Technology Matters Little
Clark Brown
CTO - ★ Transforming Technology to Add Strategic Business Value ★ Strategic Vision ★ Technology Transformation ★ Value-Added Innovation ★ Global Leadership
Technology Matters Little
We read a lot about “going digital or digital transformation” these days; it is ‘all the rage’, or at least the latest buzz phrase. The term has always mystified me. From a technology perspective, have we not always been in a digital transformation? In any regard, every time I hear the term it makes me wonder, why. Why should we undertake a digital transformation? What is driving the decision or better yet, what and who should be driving the decision?
It is these questions that very quickly bring to light the disparity between those who operate and maintain a business and those who provide the technology that supports the business. Perhaps, however, a more appropriate question would be, “why is there a chasm between the business and IT in the first place and how do we eliminate it?
First and foremost, both those in the business and those in IT see themselves as entities where never the tween shall meet. Those drawn to IT are, generally speaking, not interested in the world of finance or business operations; preferring instead technology. Those who make business decisions and understand the pressures driving those decisions see IT as a necessary cog in the wheel but a cog who offers little in the way of top line or bottom-line growth. In effect they stand back-to-back (so close) staring intensely in different directions. Both views are incorrect and dangerous to the long-term survivability of any company but also to any significant organizational initiative such as digital transformation.
History (modern and old) is littered with companies who were too good to fail yet succumbed to an upstart, who saw the future and grabbed on to that one thing which provided such immense leverage for competitive advantage they were able to enter a market with a traditionally high bar of entry with such force they toppled the established company. Block Buster and Netflix come to mind as does Kodak and digital photography. This is not to say that technology is the only disruptive force business has known but it certainly is the fastest moving and any level of myopia or pride in “. . . the way we have always done it”, is the most predictable and expedient exit from the competitive landscape.
With technological capability doubling about every three years a digital transformation is a foregone conclusion, the challenge for all of us is determining what we should grab onto and what we should let go, and when. If the first order of business is “staying in business” and the first axiom of business is "if you aren't growing you are dying", the decision cycle becomes terribly difficult and wrought with opportunity for making the wrong decisions. So, what can and must be done?
IT and Business must do a number of things to rectify this historical issue. A great place to start is that each see the other as part of the same living organism. Secondly, make it a point, rather mandatory to understand and appreciate the value and necessity of each for the health and ongoing viability of the business itself and to organizational initiatives.
To answer the question first posed – who or what should drive technological decisions – the answer to who is simple, The collective leadership of the company as part of the development of the strategy and subsequent implementation plan. That answer to what is equally simple; the benefit of the company. Technology matters little, but no less than any other function in the business - it has its place at the table!
Business Data Leader — Business Data Architecture, Strategy, Governance, Management, Quality, and Analytics
5 年Clark I cannot agree with you more.? Over the years I have had the the same experience.??
Consultant
5 年This is right on point. ?Business and IT need to realize and behave as if they are in the same business... because they are. ?I have seen this relationship done well and it definitely takes two to tango. ?IT must realize that they are in the business of their company. ?Technology is a means to business's ends. ?There are certainly scenarios where new technologies create business opportunities and it may be IT that is first to see this. ?It is incumbent upon IT to partner with the business to explore these opportunities. ? There is a big credibility gap between IT and business. ?Business leaders don't understand the rapidly changing technology and neither should they. ?That is the responsibility of their IT partners. ?IT has the responsibility of distilling out of the complex technology world, those things that business leaders need to know to make informed decisions. ?The relationship between IT and business is a trust relationship and trust must be earned. ?Trust is a product of business and IT leaders' ongoing dialog that imparts the business with the understanding they need of IT and IT with the understanding they need from the business. IT is also responsible for the "business of IT". ?Achieving service levels, technology lifecycle management, productivity, innovation and more are part of the business of IT. ?IT must be a good steward of the business' money. ?A big part of the trust relationship is based on how well IT performs the stewardship role AND how well they communicate this to business leaders. ? I could go on but someone else needs the soapbox.
Directeur des Systèmes d'Information | Directeur Informatique | Corporate IT Senior Director for Business Systems | DSI
6 年Clark, Great article and excellent diagnostic of the disease which kills the companies :?Every single area of a company brings value to the business. This has indeed been decades :-) of split between operational activities and support functions, and IT has always been considered in the second range.? It does not bring anymore technology but capabilities and this creates the?difference when providing?competitive advantage. ?I am in total agreement when you say that we need to change this paradigm because not all the companies and not all the areas of the businesses have yet understood the difference. This is where our role as IT?leaders is?changing and will make the difference. We need to understand and talk "business language", we need to provide this knowledge to our teams so that not only we can understand each other but we can also excplain and prove the value of what we design , deploy and support. Our role is also to promote this change and we have a sort of "IT Marketing role and responsibility" for our internal and external client. I am eager to see in the future some Computer science schools developing training program of "Marketing for IT" or "How to promote the business value of IT"....is it not TBM ? :-) Clark, you are spot on and you are a great architect able to design and explain values of what we simply do ! Well said.
Accelerating Business Outcomes, Managing Technical Debt, and Operating IT as BT | Capability, Value and Risk Management
6 年Clark, your recommendations for overcoming the chasm resonates quite well. For too long, business management has been viewing IT as cost of doing business, and IT has been viewing itself as supporting the business. Both sides need to look at IT as a core ingredient in driving and sustaining competitive differentiation.? Not too long ago, Quality was viewed as a manufacturing problem and thus as a cost of being in the business. To your point, many companies were awarded quality awards, but they couldn't sustain as they failed to create the right culture and manage quality as a differentiating organizational capability.? Also, if we look back, in many companies, R&D was independently working on great ideas but had little to show in terms of pipeline of products. Eventually, companies started managing R&D like a business function and the research transformed from being pure to applied.? Today, those companies are highly valued as innovative companies.? As you said in your article, we are at that tipping point where business needs to leverage Information Technology just like Quality, and IT needs to transform itself just like R&D by becoming Applied IT.
Clark, I have seen almost five decades of the kind of thinking where technology, sometimes driven by things like compliance, becomes so pervasive that it creates a vacuum sucking away at the very life of the business. Banking, as an industry, is an example of this. The youthful start-ups (Fin Techs) are chipping away what was once an industry with difficult boundaries of entry. Meanwhile, the big bank business units and IT orgs pass each other like ships in the night. Thank you for sharing a very thought provoking read.