Breakthrough IT Services
International Data Corp. estimates that companies worldwide will spend over $1.8 trillion on information technology every year, slightly more than the GDP of France or the United Kingdom. The companies that execute IT successfully rarely advertise that fact other than a sentence or two in a press release, preferring to keep their new systems as a competitive “ace in the hole.” The less fortunate corporations quietly write off their IT foray, burying the wasted expenditure in a note on their financial statement that obscures the squandered millions of shareholder’s investments. In extreme cases, the results may push companies to the brink of financial ruin.
The executives responsible for the success of corporate IT have a difficult role to fill. The Board of Directors and CEO regard any large IT investment with a healthy dose of skepticism after the boom/bust cycle of late 1990s. The CIO is often seen by his peers as a glorified network administrator and not a visionary or executor of corporate strategy, and occasionally fits this perception. Similarly, IT regards the rest of the company as a group of unruly “users” who need to be restricted and managed.
In this environment, organizations of all sizes must decide how IT fits into their business strategy. Is it merely an operational expense that should be mitigated through outsourcing and cost savings, or can IT be used as a true “competitive weapon,” allowing corporate strategy to be executed more quickly and effectively, and staving off external threats?
Corporate IT: Evolved
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In many IT organizations, IT acts as a necessary evil rather than a high-value, trusted advisor, existing on the left side of the IT Evolutionary Model. In the “break/fix” stage of IT evolution, technologists wait for the latest “bump in the night,” and swing into action to reactively fix problems before disappearing into the woodwork. In this stage, IT is constantly fixing yesterday’s problem, creating an unending state of crisis that burns out employees and produces a great deal of sound and fury, but little actual value.
As IT grows more capable at maintaining infrastructure, it evolves into the utility stage. At this point, IT acts like any other utility. While the company’s technical services may be extraordinarily complex, they have the reliability of the light switch on the wall. While acceptable, this IT department operates behind the scenes, and is perceived as a commodity and under constant pressure to reduce costs. The CIO of the utility IT shop is frustrated that his or her value is not recognized, and is under constant budgetary pressure and threats of outsourcing.
With the utility aspect of IT running smoothly, IT is able to focus on more proactive projects, and usually moves to the third stage of IT evolution, that of an implementation/development shop. In this stage, IT begins to focus on projects, usually of a technical nature. While the CIO may be capable of successfully completing these projects, they are often “technology for technology’s sake” and may not meet expected return on investment targets or business objectives. IT remains subservient and often at odds with “the business” at this stage, and may not understand how its various projects actually help or hinder the business objectives of the company.
The final stage of the IT Evolutionary Model is Breakthrough IT. This stage builds on the prior elements of IT’s evolutions—competently delivering commodity and utility services, capably executing technical projects, and finally connecting business strategy to technology. Rather than jockeying a slew of disconnected technical projects, the CIO intimately understands the company’s strategic objectives, and selects a portfolio of projects designed to further those objectives. Every IT project is linked to a set of business goals, and technology serves as an enabler rather than the reason for existence of each project.
IT initiatives are managed like an investment portfolio—tracked for risk and return, and consisting of an appropriate mix of projects determined by the company’s industry, strategy, and external economic conditions. Like any other strategic initiative, returns can be estimated with relative certainly, and the projects result in a quantifiable business goal rather than a mass of new hardware and software.
Prevoyance Group will help your company move its technology organization toward Breakthrough IT through a mutual process that will design a custom solution tailored to your company. We act as a trusted partner to your company, at all times seeking to increase the value generated by your IT organization, rather than trying to sell implementations or software. Our sole objective is to move your IT organization toward Breakthrough IT.
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