Last week saw the meeting of the leading CIOs from Latin America’s most successful companies at the CIO LA summit (hosted by GDS International). The meeting was called as a result of the increasingly sensitive approach needed to operate business in our current economic climate.

The CIO Committee believes that there is a growing need to work outside of the box; in essence to create a forward thinking and visionary approach to the IT departments within every company. Latin America has traditionally been seen by the rest of the world to be behind when it comes to information technology. However, a recent announcement from Cisco stated that the company is hoping to form new partnerships within the region, which will boost the level of IT skills. The committee, who met in Mexico last week, believe that the next few months will see an increase in the need for professionals with a greater understanding of technology within their sectors. Increased investment and outsourcing data storage will help the continent to build on the more basic needs of better communication and government support systems for Latin America.

“It is up to each and every CIO to seek out and take responsibility for the most cost-effective and productive IT systems and strategies in order to create opportunity out of an increasingly rocky landscape. Quite frankly, IT is a game changer” David Broffman, Project Director

Key to conversations was the impact of cloud computing on the IT sector. The cloud is not new to business but the potential it holds to transform the internal workings of a company are still being discovered. At the moment, cloud computing is very much in the early years. Chuck Hollis – VP and Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation understands that we are still seeing security and networking issues. For bigger companies with large amounts of data there are risks to handing this over to a remote provider. We are seeing a “if you want a job doing, do it yourself” attitude which requires dedicated work from IT service staff. The agility of a business can make or break how it reacts to varying economic changes.

Business depends on quick response times, so it is vital that everyone has access to all relevant information and can keep up with the current economic climate.

“The Journey to the Private Cloud requires a transformational approach that balances an ambitious architecture with a solid operational framework. The result is rationalized business processes, applications and platforms that align with business imperatives – giving you the efficiencies, control and choice you need to thrive in this economy.” Chuck Hollis – VP and Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation

The CIO committee last week comprised of Patricio Melo, COO/CTO, Banco de Chile; João Lencioni, CIO Latin America, GE; Marcos Semola, CIO, Shell; and Jose Luis Fernandez Serrano, CIO Mexico, Pepsi Beverages Company. Now more than ever, companies can see the need to migrate towards cloud computing but are wary of the risks.