Fighting a shaky economy, rising cyberattacks, and evolving work models, technology leaders are tasked with ensuring their organizations are making the right technology investments and those priorities can change overnight. CIOs are working overtime with their C-suite peers to continually rank and align focus on the most impactful of enterprise projects.
In March, CIO Professional Network members checkpointed the top priorities for their respective organizations and digital transformation again ranked the highest for the third year in a row.
Digital Transformation
While digital transformation has remained a multi-year top initiative, shifting economic headwinds are causing many organizations to revaluate some investments in this category.
“There is a huge digital underpinning to our work, but we are drawing a line in the sand.”
Lonnie Snyder
“There is a huge digital underpinning to our work,” said Lonnie Snyder, Chief Information and Technology Officer for the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, “but we are drawing a line in the sand and only introducing technology as a solution when process change in and of itself isn’t enough.”
And others are reprioritizing some projects in favor of those that are poised to deliver a more immediate financial result.
“This will allow us to take advantage of better economics while experiencing increased operational performance.”
Art Hair
“To better preserve and securely access our high-value and revenue-generating digital media, we have begun migration of critical assets to AWS S3 cloud storage. This will allow us to take advantage of better economics while experiencing increased operational performance,” said Art Hair, CIO at Spyglass Media.
Security
Digital transformation is not the only concern at the top of mind for technology leaders. With cyberattacks on the rise globally, security is a top priority, according to CIO Professional Network members. Many organizations have kept the remote work or hybrid work policies adopted during the pandemic, making securing company assets an ongoing priority. Finding ways to allow for secure access to company servers from potentially unsecured home networks is an important part of making hybrid work a possibility.
“Our team members now have immediate and secure browser access to company assets and our cloud repository offers enhanced flexibility that supports our hybrid work policy,” said Hair.
Business Intelligence
Not surprisingly, business intelligence is also a top priority as reported by CIO Professional Network members. With the right BI tools and techniques, technology leaders can identify opportunities and potential risks, anticipate changes in the market, and stay ahead of their competitors. BI also helps to identify areas in the business that require investment and improvement.
The Wrap
CIOs face an increasingly complex landscape as they balance the need for digital transformation, security, and business intelligence. While digital transformation remains the top priority for many organizations, CIOs are navigating budget constraints and careful implementation of new technology to meet business goals and ensure the safety of company assets.
