Transformational IT: Not just an idea—an imperative
The world has changed a lot since 2001. The stock market has crashed, rebounded, and dropped again. The cell phone has become ubiquitous, and will likely become the center of technology innovation over the next decade. In fact, consumer electronics as a whole have completely transformed in the last few years. Consumers have found ways to better their lives through technology and businesses have responded with ever better and more desirable products.
It seems easy, technology as a driver to streamline and enrich. Consumers seem to get it, yet still, businesses struggle with the proper application of technology, specifically information technology. In the first sentence I benchmarked this post with the year 2001, and though it is somewhat arbitrary, I have a reason. In 2001, CIO magazine published a wonderful article detailing IT transformation at FedEx.
At the time FedEx had recently restructured, and out of the restructuring came a new mantra: use IT to power solutions for the customer. The leadership of FedEx recognized that IT can be more than a utility to be turned on and off. They recognized that IT can be transformed into a competitive advantage—or in the case of FedEx, THE competitive advantage. Since 2001, FedEx’s stock price has nearly doubled and the company has established a reputation built on trust, efficiency and dependability.
The blueprint was laid out for other businesses to follow. Some did, but today many still struggle to align IT with their business strategy. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal detailed the challenges (and opportunities) that IT presents a company’s leadership. The central theme of the article is to break the “glass wall” between IT and the rest of the organization.
Breaking this glass wall isn’t easy, and it requires a plan, and the dedication to stick to the plan. Leadership, processes, and company culture all require adjustment, but IT transformation has become an imperative. Those who fail to turn IT into a strength often find that their competitive advantage diminished, especially if they are in verticals which reach out to consumers constantly expecting new innovations in products/services.
The goal of this blog is to help provide information on IT trends, strategies and success stories. It also aims to help you to better align IT to business goals and to quantify that alignment. I hope to be able to provide insights on how to integrate and strengthen your IT department, turning a perceived burden into a powerful tool. Feel free to leave comments, suggestions and your own stories of IT transformation successes and failures. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Comments
I completely agree with your view point. ‘Transaction’ has to be replaced with ’Transformation’ as far as IT initiatives are concerned.
Theoretically, it does not sound too difficult, but in the mad rush of shorter time to market, lower TCO and lot of other factors, customers do not find it worth discussing and clearly stating the objective of the initiative. In one of my previous engagements, the disconnect between business and IT was to an extent that during UAT, both of them had different views on the reason behind starting that IT initiative. The business objective does not align with what IT wanted to achieve.
Posted by: Manish Agarwal | November 5, 2008 4:34 PM