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The Emerging Role Of The Chief Digital Officer

October 30, 2017
6:10 AM

With the increase in digitization, businesses want to explore new avenues & opportunities that the advancements in technology have to offer. Top Business Journals have concluded that officials or executives that can maneuver the company’s progress in sync with the current technological & digital trends will count among the most sought-after candidates to be accepted for the C-suite in the coming years. With such fervor among business communities to involve executives that can help in the digital transformation of all their business techniques including marketing, sales & customer management, the emergence of the Chief Digital Officer was expected.

What does a chief digital officer do?

A Chief Digital Officer is a job title assigned to the executive that ensures that the important company strategies are aided by the emerging technological developments & evolving successful business practices. There has been a steady evolution of the job position of the CDO from the existent posts of the CIO & CMO. With the penetration of digital technology firms into the business from every direction such as big data, predictive analytics, social media, cloud computing, etc., there is a growing need for every business no matter how small to hop on to the digital revolution wagon.

These changes have created an increasing need for the Chief Digital Officer to take charge & guide the business process towards establishing their brand presence across the digital world. Although the role of the CDO since its emergence around 2012 is still evolving, yet the roles & responsibilities seem to be gradually maturing with the advancements in technology. So now let’s look into the various responsibilities that most CDOs presently fulfill.

The CDO holds the primary responsibility of exploring the potential of digital innovation to push forward the success of their business strategies.
These C-level executives need to strategize & incorporate digital technologies in unexplored aspects of business for further facilitation of marketing & sales-related processes.
The CDO holds a pivotal position for coordinating & supervision of all the digital initiatives of a company or organization.
When technology & innovation are applied to the business scenario, cost-saving & revenue generation are obvious outcomes.
The CDO holds the perfect position to map these success metrics. Even though the CDO contributes immensely to the business setup, yet he/ she cannot do this alone, the support of an efficient team can make the results better. Hence the responsibility of attracting & retaining good talent to make up the team is also a responsibility vested in the CDO.
The CDO needs to act as a bridge between all the business minds in the organization & the digital technology implementation team so as to keep all processes going smoothly as well as keep the other departments informed about the benefits of the particular processes in place for the company as a whole.

Having listed all these, It is a clear fact that the responsibilities of the CDO will further transform with the invention/discovery of every new digital process & technology.

The rise of the chief digital officer

According to a study by PwC, From a mere 6% in 2012 to an overall of 19% in the year 2016, the rise in the number of CDOs employed points towards the important role these C Level Executives are roped in to play.

Earlier, the business intellect overpowered technological knowledge as a criterion for choosing the right CDO for a company but with time this has changed. Now more and more CDOs with a good technological background are preferred to add perspective to the business processes within most B2B companies.

Do we really need a CDO?

According to a study, there is a growing need for a business expert that can bring in the advantages of digital technology & tie it to all the business processes to improve efficiency & profits. But in spite of that most business journalists & critics are of the opinion that the post of a CDO is temporary & holds importance only till the company or organization is in the stage of undergoing digital transformation. But in the case of B2B, I think that the digital transition stage is anything but temporary. This is because of the fact that presently all that digital technology is being applied to B2B companies is restricted to optimizing back-office workflows, planning of resources & modernization of the IT infrastructure. Although digital technology has touched the core B2B processes such as data enhancement, marketing & sales strategies, improving customer experience, etc. but then there is huge room for further development. Digital technology to improve data appending, verification & lead enrichment can actually help develop smarter insight-driven marketing & sales strategies. Enhancing the customer experience by conducting online campaigns supported by innovative digital technology can not only accelerate progress but can also add a personalized touch to these campaigns based on customer insights & data. So let’s explore some of the ways in which a CDO can transform the growth of a B2B organization.

Integrating digital processes at the strategic level.
Creation of engaging customer experiences online & offline.
Utilization of data to transform the marketing efforts & the sales pipeline.
End-to-End Synchronization of processes to enhance Insights & Decision Making.
Striking a perfect balance between Innovation & Execution of Digital Processes.
Overcome Organizational challenges to Improve Reach & Effectiveness of Digital Initiatives.

All these tasks depend on the ever-changing digital technology & processes, hence the need for a CDO will exist as long as the process of digital innovation continues. With the rise of the CDO, not only will B2B & B2C organizations employ their benefit, but there will also be other companies involved in the provision of digital technology equipment & software, data solution providers, etc. that will also gain as they acquire a prospective customer. Such companies can most definitely leverage a well-segmented & comprehensive Chief Digital Officer Contact List to empower their marketing data & boost sales.

Hence, the emergence, rise & evolution of the CDO has added to businesses of all sizes & forms & will continue to enhance growth in these organizations by incorporation of innovative digital technology so as to keep them in pace with the growing competitive business landscape.