IVI Winter Summit: Clients are concerned about more than just matching skillsets

On December 14 and 15 IVI will bring together some of the world’s leading IT and academic experts for a two-day summit ‘Winning strategies for enabling the Digital Enterprise – secrets of successful CIOs and thought‐leaders’.

2016 marks the 10th anniversary of IVI Summits as well as the joint-delivery of the International Conference for Information System’s (ICIS) ‘CIO Symposium’ on December 14.

The Summit is now open for registration with early-bird offers available until September 30. Ticket prices include a series of networking events with a drinks reception and networking dinner in Dublin City Centre on the 14th of December.

To book tickets for The Innovation Value Institute tenth annual Winter Summit at the Convention Centre Dublin on Wednesday December 14 2016 visit herewww.iviws.eventbrite.ie

For more information on The Innovation Value Institute visitwww.ivi.ie

Sonya Curley is managing director at Harvey Nash Ireland.

Tell us about Harvey Nash Ireland

Harvey Nash is a Global recruitment solutions provider to Technology, Life Science and Financial Organisations throughout Ireland. For almost 10 years we have been responsible for placing specialists in a variety of roles, from junior levels positions to executive search assignments.

Since you set up in 1997, how has your business and the recruitment industry changed?

We have seen considerable change in our Technology brand in recent years. Harvey Nash research has shown that the demand for talented technologists continues to rise across Ireland, resulting in a much increased demand from traditional and disruptor businesses. A major concern for CIOs and IT Leaders today is meeting the growth demands of their companies. For us that often means channelling into our international network to ensure we deliver the most suitable candidate to our clients.

What do you consider to be the key challenges in the current talent environment?

Culture. Matching skills to a job is one thing but matching candidates is a different thing entirely. Our clients are concerned about more than just matching skill-sets; they’re keen to match individuals whose cultural and core values are aligned with their business. In a market where demand outweighs supply, securing candidates with the right skills and qualities is a challenge. However, our consistent ability to deliver, is what differentiates Harvey Nash from the rest.

Your 2016 annual CIO Survey has been one of the biggest yet, what were the key findings?

The 2016 Harvey Nash Survey revealed a lot. Most notable was the rising role of the CIO. More often CEOs are looking to the CIO to deliver tech solutions that generate revenue for their organisations.

There was also a significant increase in the demand for digital skills, jumping from 17 percent to 21 percent, indicating that the role digital plays in commerce is only going to become more apparent in the years to come. This is further reflected in the fact that one in five companies now has a dedicated Chief Digital Officer (CDO).

Tell us more about DiversiTech (response to CIO survey finding 8% of CIO roles filled by women). DiversiTech is about encouraging women to aim for and work towards more senior roles in technology. It brings together highly successful female technologists and professional women to offer practical advice to the challenges and hurdles of securing senior IT roles. Ultimately we want to see a progressive and consistent increase in the number of women in senior IT positions.

What do you think is required from a "successful CIO"? How has this evolved, over the years? Priorities and career paths?

Today’s CIO needs to be as comfortable with stakeholder relations as they are with the IT function itself. The growing role of IT in business means that CIOs must now confidently communicate the strategic goals of the IT department, how it aligns with the business’s objectives, and seamlessly present its benefits to staff, customers and investors.

Can you explain digital transformation and disruption and how it affects an organisation?

Digital Transformation is the implementation of technology to make a fundamental change to an organisation's day-to-day business, from the types of products and services it produces, to how it delivers them.

We are currently going through a massive technology shift that will transform the business in the world. This mega-trend is called 'Digital Transformation'. The first step in the Digital Transformation process is fundamentally changing the way that you think about your business today and involves shifting your current investments and reimagining your business and business strategies, implementing innovative business models based on the latest and emerging technologies. The use of these new technologies to change an organisations value proposition of existing products or services which is what is termed as “Digital Disruption”.

Think about how the TV, News media, Recruitment and Travel industries are getting disrupted by players like Netflix, LinkedIn, Uber, Airbnb, Booking.com and various other new platforms. Travel is a great example of an industry that was effected heavily by “Digital Disruption” – When the general public got access to the Internet, the travel industry changed dramatically. Airlines and other travel companies suddenly had access to sell directly to the end customer, without the need for expensive middlemen (travel agents).

Tell us about NashTech

NashTech is the global technology business offering that sits alongside the, already successful, Harvey Nash brand. NashTech is present in more than 15 countries around the world and continues to grow its technology innovation and solutions delivery offering globally.

Since 2000, NashTech has become known to clients through the development and implementation of solutions such as Application Development, Cloud Services, Digital Platform Development, Big Data & Analytics, System Integration and more recently in the area of Digital Advisory.

What makes Ireland a key centre for Information Systems?

Ireland is an obvious option for international technology companies. The highly talented and native English speaking community make it an obvious choice, not just for indigenous companies, but for businesses keen to expand into Europe and the US.

We have established a strong reputation as a gateway to Europe, with nine in 10 of the world’s leading tech companies and all of the top 10 born on the internet organisations locating part of their business here. Respected events like Ireland Gateway to Europe, the Dublin Web Summit (while it was hosted in Ireland) and the IVI Winter Summit also play a crucial part in positioning Ireland as a key centre for Information Systems.

What do you hope attendees will take away from the IVI Winter Summit?

This year’s IVI summit will bring together the best of Ireland’s tech talent. For ten years now IVI has brought together some of the world’s greatest minds to identify and discuss current and future trends in technology. The event is a must for all technology professionals keen to stay ahead of the trend.

Tell us about Harvey Nash’s involvement in the IVI Winter Summit?

Harvey Nash prides itself on staying head of the latest technology trends and identifying where the industry is going so that it can inform and equip its clients with relevant, applicable information. This year we’re delighted to announce that, due to a significant spike in demand, NashTech, the consulting and technology delivery arm of Harvey Nash, has launched in Ireland. Ronan Gray will be speaking at the IVI Winter Summit on the importance of putting digital at the core of your business.