Normally, GBS Heads and CIOs from various enterprises partner to accomplish organizational tech adoption goals. Yet, occasionally the urgency, the significance of form vs function, or even the two leaders’ vision may differ. Here’s the conversation summary between Ingo Elfering, CIO at Fresenius, and Robert Weltevreden, Former Head of Novartis Business Services.

1. The concept of “Two-Speed IT” is the way forward in the era of digital transformation – IT leaders need to refocus on IT Infrastructure management with the “Two Speed IT” approach, where one team focuses on delivering novel experiences at a fast pace, and the other one drives large-scale system upgrades that run core business processes. For seamless execution of the two-speed approach, IT leaders must hire diverse talent and form subteams that bring the desired expertise to execute the two different IT goals.

2. GBS should have a “company first” attitude. Measure every investment in terms of returns – GBS leaders should assess every IT investment opportunity from a bird’s eye view and hold themselves accountable. They shouldn’t consider technology investments as freebies and should measure everything regarding ROI before implementing.

3. Prioritizing the right technology investment is a difficult bet for large organizations – In a typical large organization, with multiple ideas pouring in from different departments, IT leaders have to deliver more business outcomes from both financial and resource standpoints in large organizations. These scenarios often lead to not investing in the latest technologies as IT leaders are obsessed with legacy stack maintenance and upgrades. So, IT leaders should assess the risks proactively and take calculated risks while adopting new technology in business.

4. IT Leaders should actively partner with GBS and contribute more to business success – IT executives should collaborate efficiently with business executives to get strong business results. IT has some important “keep the lights on” functions to deal with, but simultaneously, the team needs to provide those capabilities and insights at different hierarchical levels that actively contribute to business growth.

5. Companies often get into the mold of benchmarking spending that negatively impacts their ability to compete – Benchmarking spending for specific departments year-on-year averages out the YOY budget for each department and compromises the ability to differentiate the business from competitors. To successfully differentiate the brand, It is important to stay agile and make the right business decision to invest in the right technology at the right time to stay ahead of the competition.

6. Be fearless about embracing change! – Conservative leaders always find an excuse that the next technology wave is wrong for their business. Courageous leaders always consider it an opportunity rather than a threat. Overall, business and IT leaders cannot ignore technology’s impact over the years.

7. There should be a clear delineation between IT and Business in terms of ownership of investment – Business leaders are responsible for delivering business cases to understand the business problem and how they will solve it. If the solution involves a purchase decision of technology, then the IT team, who are responsible for managing the IT architecture of the organization, comes into the picture. Then, it’s the job of the IT team to deliver the right technology with their expertise, collaborating with business teams.