Emerging Priorities of CIOs & How QA Can Help

With the intense disruption of COVID-19 IT leaders were forced to quickly shift operations. For those with an established work from home (WFH) culture the transition was seamless, for those who work more collaboratively in-office it presented more of a challenge. As we continue to adjust to our new normal of virtual workforces, IT leaders are deriving prescriptive 3, 6, and 12-month strategic plans focused on organizational efficiency.

Inspired by Gartner’s recent 2020 CIO Agenda: Australia and New Zealand Perspective webinar, we thought we would share some thoughts on creating your IT development strategy for the next few quarters. This includes a deep dive into how leveraging QA teams like TTC Global can help improve your business’s productivity and increase revenue.

Fine Tune Your Initial Response: Month 0

You may have already addressed your immediate needs but now it’s time to fine-tune for function and effectiveness.

1. Leverage digital project management tools to their full potential—if you are using the same software you used while working in-office you may want to consider a quick staff training session to learn some of the features designed to improve remote productivity. It may also be time to explore more efficient PM software.
2. Ensure timely and effective communication, especially of IT staff changes—identify whether you will communicate primarily in your PM software or company email. Conduct daily or weekly meetings via Zoom or your preferred video conferencing tools.
3. Increased Internal QA testing—teams must prioritize QA as there is an increased likelihood of communication gaps during this time of transition. Even in the early stages of development you must test for function, compliance, performance, and security.

Evaluate Opportunities for Efficiency: Months 1 to 3

As your team starts to settle in, find additional ways to streamline and optimize at every level.

1. Partner with strategic IT Vendors—whether you have downsized your staff or are struggling with a decrease in productivity, working with key IT vendors can help fill the gaps while reducing costs and increasing efficiency. TTC can assist with QA as well as every aspect of your internal digital transformation.
2. Identify or reevaluate alternative staffing sources and BPOs—there is value in off-shore IT staffing but between the time difference, the inconsistency of at-home internet in remote areas, and communication challenges its time to evaluate the reliability of your partnerships and decrease reliance on individual geographies.
3. Improve digital communication with your clients and partners—maintaining and establishing relationships has never been more important. Many companies are shifting from email and text to video conferencing, even for short interactions. Focus on quality and transparency, not the volume or length of communication.
4. Identify immediate cost efficiencies through technology—many of our customers are focusing their investments in test automation & RPA (robotic process automation) to areas of critical business importance that can produce immediate cost benefits.

Adjust for the Long-term: Months 6 to 12

The new normal may not be the ongoing normal, however, CIOs must plan as though WFH is long-term and adjust their strategies in real-time.

1. Expand the use of agile practices—agile supports test-driven development and QA practices such as test automation, TDD (test driven development), and exploratory testing—all of which are critical during this time of transition. This may require you to deploy new technology to support your revised workflow.
2. Simplify and modernize architecture—utilizing Service Virtualization & testing of SOA & microservices are going to be even more important as we move forward into the next phase of working from home.
3. Explore your vendor and supplier relationships—every business is undergoing a digital transformation so you must continue to explore vendors and suppliers to identify the most innovative and flexible solutions available to you.

Summary

The rapid transition to WFH is highlighting the divide between organizations that have fully gone digital, and those who are behind the curve. Organizations will cut costs across the board, placing increased pressure on IT teams. Be strategic in where you cut as companies with a heightened focus on digital transformation initiatives will maintain a competitive advantage in the landscape of digitally-driven WFH operations.