Moments that Matter make or break IT careers
European research shows pivotal moments in a CIO’s career are a game-changer for professional success
London, 5 October 2015 – Colt has today launched the results of a European study, showing that distinct ‘moments that matter’ are key to the career trajectory of senior IT leaders in the UK, France and Germany. The research findings show that with the rise of the digital economy and development of IT into a strategic function, IT professionals define their career success more from pivotal moments than day-to-day activity.
More than three-quarters of respondents (77%) believe their career success is defined by key moments that generate recognition and deliver success for the wider organisation. The link between ‘moments that matter’ and personal success is even stronger for IT leaders who perceive themselves as ‘exceeding expectations’ in their role (91%).
These ‘moments that matter’ are also clearly identified when exploring their working relationships with suppliers: over three-quarters (77%) state the ability to excel during critical points in their business calendar is more important than ongoing support from service providers.
When asked to group the top ‘moments that matter’, IT leaders highlighted:
• New infrastructure changes – 67%
• External events (data outage/ tech crisis) – 63%
• Responding to emerging customer requirements – 60%
More than half (62%) of IT leaders believe their teams are more focused on strategic projects than keeping things running. However, an analysis of the moments that matter mentioned by respondents showed a conflict between their aspirations and the reality of their daily roles. A significant proportion of projects concerned improving efficiency and effectiveness within the IT specialisation instead of customer affecting achievements.
Carl Grivner, EVP at Colt stated: “A digital wave is sweeping through every industry – changing the role of IT into a business enabler. This study shows that IT leaders recognise the opportunity this brings to them and clearly correlate their professional success with moments that matter for the business. However, personal success will ultimately be determined by the ability to identify and drive those moments that help business transform and better serve customers.”
He continued: “The results also show how important it is to work with the right team – both in terms of your internal team and external suppliers. IT leaders believe supplier trust is the most important element in ensuring successful outcomes and are increasingly concerned with the customer experience provided by key suppliers. At Colt we understand that customers depend on us to keep their core services running in the background while they focus on what matters most to them.”
Notes on research methodology: 301 European senior technology decision makers completed an interview during August 2015, with an equal split for UK, French and German respondents. Of the participants surveyed, their business revenues spanned 10M to 5BN euros, with the majority ranging between 100M and 500M euros. The research was conducted by Loudhouse, an independent research agency based in London.
About Colt
Colt provides network, voice, and data centre services to thousands of businesses around the world, allowing them to focus on delivering their business goals instead of the underlying infrastructure. Customers include 18 of the top 25 bank and diversified financial groups and 19 out of the top 25 companies in both global media and telecoms industries (Forbes 2000 list, 2014). In addition, Colt works with over 50 exchange venues and 13 European central banks.
Colt operates across Europe, Asia and North America with connections into over 200 cities globally. It completed the acquisition of KVH in 2014 – which now operates under the Colt brand – an integrated data centre and communications services business, with headquarters in Tokyo and operations in Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore.
Colt press contact
Colt, Paula Muezerie
DDI: +44 (0) 20 7947 1035
Mobile: +44 (0) 785 5301 078
Email: [email protected]
What's your goal today?
1. Are you on the Colt IQ network?
Our network connects over 31,000 buildings worldwide powering companies such as Hitachi, Atos, Forbes, Arthur D Little, Brussels Airlines and thousands of others. Find out if you're Colt connected now.
2. Learn about digital infrastructure
We've written thousands of guides and white papers, regularly publish content on our blog and host regular events on everything from enterprise network connectivity, to cloud, digital transformation and the hybrid workforce.
3. Join our team
To learn more about joining our team of over 5000 people around the world, and to browse our current open roles visit https://careers.colt.net/.
