Lenovo’s Arthur Hu on the CIO’s customer-centric imperative

Every technology has its downsides. Potential challenges around implementing EaaS relate to governance and control, integration and customization, and security and privacy. The key is ensuring that the ‘as a service’ choice is fitting for the target scenario and desired outcomes, specifically that as an organization, you are willing to leverage the best practices that are part of the offering. When properly selected, the pros of EaaS typically outweigh the cons, especially in today’s fast-moving business environment. Such solutions provide organizations with access to devices when they need them, storage and computing that can flex up and down to meet changing business needs, and full-service support to onboard the mobile workforce no matter where they are located. When consuming technology as a service, leaders get the benefit of technical expertise that is embedded in the offering, freeing their teams to focus on business priorities.

You can see the trend with business growth — the global everything-as-a-service [also referred to as XaaS] market size is expected to grow from $265.4 billion in 2022 to $745 billion, rising at a market growth of 22.9% (Market and Markets). Along with this increasing aaS adoption, we see that enterprises are relying on managed services more because of the flexibility of the pay-as-you-go business model. It is easily scalable, which is attractive for companies of all sizes. It allows organizations to overcome challenges involving equipment ownership and management, overprovisioning of resources, and significant capital outlay.

Leadership buy-in is essential when making technology investments, including for EaaS solutions. To do that successfully, CIOs would have to demystify tech jargon and make clear what the technology can do for the business. To do this well, CIOs or IT leaders need to evolve their roles to include organizational psychology and influence, in addition to being leading technologists.

Being the CIO and the CTO, how are you able to think and plan for the employees and for global CIOs at the same time?

Lenovo is a technology company where one of our key target audiences are CIOs and IT decision makers. Being a CIO myself, I can bring customer-oriented thinking to my business as well as empathy for the challenges industry CIOs are facing. 

Additionally, Lenovo’s tech solutions power Lenovo’s own growth. In my dual role as CIO and CTDO, I have the unique advantage of guiding our teams in leveraging Lenovo’s decades of history in developing cutting-edge technology solutions and marrying them with current trends to ensure we are at the forefront of delivering the best possible solutions for our client’s current and emerging needs. One example is xCloud, a hybrid cloud solution that Lenovo developed initially for our own need of handling rising complexity in our cloud deployment profile. This was eventually deployed to customers, including helping a global new energy company achieve optimum cloud consumption and improve IT operational efficiency.

What new skill sets would a CIO need to remain relevant and successful in the future?

CIOs will have to move beyond just ‘managing’ IT, to driving exploration of new business models. Often, they are charged with leading digital transformation in their companies, creating tangible outcomes and value. The CIO of the future will be required to combine business and technical knowledge, along with evangelism and leadership abilities that can be used to drive strategic corporate growth and increase market opportunities.

The skill sets that were once needed to manage information will also continue to change. Partnering with tech vendors that offer flexible solutions will give the modern CIO tools to succeed. This is a pivotal moment where technological innovation represents incredible opportunity, but also increasing challenges to properly explore new technologies and land them in the business effectively for competitive advantage.