Team Spotlight: Mike Dennehy

What's your role with CIO Studio?

I'm a Core Advisor.

How long have you been with CIO Studio?

I was involved with Ray Delany and Tony Cooke from the start. I'm excited to be working with such a great team of strategists and technologists.

Why do you like working with CIO Studio?

I've known Ray Delany (Founder) and Paul Matthews (CEO) for more than a dozen years, primarily through IT Professionals, and have always enjoyed working with both of them. When Ray approached me to discuss his idea for a CIO-as-a-Service business, I jumped at the chance and haven't regretted it.

What excites you most about your role?

I'm constantly inspired, challenged and motivated to deliver the best outcome for the client.

I get a real kick out of helping organisations that are either growing or struggling with their digital transformation (and often both). I can see the path ahead and know what they need to do, and what will happen when they do it.

What does the word “digital” mean to you?

From a business/organisational sense, digital encompasses all the systems, tools and processes required to enable the enterprise to firstly function, and then grow and flourish.

I don't like the term "future-proofed" because we don't know what the future holds, but we can certainly help to prepare the enterprise to operate sustainably and competitively according to its goals.its goals.

What’s the opportunity – where do you see digital taking us in the next 3-5 years?

That's the really exciting part!

First, an organisation must ensure it's able to operate in the digital world. This means having robust, secure, fit-for-purpose business and marketing platforms that enable the enterprise to operate and grow.

This will be the price of admission for doing business, and without these fundamentals,any enterprise will struggle or be left behind. .

Once the foundations are in place, visionary organisations are starting to look ahead at how technology can be used to disrupt a sector and give them a competitive advantage. a competitive advantage.

This doesn't mean jumping on the "next big thing" but taking a rational, considered view of how technology and digital can be employed to take the organisation to the next level, whatever that may be.

I see a lot of trends continuing - Cloud is virtually ubiquitous now and legacy on-premise solutions will be phased out as they reach or exceed end-of-life. Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality (AI and AR) will continue to find relevance, and the availability of cheap data storage at a massive scale will enable greater business insights from data analytics. a massive scale will enable greater business insights from data analytics.

I expect to see greater use of Digital Twins to produce more realistic scenarios for things such as climate change, urban planning, public transport and education planning.

How do you stay up-to-date with all the changing tech?

I read a lot, both hard copy and online, and subscribe to a few podcasts and tech websites. It's difficult to keep pace sometimes, and filter out the fads and marketing trends to get to the useful stuff.

OK, the big question... Teams, Zoom or Google Meet?

I never thought I'd say this, but I probably prefer Teams over Zoom for a few reasons.

The virtual meeting experience is similar, whether it be scheduling, inviting, hosting, screen-sharing or running the meeting, but I like Teams' greater all-around functionality and as an Office 365 user I get all the benefits of a single integrated platform. all-around functionality and as an Office 365 user I get all the benefits of a single integrated platform.

I haven't used Google Meet a great deal, not for any specific reason, just most meetings seem to be either on Zoom or Teams.

Moving on to a few personal questions...

When you're not leading digital teach, where can we find you?

Mostly on the golf course, travelling around the country with my wife in our motorhome, tramping one of our amazing Great Walks, riding a bike (Merida road bike or Scott hard-tail MTB ) or fishing.

I also have a side hustle as a business coach which keeps me engaged in the tech space, and also pays for my golf balls. I enjoy governance and have done a bit of board work both in the tech industry and sport.

What was the last holiday you took?

My wife and I had a lovely 10 days on the Sunshine Coast with close friends in August this year - it was everything you want from a late winter break in a beautiful part of the world.

One last question... Coffee or Tea?

I've been doing keto for more than 5 years, and I start every day with a Bulletproof Coffee that I make myself. Delicious and filling, it keeps me going until lunchtime.

To reach out to Mike, you can email him here. Check out our full range of services and how we can get involved in your next digital project.