Expectations of Information Technology Leadership
Posted: May 7, 2014 Filed under: Service, Technology Leave a comment
Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Consumerization of technology has been well documented. Technology users now expect “easy, fast, and friendly” and “when I want it, where I want it, how I want it.” With technology increasingly affordable and accessible, many casual users have become equally (or more) savvy than their IT counterparts. Since IT professionals no longer have the upper hand in managing technology, where does that leave us?
IT must transform itself from being infrastructure-centric to increasingly service oriented. There will always be a key component of infrastructure, but by necessity its scope will go beyond procuring and installing hardware and software. An evolved IT department may also be the pivot point for:
- Knowledge management. Developing the taxonomy, practices and policies in managing organizational data, information and knowledge.
- Brokering other business services. Vendor management and purchasing, facility management.
- Service request brokering/fulfillment. Creation and process for standard service catalog items.
- Digital property development. External, internal and collaborative digital or web-based properties.
- People and process consulting. Applying proven improvement disciplines, with or without a technology wrapper.
- Workflow design. Improving and enabling work processes with technology to drive consistency and efficiency.
- Security consulting. Working with vendors, clients, and partners to ensure the web of solutions appropriately incorporates risk mitigation strategies.
- Business capability planning and technology platform. Proactive business consulting to support strategic plans with evolving capabilities (e.g. communication & collaboration, workflow, digital service delivery, etc) and the underlying technology required.
- Data analytics. Leverage data sources, internal and external, to provide new insights and services.
- Innovation and product development. Pursuing opportunities for digital offerings and augmentation of existing products and services.
Carving out a niche as a consultative partner and leveraging information resources will increase the value of the IT department organization-wide.
Teaching Microsoft to Dance
Posted: April 28, 2014 Filed under: Change, Technology | Tags: IBM, Lou Gerstner, Microsoft, Satya Nadella 1 Comment
Image courtesy of Aduldej / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Twenty-one years ago this month, Lou Gerstner came from RJR Nabisco to take over at IBM. He cut billions of dollars in expenses and made tough decisions that no insider would have made easily, including cutting OS/2 (IBM’s PC Operating System) and eliminating the dress code (pinstripe suits, white shirts, wingtip shoes) and the “no alcohol” policy. At the time, IBM was perilously close to running out of cash. It was expected that Gerstner would oversee the company’s dissolution, but, instead, he executed an extraordinary turnaround that has become a classic business case study.
Certainly the situation today is different at Microsoft, but perhaps no less challenging. Which begs the question: can recently-named CEO Satya Nadella teach Microsoft how to dance?
Satya Nadella certainly forged new ground in his first public speech at Microsoft. For example, he was using an iPad on stage and referencing Android, while there was a relative absence of plugs for Microsoft Hardware.
Here are some of the dimensions of his challenge as I see it:
| Old Model | New Model |
| Desktop or Laptop PC | Mobile and Cloud |
| Enterprise I.T. Support | Cloud Support |
| Multi-year Large Enterprise or Package Software | Pay-as-you-Go and micro-transactions |
| Multiple years between major releases | A few days (or less) between updates |
| Focus on I.T. Professional Experience | Focus on Consumer Experience |
| Vertical Stack of Technology | Part of a Horizontal Ecosystem |
| Thick, feature laden client side software | Thin mobile or zero footprint services |
The list could go on. Probably the biggest elephant in the room is the culture. How do you reshape the hide-bound Microsoft ways fast enough to capture market opportunities? The reshaping of Microsoft has begun—it should be interesting to watch.
In the meantime, I’ll be dusting off my copy of Teaching Elephants to Dance. You can get yours on Amazon for a penny, or spend up for Gerstner’s first-person account, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?
The View through a Transformational Window
Posted: April 21, 2014 Filed under: Technology Leave a comment
Photo by Mark Baker
For about the third time in my career, I’m sensing a seismic shift in the IT world. The first was in the early 1990s, pre-Y2K, when the realization hit that we were moving from mainframes to distributed computing. Networking dramatically changed the way users could communicate, collaborate and exchange information.
The second was the dot.com bust and the subsequent transition to personal web-based tools. Seemingly overnight, iTunes, Kindle, Amazon, web email and various photo sharing options burst on the scene. Then fast forward to the next evolution that included social networking, YouTube, Netflix—etc., etc., etc.
Now, we are at a transformation window for the third time. In the business world, this translates to cloud-based computing, mobile platforms, high-speed wireless networks— again, etc., etc., etc. Factors driving these developments include:
- The economy. It’s now truly global, increasingly competitive and 24/7. A multitude of significant issues in significant arenas (trade markets, freedom/security/privacy, environment, health, poverty and more) affect individual and companies worldwide, not just by country or geographic region.
- Generational and demographic changes. How people connect with and use technology is as varied as each individual. Not only can users customize their experience, but it can be personalized to a market of one.
- Technology. Virtually unlimited communication bandwidth, storage capacity and power of computing is all available at low prices accessible to many.
The result of all this is a very different set of expectations from consumer/users in the marketplace. Better-faster-cheaper is the new norm. Rapid and transformational change is the new norm. Unfettered access to information, communication and ideas is the new norm.
This all begs the question: What are our greatest and best opportunities? Let’s take advantage of what is on the horizon before this window closes and we are on to the next.
ZMAB15 