Can CEOs Now Have The Best Of Both The Worlds?

The job of a CEO has never been more challenging. This position can sometimes be lonely and isolated. It can be a wrathful position with issues for which the slightest error in decision-making can have a detrimental effect on a company. Research studies that stemmed from a 2013 Executive Coaching Survey that polled over 200 CEOs and senior executives of the North American public and private enterprises indicate that their top executives are receiving a shortage of advice. A co-authored study by Miles Group and Stanford states that even the best CEOs have blind spots and that they can dramatically improve their performance when they have an outside perspective weighing in. However, it is not easy for these executives to trust an outside entity to provide ongoing and meaningful strategic insights. Also, the complex nature of their business makes it challenging to reach out for help on a particular issue. Therefore, participation in peer groups such as the CEO Clubs of America can provide a trusted environment to trade notes and work through some of the toughest challenges they might face in their businesses.

One major challenge for every CEO today is to leverage the advantages of technology in business today to gain the competitive edge and market expansion. Undoubtedly, today our lives and every business’s viability is hinged on the innovations of information technology. Now more than ever, many SMBs are moving to the cloud. Theoretically, this may reduce the need for IT specialists in the areas of support personal, database and system admins including developers. Jobs for data warehousing, storage, and other cloud-related jobs might increase but only in bigger companies.

IDC puts it this way: “By 2017, over 50 percent of organizations’ IT spending will be for 3rd platform technologies, solutions, and services, rising to over 60 percent by 2020.”

“The cloud is going to have a huge impact on job creation,” remarks Susan Hauser, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of the Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group as noted in the report. “It’s a transformative technology that will drive down costs, spur innovation, and open up new jobs and skillsets across the globe.”

Will this result in a shift of supply/demand for IT jobs in the long-term? In the podcast “The CEOs’ Solution To Strategic Technology Consultation” – Les Williams, Chief Marketing Officer at ExterNetworks, discusses why it is imperative for IT personnel to build their skills and stay abreast of the changes in the technology landscape.

With the CEO Clubs of America, CEOs have seeded their group with a Managed Technology Services  member that can lend objective insights on latest technology trends and solution options directly to them. Be it a start-up or an established industry enterprise, having access to a resident go-to partner for high-quality consultation on managed technology can enhance an organization’s success. Having an insider or a vetted partner, such as a Managed Technology Services (MTS) provider, within these cooperative bodies established a circle of trust with a degree of expertise, reliability, sustainability and experience that they can rely on for objective counsel on critical business issues.

Benefits of coordinated bodies for CEOs:

• They can rely on the expertise of an MTS provider to expand into new markets and gain market share on any technology – in different locations, with different cultural and business practices, or perhaps in different languages.
• They find it difficult to reach out for advice on a particular issue. They can rely on an insider and benefit from the partnership since the MTS provider is well equipped to provide the solution, and is committed to the success of their association.
• They can test-drive their technology strategies with the help of an MTS provider before they are forced to be more assertive or definitive.
• An MTS provider can act as a sounding board or as a solution developer by providing a focused input and thereby alleviating any issues that might arise in the future.
• MTS providers are highly knowledgeable about various customer issues and competition. This information can be used to their benefit and resolve their issues to stay ahead of the competition.
• They are constantly worried about investments in terms of time, cost and commitment. Having an MTS provider as a resident partner allows them to gain substantially by carefully considering the nature of their investments.
• CEOs can have peace of mind because the resident MSP shares a common circle of trust – they just don’t provide service and go away. The cooperative bodies conduct frequent meetings and other workshops – so the inner circle MSP cannot absolve themselves from their responsibilities if they do not perform, and for this reason alone, they can count on an implied reliability guaranteed right from the start.

ExterNetworks is an Executive Forum Inner Circle Member – New Jersey Club Chapter of the CEO Clubs of America. Members of the club (read CEOs) are already leveraging ExterNetworks’ expertise in deploying digital transformation across their organizations. This esteemed club is a 40-year-old establishment that improves the quality and profitability of its member organizations. The Board members of this club run businesses with an annual sales turnover of more than $2 million.

View original press release here

ExterNetworks is a single-source provider of end-to-end Managed Technology Services. As an integral part of this association, ExterNetworks offers quick, robust and cost-effective solutions to the members of the CEO Clubs of America, L.L.C., to address their IT-related challenges. ExterNetworks strives to be a portable and easily scalable branch of any organization by providing business strategies that fuel innovation and transformation through IT outsourcing.