them in our company.

It was important for us to give them confidence, prove the commitment to the company, and let them know what the current status is so that they are always involved and to let them be part of the change. 

We involved our people, encouraging them, and let them come up with ideas on how to make this “change” happen. One of the positive aspects of this current situation is that it allows you to foster talent.

Of course, we are still currently in crisis mode so there’s a lot of micro-management and usually, talents are not very positive on this, but that’s the challenge, to keep them on the right track and to show that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. And finally to find the right momentum and time to steer back and to give back ownership. 

 

The Modern CFO and Bridging The Digital Gap 

 

The CFO role in a post-pandemic landscape has gone beyond just being a financial executive. Finance leaders today need to take on the role of digital transformation bastions and as people leaders.

Throughout her time as CFO for Brussels Airlines during the pandemic, Oewerdieck realized and highlighted the fact that the traditional roles of a CFO have to be more than just the numbers and the path towards digitalization and growth starts from the top.

 

Digital transformation is top-of-mind for many businesses today. How should CFOs approach and encourage digitalization for their organization?

 

In my opinion, we have to reverse our approach and let change and digital transformation be pulled by our people. If you are just saying from the top of management “this is the way want to go” or figure out the next tool, that does not work because the strength of the organization will be too heavy to fight against that. 

I had good experiences with implementing smaller lighthouse projects to make robotics, automation, or digitalization a little bit more tangible to the people so that people don’t have to fear it.

It shows that we want to foster and focus on their knowledge for higher quality work. A skill set of a financial expert can’t be used only to compile reports – we need their expertise, their knowledge to read a story out of numbers.

With lighthouse projects we can prove that there are benefits for the entire organization and also for our people, that will make acceptance easier and even let them pull new ideas.

 

In your point of view, what are the necessary traits for a modern finance leader? What is the duty of a CFO in a post-pandemic landscape?

 

From my point of view, CFOs nowadays do not have to be the best expert. Rather, you have to be a people leader, to encourage your people, to listen to your people, and to steer them through uncertainty, or even into profitability, and to reach growth and to let them grow. 

We have to be very open to change, to new ideas, and to challenge our company and our people about which new ideas are out there, such as robotics, automation, or artificial intelligence. 

I think that’s one of our major duties as CFOs. To steer the organization, to foster our talents, and let them rock in the end.

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Die Grundlagen für einen echten Zero Trust-Sicherheitsansatz

Die digitale Transformation hat die Kommunikation und den Arbeitsalltag in modernen Unternehmen grundlegend verändert. Mit zunehmender Mobilität der Mitarbeiter werden eigenen Geräte sowohl für die persönliche Kommunikation als auch für den Beruf genutzt, so dass damit auf Geschäftsanwendungen und -daten über öffentliche Netze zugegriffen wird. Gleichzeitig wurden sensible Geschäftsdaten immer weiter verteilt und befinden sich außerhalb des Unternehmenspreimeters in SaaS-Anwendungen wie Microsoft 365 und privaten Anwendungen in AWS, Azure oder Google Cloud-Plattformen.

Der Prozess der digitalen Transformation steigert die Agilität und den Informationsfluss von Unternehmen, vergrößert jedoch ebenfalls die Angriffsfläche dramatisch und setzt Unternehmen neuen Bedrohungen aus. Dies hat dazu geführt, dass die traditionelle Firewall-basierte Netzwerksicherheit zugunsten einer Cloud-basierten Zero-Trust-Architektur überdacht wird. Allerdings wird der Begriff Zero Trust in den letzten Jahren inflationär behandelt mit der Folge der Verwirrung von Unternehmen und zögerlicher Umsetzung.

 

Was bedeuted ist Zero Trust?

 

Obwohl das Konzept von Zero Trust in der Cybersicherheitsbranche seit mehr als einem Jahrzehnt existiert, versteckt sich hinter dem Begriff nicht einfach eine einzelne Technologie, wie im Falle von Identitäts-Management, Fernzugriff oder Netzwerksegmentierung. Zero Trust ist ein ganzheitlicher Ansatz zur Absicherung moderner Organisationen. Er basiert auf dem Prinzip des Least Privileged Access und damit dem Grundsatz, dass kein Benutzer und keine Anwendung von vorneherein als vertrauenswürdig eingestuft werden sollten. Ohne den Vertrauensvorschuss muss jeglicher Zugriff auf Basis der Anwenderauthentifizierung und des Kontexts eingerichtet werden. Unternehmensrichtlinien dienen bei diesem Konzept auf jedem Schritt als Gatekeeper.

Im Kern wird eine Zero-Trust-Sicherheitsplattform von drei Eckpfeilern gebildet:

  • Konnektivität basiert auf Identität und Richtlinien werden Kontext-basiert erstellt
  • Anwendungen werden für Angreifern unsichtbar gemacht
  • Verwendung einer proxy-basierten Architektur zur Verbindung mit Anwendungen und zur Überprüfung des Datenverkehrs
 

Identitäts-und Richtlinien-basierte Konnektivität

 

Herkömmliche VPNs und Firewalls bringen die Benutzer für den Anwendungszugriff in das Netz. Sobald der Benutzer im Netzwerk ist, erhöht sich durch gewährte Vertrauen das Risiko von lateralen Bewegungen durch eingeschleppte Malware. Im Gegensatz dazu verwendet Zero Trust eine Kontext- und Identitäts-basierte Authentifizierung und Richtlinienüberprüfung, um verifizierte Benutzer sicher mit ganz bestimmten, genehmigten Anwendungen zu verbinden, ohne Benutzer direkt auf das Unternehmensnetzwerk zugreifen zu lassen. Dies verhindert laterale Bewegungen und reduziert so das Geschäftsrisiko. Da die Netzwerkressourcen niemals dem Internet ausgesetzt werden, können sich Unternehmen auf diese Weise vor Ransomware, DDoS und gezielten Angriffen schützen.

 

Anwendungen werden für Außenstehende unsichtbar

 

Die Migration von Anwendungen in die Cloud vergrößert die Angriffsfläche eines Unternehmens erheblich. Herkömmliche Firewalls veröffentlichen Anwendungen im Internet, so dass sie von Benutzern aber eben auch Hackern gefunden werden können. Ein Zero Trust-Ansatz vermeidet es, das Unternehmensnetzwerk dem Internet auszusetzen, indem Quellidentitäten verborgen und IP-Adressen verschleiert werden. Die Angriffsfläche eines Unternehmens lässt sich reduzieren, indem Anwendungen für Angreifer unsichtbar und nur für autorisierte Benutzer zugänglich sind. Damit können Unternehmen ihren Zugriff auf Anwendungen im Internet, in SaaS sowie in öffentlichen oder privaten Clouds sicher gestalten.

 

Proxy-basierte Architektur zur Verbindung mit Anwendungen und zur Überprüfung des Datenverkehrs

 

Next-Generation Firewalls haben Schwierigkeiten, verschlüsselte Datenverkehr flächendeckend und ohne Leistungseinbußen zu prüfen. Dies zwingt Unternehmen oft dazu, sich zwischen schneller Verfügbarkeit und Sicherheit zu entscheiden, wobei oft die Verfügbarkeit gewinnt. Die Prüfung des verschlüsselten Datenverkehrs wird demzufolge umgangen, was zu einem größeren Risiko von Cybersecurity-Bedrohungen und Datenverlusten führen kann. Darüber hinaus verwenden Firewalls einen Passthrough-Ansatz, der es unbekannten Inhalten ermöglicht, ihr Ziel zu erreichen, bevor eine Analyse auf Malware abgeschlossen ist. Erst wenn eine Bedrohung erkannt wird, wird eine Warnung verschickt. Das kann unter Umständen zu spät sein, um die Ausführung der Malware zu verhindern.

Ein wirksamer Schutz vor Bedrohungen und Datenverlusten erfordert stattdessen eine Proxy-Architektur, die SSL-Sitzungen prüft, den Inhalt von Transaktionen analysiert und in Echtzeit Richtlinien- und Sicherheitsentscheidungen trifft, bevor der Datenverkehr an sein Ziel weitergeleitet wird. All dies muss außerdem in großem Umfang und ohne Beeinträchtigung der Leistung erfolgen, unabhängig davon, von wo aus die Benutzer eine Verbindung herstellen.

 

Zero Trust sorgt für moderne Sicherheit

 

Die erfolgreiche Einführung von Zero Trust beginnt mit der richtigen Plattform, die auf den oben genannten Säulen basiert. Zur Umsetzung müssen sich IT-Entscheidungsträger von traditionellen Denkweisen verabschieden. Moderne Sicherheit geht mit einer ganzheitlichen Transformation einher, die in das Gesamtkonzept der Cloud passt und das Ökosystem der Konnektivität mit Security verbindet. Die Zscaler Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange schafft die notwendige Grundlage dafür.

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Karin Immenroth: Developing Competency In a Data-Driven Business Culture

The advent of readily available data has fostered a new era of fact-based innovations in corporations, where exploring innovations and new systems can be backed up with empirical evidence. And with the disruption caused by COVID-19, there is accelerated adoption in data technology.

So why is it hard for businesses to adopt data as part of their organizational structure?

The biggest obstacles do not stem from the technical side of things; it’s about the culture. In this interview, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for RTL Deutschland Karin Immenroth shares with us how a business needs to transition into a data-driven culture and the approaches that a modern chief data officer (CDO) needs to adopt in today’s digital landscape.

 

The New Landscape of Data Culture

Over the past decade, data has steadily become an influential factor for decision-making processes. Especially in the past year where almost 60% of the global population is constantly online, businesses are looking into data analytics to better understand their customers and employees.

As with the aftereffects of the pandemic and the changing demands of today’s market, Immenroth highlights how the role of the data officer today has changed significantly while pointing out the underlying driving force for data transformation.

 

How has the role of the Chief Data Officers (CDO) changed and what challenges do they face in a post-pandemic market?

Companies didn’t have Chief Data and Analytics Officers ten years ago. That role didn’t exist yet. But because the market is changing dramatically due to progressive digitalization, “Data” as a topic is becoming more and more important. 

The biggest challenge, however, is cultural – it is not enough for a central data area to drive the cultural change, rather the entire company must start working in a data-centric way. 

The DATA Alliance is the central catalyst for RTL Deutschland on its way to becoming a content, tech, and data powerhouse. The pandemic has permanently changed the way we work. 

For us, as the DATA Alliance, the development surrounding the “mobile office” is very positive, as it means we can now work across Germany and in a completely flexible way. This helps us find and attract the best talent in the German market.

 

Why are companies still struggling to implement data competency and how has the pandemic affected their hesitancy towards adopting data culture?

We are in the middle of a cultural change, transitioning into a data-driven company. 

RTL Deutschland is a company with over 3,000 employees – a cultural change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, and it’s also important to have a few lighthouse projects that carry the topic of “data” into the organization and help spread awareness. 

We must make it easier for our colleagues throughout the company to access data, support them in interpreting data, and, of course, show them how to make better decisions based on this data. 

Just like the motto goes, “Use data, be better”. The pandemic has been a positive and driving force behind our cultural change – greater digitization has also brought the processing and implementation of data more broadly into society.

 

Developing and Simplifying Data For Organizations

Without a solid foundation for data culture, businesses will often miss out on the chance to fully utilize the data they’ve collected, or even encounter issues with data consistency or internal processes.

Deloitte reports that only 21% of the global workforce is confident in their data literacy skills. And with 70% of organizations expected to shift to new analytics techniques known as “small data” and “wide data”, businesses that are not data literate will get left behind.

Immenroth dives into how the leadership in RTL Deutschland has steered the company towards developing its analytics sector and advises those who are still trying to find success in building a data-competent organization. 

 

What can those in leadership roles do to improve data literacy within their organizations?

We have launched various projects that help our colleagues make better use of data for themselves and their day-to-day work. 

These are, for example, projects like our Reporting Center or our quota tool, Key Vision. We also support various stakeholders in the company by building data products and decision-support tools for their businesses. 

At the moment we are particularly active in the marketing, content, and digital sectors. And it’s also crucial for us to continue developing in the analytics sector, as it will enable us to make even better use of the treasure trove that is data analysis.

 

For companies and organizations that are struggling to find success in data, what key metrics and best practices should they focus on to drive the importance of data?

Our experience shows that it makes sense not to overcomplicate the initial steps. Very exciting and useful insights can often be found in simple descriptive data metrics. 

If you then go one step further and use analytics or even machine learning, data science, etc., you’ll often find unexpected results and insights that have been “fleshed out” by the data. 

I recommend a good dose of courage to use unconventional methods and approaches – we have had very positive experiences here and have been very pleasantly surprised on more than one occasion.

 

Starting Small and Establishing Data Competence Centers

In 2021, global big data and business analytics was forecasted to grow to $215 billion while connected IoT devices are expected to create 79.4ZB of data by 2025. 

With global economies adopting data analytics at an accelerated pace, businesses might be tempted to “go big” with investments in a data-driven culture. Immenroth believes that CDOs and organizations should do the opposite instead while building on Data Competence Centers to kickstart their digital transformation.  

 

In the pursuit of a data-driven culture, what pitfalls or common mistakes should CDOs or organizations be aware of?

More doesn’t always mean better. My experience is that it’s best and most sensible to start “small” and then expand gradually. In concrete terms – it is better to always start with a small proof of concept and then decide whether something bigger can emerge from it.

Fail fast and have the courage to make and admit mistakes… This is the best way to learn and then use what you’ve learned in your organization.

 

How would you advise CDOs or data leaders who want to seamlessly integrate competence centers?

My recommendation is to look at where topics related to data are anchored throughout the company. 

Then, based on that, you can build the core for the so-called Competence Center. It is advisable to define central topics and make them the heart of the Competence Center, and it is also fundamentally important that enough “data” ambassadors are distributed throughout the company in the areas correlating to each topic. 

In my opinion, it’s this balance that counts. In any case, our experience shows that a central Data Competence Center can be a very successful catalyst for the transformation of a company.