Moving Beyond No

By Samuel Greengard

A couple of years ago, the edge of corporate sanity revolved around whether to adopt social media, BYOD and cloud computing. Now, the focus is on how to best tap into these tools and technologies. CIOs who dawdle and resist this new order risk total failure. There is no breathing space.

Social media is no longer merely a quaint tool used for marketing on Facebook and for monitoring customers on Twitter. It's increasingly tied into enterprise collaboration, knowledge sharing, big data analytics and business process management. The ability to collect and deliver pertinent process data at the right time is nothing short of transformative.

Battling BYOD is a lost cause. People will use their devices for job-related tasks whether or not you consent. A 2011 Accenture study found that 87 percent of U.S. Millennials decide where they will work based on their ability to use state-of-the-art technology. A staggering 61 percent admitted using social networking services that weren't supported by their IT department.

Meanwhile, clouds have floated into the mainstream. The Open Data Center Alliance recently found that the adoption rate for cloud computing among large organizations is 15 percent greater than forecast. Suddenly, the focus is on how to build robust cloud platforms that span IT, human resources, marketing, operations and other departments. In many cases, these platforms connect mobility, social media and big data in ways that exponentially benefit the enterprise.

To be sure, smart business leaders look beyond the risks and threats. In fact, the risks resulting from inaction now exceed the risks of taking action--as long as reasonable protections are in place. It's crucial to spot opportunities for building a real-time, agile enterprise.

On a certain level, many CIOs already know all of this. However, transforming theory into reality is no simple task. Knowledge of business and technology isn't enough. Success requires heaping doses of creativity and ingenuity--along with strong relationship building and change management skills. It's critical to break down silos, foster dialog across the enterprise, and approach business and technology in an unconventional and sometimes counterintuitive way.

Welcome to the digital version of connect the dots.