Technology leaders are playing a bigger role in helping companies bounce back after a bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Many are brought in as bankruptcy proceedings wind down and the company is going through a broader restructuring. Their tasks include forging information-technology strategies around cloud computing, data analytics and other advanced digital tools in order to cut costs and reignite productivity, senior IT executives and industry analysts say. Chief information officers at restructured companies looking to jumpstart growth are in “an incredible position to drive change,” said Chris Pick, founder of the Technology Business Management Council, a nonprofit trade group for enterprise IT managers. Pick, chief marketing officer at software maker Apptio Inc., said the spread of digital tools has enabled tech leaders to better track data and gain insights about customers and competitors. That allows them to ask “harder, smarter questions” about what needs to be done to breathe new life into a business, he added. CIOs are in a unique position to boost productivity, drive down costs, streamline operational efficiency and create new sources of revenue, industry analysts said. Since Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s largest operating unit emerged from bankruptcy in late 2017, the company has cut the number of internal software applications to 260 from more than 800, thanks to an effort to improve IT efficiency, said CIO Les Ottolenghi.
