Where next for IT Strategy?

Why do some businesses get IT so wrong? Are there “fast and slow” elements of IT strategy? Do you need a plan for each?

Often there is an over-emphasis on the technology. Technical IT Directors don’t always clearly understand the business need, and business leaders can get blinded by the “black box” nature of it all. The good news is that IT is much simpler than it used to be – why? Because much of the under-pinning infrastructure is now available as a service. This offers levels of flexibility that make it hard to back a business case for investing in your own infrastructure, especially for SMEs. IT leaders need to be able express what they do in business service, rather than technical, terms.

There should be 3 key aspects to delivering good IT:

1.      Service – there is no excuse for poor service delivery any more. Even Retail has finally understood that they require good service to compete, so surely IT can get it. Best practice is built on the ITIL framework. Good support requires the KIS principle (keep it simple) – ruthlessly root out any unnecessary complexity in solutions. Complexity and customisation are the enemy of good service because IT support staff will struggle.

2.      Security – the key focus for all industries now – whoever said there is no such thing as bad publicity? Having your name splashed across the media for losing customer data is not good news, and will become more expensive, with legal changes delivering significant fines.

3.      Business Alignment – is often the tallest order for IT, who can be guilty of pursuing their own, technology-led agenda, without due consideration for the need for business alignment and Return on Investment.

IT strategy should perhaps be split in to two – standard and sexy. Service, Security and the under-pinning infrastructure, should be delivered in a structured, standardised manner – to ensure the base service is right, operational and flexible (i.e. commodity). The sexy, fast-thinking bit is required in applications, data analysis and customer facing aspects. This has to be delivered in a flexible, adaptable and adaptive (based on learning) manner; this underpins business innovation and ultimately competitiveness.