Within Ireland, the data sovereignty issue has been slowly brought into the spotlight through the appointment of Helen Dixon as the country’s Data Protection Commissioner and her plans to expand the department. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s long-running battle with the US court system over the right to privacy has gathered numerous column inches. More globally, the fallout from Sony’s devastating hack has ensured that data security is being discussed in boardrooms up and down the country.

All across the world, organisations are coming under increased scrutiny from stakeholders to ensure they have the correct compliance policies in place in order to operate safely and without risk. This is especially important in Ireland – long established as a technology hub in its own right, the country is also a gateway for US businesses looking to enter the European market. With IT behemoths such as Google, Facebook and Apple, as well as hundreds of tech start-ups all present in the region, any security slip-ups could end up being played out on the global stage. As such, protection standards must be adhered to strictly and without exception. Thanks to the maturity of the market, businesses now expect Ireland to operate within the highest standards of information security.

Changes Ahead

These conversations over compliance will doubtless continue throughout 2015. The EU Commission’s much touted data protection law will similarly fuel the debate before it is eventually enacted, as expected, in 2017. This means there will be yet another body with the power to rightly hand out fines and sanctions to organisations that mishandle, or fail to take every step possible to protect their mission critical and sensitive data.

The upcoming EU directive will highlight the responsibility businesses have to their customers for the safety of their data, and while it might only be the major leaks that make the headlines, smaller incidents can have a huge knock-on effect. Previously poor regulation has been blamed for businesses failing to take responsibility, but this new ruling will help instil that sense of importance around customer data.

Investing in Best Practice

With this understanding of the market we felt investment in developing and maintaining security practices and processes that reach the globally accepted ISO 27001:2013 standard was vital.

Regulation is sometimes perceived as a bureaucratic burden and a barrier to doing business and making profit; however this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Achieving the ISO 27001 certification offers peace of mind to Sungard Availability Services’ customers in Ireland and assures them that resilience and information availability is built into all aspects of our business.

Sungard Availability Services, Cisco, Citrix and NetApp

Dublin, Ireland: – Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, today announces the launch of its Desktop as a Service (DaaS) in Ireland and the UK. This is the first solution of its kind to be developed alongside leading global providers Cisco*, Citrix and NetApp to provide a complete cloud-based desktop solution for organisations.

Changing working practices continue to create tensions between the CEOs’ desire for increased productivity, availability and security, and millennial employees demanding mobile work styles enabled by multiple applications accessed from any device and anywhere.

For our customers, who typically have high availability needs, it’s a complex, large scale challenge and customers are asking us to help them provide a complete service that addresses both changing work styles and their availability demands. The Sungard AS Desktop as a Service provides the optimal IT infrastructure to deliver desktops wherever they are needed: be it their offices; on the move or into emergency workplace recovery offices.

Sungard AS’ DaaS solution is the first project to have been announced in partnership with best-of-breed providers Cisco, Citrix and NetApp. The solution will offer a 100 per cent availability service level agreement – for gold customers, with minimum 99.95% SLAs on silver and bronze contracts – providing customers constant access to their desktop, from any location and device.

Sungard AS’ consultancy-led delivery aims to minimise the IT challenges associated with implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure and to enable new ways to work better with state-of-the-art workspaces that are mobile, virtual and secure. Sungard AS’ managed-services provision helps ensure high availability of critical systems, supporting flexible and mobile working practices and improvements to staff productivity.

The service is a natural extension of Sungard AS’ existing capabilities. With the organisation already providing bespoke virtual desktops for over 4,000 end users, Sungard AS has demonstrated a strong track record in this area. Additionally, the company manages around 2,600 desktop images as part of its recovery services, any of which may need to be provisioned at a moment’s notice and without failure.

As part of the Sungard AS environment customers will be able to access the company’s optional Workplace Recovery services, where 100 recovery desktops can be rolled out in just 2 hours – allowing businesses a near seamless recovery in case of disruption to their home based IT or usual office facilities. Additionally, the service can be rapidly scaled up in order to accommodate seasonal demand peaks. This means you can access office space and IT more flexibly and faster when you need it.

“This service has been in high demand from our customer base, and they trust Sungard AS to deliver. It is underpinned by accredited Cisco Powered design, which brings together best-in-class technology and market leadership, enabling organisations to accelerate growth and reduce costs,” commented Keith Tilley, EVP, Global Sales & Customer Services Management at Sungard Availability Services. “Our expertise in resilient infrastructure means that customers are happy to place their desktop environments in our hands, knowing that we are probably the only service in Europe which can offer the level of highly available IT which will ensure organisations are always on and able to do business.”

Mike Threlfall, European Customer Services and Consulting Director said: “Our consultancy service will help unlock further value for customers and remove much of the complexity around implementing a virtual desktop solution. For us the answer does not lie simply in throwing technology at the problem but requires a comprehensive and objective overview that will assess the needs of employees as well as the organisation’s infrastructure requirements. Unlocking the value of the enterprise in this way, businesses can ensure that they put into place the optimal working practices that will enable them to draw the best performances from their staff.

“There is no denying that the expectations of employees are changing, and with more and more ‘Digital Natives’ entering the workplace, IT departments are finding it increasingly challenging to keep up the pace with today’s technology demands. Employees now expect to access vital data and key applications from any location or device. The introduction of Desktop as a Service represents a huge competitive advantage for our customers as they aim to transform and optimise their current working practices.”

Organisations looking to migrate to virtual desktops or workplace environments or upgrade their first generation virtual desktops are invited to contact Sungard Availability Services to undertake an initial business assessment to determine the right desktop strategy for their business and provide the business case to take to the board.

Notes:

*Sungard AS is already an approved Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Master partner having achieved Cisco Powered services designations for Cisco Powered Infrastructure as a Service and Cisco Powered Disaster Recovery as a Service. With the launch of DaaS, Sungard AS intends to make this its third Cisco Powered Service.

Our email address has changed to @SungardAS.com
Please add ‘AS’ to ensure your emails are delivered after 31st December

Sungard Availability Services, Cisco, Citrix and NetApp

London, United Kingdom: – Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, today announces the launch of its Desktop as a Service (DaaS) in the UK and Ireland. This is the first solution of its kind to be developed alongside leading global providers Cisco*, Citrix and NetApp to provide a complete cloud-based desktop solution for organisations.

Changing working practices continue to create tensions between the CEOs’ desire for increased productivity, availability and security, and millennial employees demanding mobile work styles enabled by multiple applications accessed from any device and anywhere.

For our customers, who typically have high availability needs, it’s a complex, large scale challenge and customers are asking us to help them provide a complete service that addresses both changing work styles and their availability demands. The Sungard AS Desktop as a Service provides the optimal IT infrastructure to deliver desktops wherever they are needed: be it their offices; on the move or into emergency workplace recovery offices.

Sungard AS’ DaaS solution is the first project to have been announced in partnership with best-of-breed providers Cisco, Citrix and NetApp. The solution will offer a 100 per cent availability service level agreement – for gold customers, with minimum 99.95% SLAs on silver and bronze contracts – providing customers constant access to their desktop, from any location and device.

Sungard AS’ consultancy-led delivery aims to minimise the IT challenges associated with implementing a virtual desktop infrastructure and to enable new ways to work better with state-of-the-art workspaces that are mobile, virtual and secure. Sungard AS’ managed-services provision helps ensure high availability of critical systems, supporting flexible and mobile working practices and improvements to staff productivity.

The service is a natural extension of Sungard AS’ existing capabilities. With the organisation already providing bespoke virtual desktops for over 4,000 end users, Sungard AS has demonstrated a strong track record in this area. Additionally, the company manages around 2,600 desktop images as part of its recovery services, any of which may need to be provisioned at a moment’s notice and without failure.

As part of the Sungard AS environment customers will be able to access the company’s optional Workplace Recovery services, where 100 recovery desktops can be rolled out in just 2 hours – allowing businesses a near seamless recovery in case of disruption to their home based IT or usual office facilities. Additionally, the service can be rapidly scaled up in order to accommodate seasonal demand peaks. This means you can access office space and IT more flexibly and faster when you need it.

“This service has been in high demand from our customer base, and they trust Sungard AS to deliver.  It is underpinned by accredited Cisco Powered design, which brings together best-in-class technology and market leadership, enabling organisations to accelerate growth and reduce costs,” commented Keith Tilley, EVP, Global Sales & Customer Services Management at Sungard Availability Services. “Our expertise in resilient infrastructure means that customers are happy to place their desktop environments in our hands, knowing that we are probably the only service in Europe which can offer the level of highly available IT which will ensure organisations are always on and able to do business.”

Mike Threlfall, European Customer Services and Consulting Director said: “Our consultancy service will help unlock further value for customers and remove much of the complexity around implementing a virtual desktop solution. For us the answer does not lie simply in throwing technology at the problem but requires a comprehensive and objective overview that will assess the needs of employees as well as the organisation’s infrastructure requirements. Unlocking the value of the enterprise in this way, businesses can ensure that they put into place the optimal working practices that will enable them to draw the best performances from their staff.

“There is no denying that the expectations of employees are changing, and with more and more ‘Digital Natives’ entering the workplace, IT departments are finding it increasingly challenging to keep up the pace with today’s technology demands. Employees now expect to access vital data and key applications from any location or device. The introduction of Desktop as a Service represents a huge competitive advantage for our customers as they aim to transform and optimise their current working practices.”

Organisations looking to migrate to virtual desktops or workplace environments or upgrade their first generation virtual desktops are invited to contact Sungard Availability Services to undertake an initial business assessment to determine the right desktop strategy for their business and provide the business case to take to the board.

Notes:

*Sungard AS is already an approved Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Master partner having achieved Cisco Powered services designations for Cisco Powered Infrastructure as a Service and Cisco Powered Disaster Recovery as a Service.  With the launch of DaaS, Sungard AS intends to make this its third Cisco Powered Service.

Our email address has changed to @SungardAS.com
Please add ‘AS’ to ensure your emails are delivered after 31st December

Sungard Availability Services (“Sungard AS”), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, today announced that it has achieved the ISO 27001:2013 standard for its enterprise-grade shared private cloud environment and managed services offering. By attaining the standard, Sungard AS Ireland has proven to an independent third-party that it has developed and implemented a best-in-class information security management system (ISMS) for itself and its customers.

The ISO 27001:2013 certification provides organisations with an internationally recognised, independent verification that the company is able to securely manage information security, retaining confidentiality, integrity and availability of all data. Sungard AS has proven that it has in place the appropriate processes to properly secure its data and the data of its Irish customer base – helping businesses ensure that their mission critical information is both safe and readily accessible.

“Ireland has now established itself not only as a technology hub in its own right, but as access point for US business looking to enter the European market. And as host to the European headquarters of some of the world’s most influential IT organisations, data protection in the region is vitally important. Thanks to the maturity of the market, businesses now expect the highest standard of information security,” said Andrew Barber, Chief Security Officer, EMEA and APAC, Sungard Availability Services.

“Being endorsed by an independent and internationally recognised body will bring further piece of mind to customers in Ireland and assure them that, as their partner of choice for cloud or managed hosting, that resilience and information availability is built into all aspects of our business, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations.”

Sungard AS Ireland’s accreditation is the latest example of the company’s long-standing commitment to tangibly demonstrating quality, compliance and good governance across its operations and processes. Current external governance accreditation includes ITIL, ISO 9001:2008, ISO 22301 and BS 31100: 2008.

Continuing on from my previous insights, this week I'd like to share numbers 4-6 from my list of those elements will either impact enterprise IT or come to the forefront of consideration during the year ahead.

The final three of the top six trends that will shape enterprise IT in 2015:

4. The general election

With politicians already limbering up for next year’s election, IT service providers need to ready themselves for the imminent debate. Austerity will continue, with the government looking to reduce its spend dramatically – whilst the need to demonstrate value to the public will not go away.

And thanks to the sensitive nature of government data, any vendor will need to jump through a number of hoops regarding infrastructure considerations and information security classifications.  For smaller Independent Software Vendors this could be a problem, and it’s one we’ll see solved through high profile partnerships with MSPs that can provide not only the technology, but also the accreditations needed (and the help to attain them!) to bid successfully for government contracts.

5. The rise of Desktop as a Service

2015 will create an even bigger demand for Desktop as a Service (DaaS). The expectations of employees are changing, and with more and more ‘Generation Y’ workers entering the workforce, IT departments are finding it increasingly challenging to keep up the pace with today’s technology demands[2]. For some millennials, the tech package combined with flexible working practices can be a major factor when considering potential employers.  This trend is only set to get bigger, especially with further adoption of flexible working laws.

Whether ‘digital natives’ or ‘digital migrants’, employees now expect to access mission critical data and key applications from any location or device and if companies wish to keep up with modern working practices they need to ensure that they make headway in 2015 into providing this type of service.

6. Coping with Cloud Complexity

Cloud has most certainly hit the mainstream, and in 2014 over three quarters of UK organisations formally adopted at least one cloud-based service.  However, not everything is rosy – while the cloud initially promised to cut IT complexity, many CIOs have found themselves with a new set of challenges. With so many early cloud adopters rushing in and only looking at the immediate, short-term benefits of the cloud many have found themselves caught up in the intricate network of vendors, none of which have integrated clouds.

The cloud myth is well and truly over. In the next year we’ll see businesses looking to extricate themselves from their multiple IT environments – streamlining their estate as they understand that cloud computing is not a technical achievement, but a tool to deliver a specific, individual business outcome.

Forward looking CIOs – or perhaps just wise ones! – will see that the key to successful cloud deployments that do deliver, are based upon responsibly consuming cloud alongside the other physical and virtual environments the business has. Hybrid IT will precede truly integrated Hybrid Cloud, and may indeed be essential to it.

Upcoming legislation like the EU Data Protection directive will mean even more  pressure to secure mission critical data, and CIOs need to ensure they are doing everything in their power to protect customer information. The story is the same in the public sector: with ministers under increased scrutiny thanks to the 2015 election, mistakes and data losses will simply not be tolerated.

Alongside increased pressure on governance and compliance, organisations are also expecting the IT department to make a greater contribution in achieving their business objectives – a difficult task when so much of the CIOs time and resource is tied up in simply keeping the lights on. Within this environment we will see an increased demand for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) that can help businesses through what is set to be an IT minefield of a year.

Here are the first three top six trends that will shape enterprise IT in 2015:

1. Increased Value in Services:

The cost of raw infrastructure is already plummeting thanks to price-wars between the biggest providers – including AWS, Microsoft and Google. As a result the bottom is falling out of the market and customers now look beyond raw infrastructure for value

And with many IT departments moving away from the traditional maintenance model and looking to demonstrate business value through innovation and a focus on the application-layer, organisations no longer have the expertise, or the need to deal with raw infrastructure.

In the next year we’ll see a rise in the number of businesses turning to MSPs[1] – with IT priorities shifting from reducing costs to helping create an agile and flexible work environment, businesses will look to  their technology partners to do the dull maintenance work. Thanks to MSPs the CIO can now pour his or her department’s resources in to developing an IT environment which can be shaped and customised by individual departments – trusting that the heavy lifting and availability demands will be dealt with elsewhere.

2. Investing in Orchestration

As I’ve already mentioned, the traditional role of the CIO is shifting, with more attention being paid to the innovation. Again, this means a move away from tried and tested methods of managing infrastructure. Over the next year we will start to see CIOs throw out the outdated ‘command and control’ model of infrastructure governance. Instead IT leaders will begin to embrace data centre orchestration technologies that can offer seamless infrastructure performance, with data moving freely across hybrid IT infrastructures.

The move will allow CIOs to continue to pull away from the ‘dirty’ infrastructure work, retaining their focus on demonstrating real value to the business and delivering a competitive edge.

3. Increased pressure on data compliance

We’re starting to see a number of companies coming under increasing scrutiny for their data protection and compliance policies, and this scrutiny is only going to increase with the new laws coming in 2017 from the EU Commission concerning data regulation. This will significantly increase a business' responsibility for critical data, and have the power to impose large sanctions for mishandling, or failing to take every step possible to protect it.  This ruling will greatly impact any business model based on the use/management of data such as cloud, Bring-Your-Own-Device and datacentre storage.

We will start to see more debates around who will have to take responsibility for this. MSPs should also prepare for a huge influx of queries from customers about their data, so a thorough understanding of the new regulation itself will be crucial in order to deal with all of the inbound requests. 2017 might seem like a long time away but the radical changes in law will require organisations to work hard over the next two years to have a chance of complying and avoiding substantial fines in the future.

Sungard Availability Services is taking part in the Crisis Christmas campaign for the seventh consecutive year, supporting the charity’s vital work helping single homeless people nationwide.

In 2014, Crisis again expects to welcome over 4,000 homeless people into its Christmas Centres across the UK.  The centres provide advice and company at what can be a very lonely time of year, a hot meal, medical help, dentistry, chiropody, eyecare and haircare.  Almost 10,000 more people will come to Crisis throughout the year to learn, find jobs and build their confidence to leave homelessness behind them for good.

The e-card we issued this year features Crisis service users who have collaborated to deliver three musical performances of well-known Christmas songs with a twist. The percussion in each song has been created by guests using everyday tools, utensils and party decorations as instruments!

Last year, Sungard AS was among 66 companies who together raised £543,889.  This allowed Crisis to:

•   Welcome over 4,000 guests at Crisis at Christmas in London, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh
•   Accommodate 842 guests across its 5 residential centres each night
•   Serve 30,596 meals across all the centres
•   Conduct 804 healthcare appointments; a 13% increase on the year before
•   Treat 404 of our guests’ teeth
•   Give 238 eye tests and dispense 242 pairs of glasses
•   Enlist the help of 10,000 volunteers who together completed 17,124 shifts

Sadly, some 12% of homeless people grew up in care while 10% were previously in the armed forces.  Showing the toll homelessness takes on health, the average age of death for homeless men is 47 years old (compared with 77 for the general population) and just 43 for women (instead of 82).

Keith Tilley, executive vice president, global sales and customer services management for Sungard AS, comments, “Homeless people are amongst the most vulnerable in our society and it is clear that, despite significant improvements in homelessness services, the increased dangers and harsh conditions faced by homeless people in the UK remain a very real problem.  I am delighted that through our support for Crisis Sungard AS is once again helping to make a big difference to so many people’s lives.”

Our email address has changed to @SungardAS.com
Please add ‘AS’ to ensure your emails are delivered after 31st December

With numerous customers, including Fexco, Ladbrokes, Mars and Meteoreircom relying on All n One’s customer lifecycle management tool, Business Express (BeX), to underpin their day-to-day operations, All n One has zero tolerance for downtime. In turn, they depend on Sungard AS to ensure high availability of its hybrid IT environment around the clock. It contracts Sungard AS’s Enterprise Cloud Service to give it SLA-backed uptime of 99.95%. Sungard AS manages All n One’s physical and virtual servers in its resilient Dublin based Technology Centre and seamlessly delivers its systems and data back to the business. As well as all-important availability, this solution gives All n One Ltd the flexibility and scalability it needs to support its continued growth.

“We could not do what we do without a service that is very robust, very secure and very reliable. That’s why we put our trust in Sungard AS.” Nick Wheeler, CEO, All n One Ltd.

When All n One originally chose Sungard AS as its technology partner many years ago, as a relatively young company it particularly valued Sungard AS’s expertise.

“One of the very real benefits we appreciated early on was the ability to get straight advice from Sungard AS without having to go to a separate consultancy firm, which was a huge bonus,” notes Philip Lacey, All n One’s IT and Projects Director. “We already had an idea how to run our IT infrastructure but Sungard AS gave us a better way to stay up.”

As Data Protection regulations become ever more stringent, All n One’s software has to be exceptionally secure and all data is encrypted throughout the end-to-end process. The company’s operating system and all of its servers must be up-to-date to ensure resilience and security. With its Windows 2003 servers nearing end of life, Philip Lacey recognised the company needed to upgrade and he and his team worked with Sungard AS over a period of 18 months to plan a smooth transition.

“All the meticulous planning paid off. In the event, the switchover itself took less than five minutes and end users would not have noticed a thing – the system came straight back up, which is a huge testament to both the Sungard AS and All n One Ltd teams. I may not understand all the technical stuff but I do understand good customer service and that’s what we get from the Sungard AS team. Each and every person knows what they’re talking about and that makes such a difference.”

Solution: Enterprise Cloud Services

Research sponsored by Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, has revealed that HR professionals would like a closer working relationship with the CIO in order to benefit from their ideas, insights and technical skills.

The findings show that 63 per cent of HR leaders believe a closer alignment with the CIO will be vital in realising their department’s ideas with a further 66 per cent stating that they drive efficiency within an organsiation. However, despite recognising the tangible benefits of close collaboration with the IT department, only 12 per cent currently work closely with their CIO, with over a third complaining that the IT department still tends to work as a silo.

The HR department profess to be big supporters of technology within the enterprise – with over two thirds (68 percent) stating that if the CIO was not sitting on the board within their organisation, then they should be. And their support could have a significant impact on the CIO’s role – with 35 per cent of HR professionals stating that they believed the views and inputs of the CIO were not being appreciated by those in the senior management team.

Commenting on the findings, Sharon Clews, director – people & talent management, techUK  observed:

“In an age where agile working, particularly amongst the millennial population, is seen as an increasingly important attraction and retention tool, and as organisations recognise that the way they communicate with staff is changing, CIOs have a vital role to play as enablers of that change.  Closer collaboration between CIOs and HR teams is therefore essential to the success of any change management activity.”

Keith Tilley, EVP global sales & customer services management at Sungard Availability Services said:

“The disconnect between the number of HR professionals who recognise the benefits of working with the CIO, and those that actually do, is quite distinct. IT is increasingly becoming a keystone in organisational operations – and while it’s encouraging to see that HR departments recognise the functionality and process efficiencies this could offer them, more must be done to create the inter-departmental links that will allow businesses to unlock the potential benefits.  Whether that’s scoping the solution, implementation, ‘bug fixs’ or being aware of the particular challenges global firms with differing set-ups can face. The will is there, but both sides have a part to play in ensuring that this collaboration begins to happen.”

For further details on how HR professionals can collaborate more closely with the CIO, Sungard AS commissioned a report by Professor of Management, Joe Peppard from the European School of Management and Technology entitled ‘Digital Dynamics in the C-Suite’.

Key tips developed by Joe Peppard to deliver collaboration with the CIO include:

• Stay on trend with the latest technologies and keep an open dialogue with the CIO to talk through some of the ways technology can improve your business’ working processes and deliver new insights into your workforce.
• Partner with the CIO to drive change within  your department. Work ‘hand-in-glove’ in order to create a roadmap for implementing technologies that will solve your current HR headaches.
• Understand the role that technology plays within your department. If necessary look to split costs with the IT department in order to make sure your budget contribution reflects the benefits you are recieveing.
• Actively communicate your collaboration to the rest of the company – make sure everyone understands the relationship and its benefits.

To download the report and more, please visit:  http://www.all-time.co.uk/#/content/digital-dynamics-report.

About the research  Interviews were carried out in September – October 2013 by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Sungard Availability Services. 550 interviews were conducted altogether: 250 from the UK, and 100 in each of France, Sweden and Ireland. Four audiences were surveyed: IT decision makers (220), finance decision makers (110), marketing decision makers (110), and HR decision makers (110).

Research sponsored by Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of information availability through managed IT, cloud and recovery services, has revealed that while almost two thirds (63 percent) of UK HR leaders believe a closer alignment with the CIO will be vital in realising their department’s ideas, only 12 per cent currently work very closely with their CIO.

The findings show that 97 percent of HR professionals believe the CIO is very capable in supporting business growth through technology including:

• Enabling mobile and flexible working (58 percent)
• Creating new ways to communicate with employees (64 percent)
• Driving efficiencies (66 percent) .

The HR department profess to be big supporters of technology within the enterprise – with over two thirds (68 percent) stating that if the CIO was not sitting on the board within their organisation, then they should be. And their support could have a significant impact on the CIO’s role – with 35 percent of HR professionals stating that they believed the views and inputs of the CIO were not appreciated by those in the senior management team

Commenting on the findings, Sharon Clews, director – people & talent management, techUK  observed: 

“In an age where agile working, particularly amongst the millennial population, is seen as an increasingly important attraction and retention tool, and as organisations recognise that the way they communicate with staff is changing, CIOs have a vital role to play as enablers of that change.  Closer collaboration between CIOs and HR teams is therefore essential to the success of any change management activity.”

Keith Tilley, EVP global sales & customer services management at Sungard Availability Services said:

“The disconnect between the number of HR professionals who recognise the benefits that come with working with the CIO, and those who actually do work closely with their IT department is worrying. IT is increasingly becoming a keystone in organisational operations – and while it’s encouraging to see that HR departments recognise the functionality and process efficiencies this could offer them, unless more is done to create improved inter-departmental links, businesses won’t unlock all the potential benefits available to them.  Whether that’s scoping the solution, implementation, ‘bug fixs’ or being aware of the particular challenges global firms with differing set-ups can face. The will is there, and both sides have a part to play in ensuring that this collaboration happens.”

In exploring how HR professionals can collaborate more closely with CIOs, Sungard AS commissioned Professor of Management, Joe Peppard from the European School of Management and Technology to write a report entitled ‘Digital Dynamics in the C-Suite’.

Key tips identified by Joe Peppard to deliver closer collaboration with the CIO include:

• Stay on trend with the latest technologies and keep an open dialogue with the CIO to talk through some of the ways technology can improve your business’ working processes and deliver new insights into your workforce.
• Partner with the CIO to drive change within your department. Create a roadmap for implementing technologies that will solve your current HR headaches.
• Understand the role that technology plays within your department. If necessary look to split costs with the IT department in order to make sure your budget contribution reflects the benefits you’re receiving.
• Actively communicate your collaboration to the rest of the company – make sure everyone understands the relationship and its benefits.

To download the report, please visit:  http://www.all-time.co.uk/#/content/digital-dynamics-report.

About the research  Interviews were carried out in September – October 2013 by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Sungard Availability Services. 550 interviews were conducted altogether: 250 from the UK, and 100 in each of France, Sweden and Ireland. Four audiences were surveyed: IT decision makers (220), finance decision makers (110), marketing decision makers (110), and HR decision makers (110).