Dion Hinchcliffe has a very interesting article on IT’s role in Digital Transformation. He makes the case that to date, IT hasn’t understood the need for digital transformation or the effort necessary to undergo a large set of changes demanded by it. His data is compelling:
Specifically, the change needed today is to shift out of being a relatively stodgy centralized technology support department — a role long invested primarily in automating and incrementally improving the existing business — and move into developing sleek and fast-moving new digital lines of business that create growth markets and make-or-break P&L for the organization
While much has been made of the Chief Digital Officer in leading up the new digital business in many organizations, the challenge has long been that a) the vast bulk of enterprise data, b) expertise in current systems and the business itself, as well as c) existing infrastructure and operations, is typically still owned by the CIO, who often is happy enough to share them, but has other priorities to worry about.
IT has to battle anemic budget increases of 1% or less. In doing so many IT organizations set key priorities at a tactical level:
IT priorities focus on tactical needs
To the author’s point, “This is not a prioritized worldview compatible with medium-term sustainability of the modern organization. The key point here is that IT has a chance to lead this but all too many focus on day to day priorities at the expense of the long term.
Read his entire article for a more thorough treatment.
