Refocus on the Core IT Business - #CODE #NoteforITCos
This is what IT (especially IT services) companies should focus on. "Programing - the building block of IT business". Improving the piece of code and getting the basics right. Instead what these IT services companies focus on are jazzy jargons and intangible business benefits. Some IT service companies feel, they are the real business and label it as "digital is the new business" and perhaps some CXO clients are shouting out in their minds "NO - you are just support, lads - don't get ahead of yourselves"
Talking jazzy business jargons doesn't mean we understand them. IT consultants tell businesses about elated consumer experience but in real terms they have not sold a single toothpaste in a retail store and they even go about preaching Goldman Sachs of the world on best practices for trading securities but the truth is, we know very little about about derivatives and security management. We came up to tell CMOs about seamless campaign management and the new KPIs to track success but in reality we haven't made a single advertisement or banner, the building block of any campaign.
The naked truth is we are "nerds" and I give this word need a lot of respect as it defines genius and a sense of envy by others. Hence it is recommended, we stick to the thing we do best i.e. CODE - the holy grail of digital. Lately, a lot of companies are talking about Digital by making really sleek presentations and stacking layers of technology which would drive business value. But instead of simply talking about it, we should focus on delivering the promise of digital - which is a better piece of code be it a platform, product or service.
What IT Companies want to be: The idea is not to be a McKinsey or BCG, but be what you are good at - solid software engineering and leave the business to the people who run it. Instead of preaching clients, we should listen to them, understand their pain points, not by copying information from internet but by actually talking to them and if possible the end consumers of those services. Once we know the problem, the possible solution lies with the business consultants and may be the client knows it but they can't implement it because of lack of technical knowhow or exorbitant costs on in house development - that is where IT companies come in - this is the real business value we create for clients - Hardcore Implementation and done by beautiful lines of code run solutions in the best possible and efficient means - Cloud and which is smart enough to read between lines and suggest the best course of action - AI and Analytics or what CIA calls Actionable intelligence. Don't confuse efficiency to be the core of clients' business. Because that's yours (IT Companies).
Lets understand our core and work to deliver this value - this is similar to the ITIL philosophy. It is essential that the 'leaders' of such companies have solid background in technology and along with managerial capabilities to attain techno functional status. Lately there are been trends where companies pick leaders from pure business driven backgrounds to push the idea of consultative selling which would ultimately drive business value and change the dynamics of IT Delivery. To increase the probability of sale, traditional billing models are being replaced by profit sharing or gain share model which have immense risks.
IT teams are now centered around business teams which is the need of the hour giving rise to BizDevOps. But no matter how we organize our teams or engagement models with the client, which takes the highest mindshare of IT leaders along with client centricity, the ultimate objective of an IT company is delivering an error free and seamless CODE!
May be bodies like #NASSCOM can help drive the agenda of code back in the minds of CXOs of IT companies!