IT Strategy
Some strategies being adopted in the current climate include:
Mobile networking, enabling employees to be in touch with centralised or cloud based company IT systems from anywhere, adding up to an hour a day of productive work per person.
IT automation: by examining systems and procedures and implementing a comprehensive and integrated solution with the power, flexibility and scalability to meet your needs today and expand as your business grows, IT automation enables a pro-active approach to improved operations and customer satisfaction.
Shuffling: a job and/or responsibilities shuffle can reap dividends in terms of increased profitability, as well as increasing skills sets for added company flexibility.
These suggestions not only remain valid, but are confirmed in a new report, the Gartner 2011 CIO Survey (CIO=Chief Information Officer) outlines the strategies being adopted by global IT professionals. Gartner is a leading source for technology research www.gartner.com.
To quote Gartner: “almost half of all CIOs expect to operate their applications and infrastructures via cloud technologies within the next five years. This change will necessitate that CIOs reimagine IT and lead their organization through a process of creative destruction.”
Their deduction is that global IT strategies now focus on creating new infrastructure for growth and efficiency.
Gartner speak often of IT driving the business, yet as a result of new technologies and applications arriving in the market, IT is itself being driven. This explains the fact that today’s number one focus, according to Gartner, is “developing and managing a flexible infrastructure”, a focus which, as a new entrant, barely made the top ten last year.
At positions 2 and 3 respectively are the classics that seem to be the CIO mantra: “Delivering application and growth projects” and “Reducing the cost of IT”.
This year’s new entrant at 9 is implementing cloud solutions, whilst 4 to 8 include not unexpected regulars such as
- Improving IT management (4)
- Consolidating IT operations (5)
- Implementing business process improvements (8)....
Surprisingly, looking at the results for what CIO’s see as their primary sources of success and influence, “IT Knowledge” is rated as worth only 6%. However, “Business Results” counts for 37%, and “Business Knowledge” 29%.
Significantly, the survey also highlighted the low levels of digitalisation in both public and private sector organisations. It particularly highlighted the lack of revenues derived digitally (e.g. web revenues).
What does this mean for a business without a CIO, which is the typical situation for medium and small companies?
We can break this down to a choice of three levels of strategic change:
- Re-engineer (reimagine in Gartner terms)
- Digitize
- Outsource
Re-engineer: means looking at your business as a whole on one side, reviewing how it could be changed and improved; and looking at technologies available on the other side, then marrying the two to arrive at the best solution for business efficiencies.
Digitize: means looking at your business and become digital from the front office to the back office. Not easy, but it does create a springboard for easy assimilation of new business requirements.
Outsource: means taking those CIO ‘regulars’ and delegating them to a specialist organisation such as Support Tree.
Custom Fit: Of course any strategy can include elements of all three to arrive at the best custom fit for your business, and outsourcing can cover all three.
Most companies have IT systems that have grown with the business, changing with the business but not truly penetrating deep into the core of operations, and remaining resistant to change.
Now is the time for a review of your outdated systems.
For more information please don’t hesitate to call James on 0800 292 2230
