CXO Advisor

It’s time for IT to act

Business at the speed of changeChange at the speed of business

www.cxo-advisor.co.zaTerry White

Contact: terryw@cxo-advisor.co.za

The story so far…

We’ve established that there’s a pressing need to change the way the IT departments works, and what it does

(See http://www.slideshare.net/TerryWhite01/the-death-of-the-it-department)

The story so far…

We’ve also said that a single business changes at different rates, so IT departments have to deliver at different rates

(See http://www.slideshare.net/TerryWhite01/aligning-it-with-business-change)

The story so far…

And we also said that what business really wants from IT, is not what they are getting from IT

(See the book “What business really wants from IT” Terry White (Elsevier, 2004))

Here’s what we need to do…IT Departments MUST transform themselves if they are to stay

relevant:

They must find a new role in their organizationThey must speed up their deliveryThey must remove the fuss of day-to-day operationsThey must measure their success differentlyThey must manage and control differently

And if form follows function: IT must organise differently

The new role of IT in organisationsActually it’s an old requirement, never acted on:For the last 10 years we have asked CEOs what they want from their IT departments, and their responses have remained the same:

Deliver IT without fuss, get involved in

business improvement and give us appropriate

leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Notice some missing words here?

Deliver IT without fuss, get involved in business improvement

give us appropriate leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

Deliver IT without fuss, get involved in business improvement

give us appropriate leadership

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

The words:“Without fuss”;

“Involved”“Appropriate”

Are the words that CEOs use when they talk about their IT departments

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

The words:Deliver IT

Business improvementLeadership

Are the words CIOs talk to us about (if they talk at all)

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

The words:Deliver IT

Business improvementLeadership

Are the words CIOs talk to us about (if they talk at all)

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Mostly they say: “But I know all this already”

Let’s look at what IT departments currently do

The words:Deliver IT

Business improvementLeadership

Are the words CIOs talk to us about (if they talk at all)

Deliver IT Business improvement Leadership

Mostly they say: “But I know all this already”They don’t. They’ve read it before, but they know very little

It gets worse – the proportions of activity level

Deliver IT

Business improvement Leadership

76%

22%2%

This is the amount of effort that IT departments are putting into servicing their organizations

It gets worse – the proportions of activity level

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20%

This is the amount of effort business expects IT to put in

It gets worse – the proportions of activity level

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20%

Deliver IT

Business improvement Leadership

76%

22%2%

Spot the misteak!

It gets worse – the proportions of activity level

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20%

Deliver IT

Business improvement Leadership

76%

22%2%

Maybe you thought this was

the mistake

Spot the misteak!

It gets worse – the proportions of activity level

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20%

Spot the misteak!

Deliver IT

Business improvement Leadership

76%

22%2%

This is the elephant in IT’s room

IT IS NOT DOING WHAT BUSINESS WANTS!The only thing saving IT has been business not knowing: What IT does, should do and can do (and a liberal dose of not knowing what business does as well) That has changed – expect a knock on your door soon Expect your IT revolution – Why not start it before someone starts it for

you and dictates how things will go from here (You probably won’t be a key player in this scenario)

IT IS NOT DOING WHAT BUSINESS WANTS!The only thing saving IT has been business not knowing: What IT does, should do and can do (and a liberal dose of not knowing what business does as well) That has changed – expect a knock on your door soon Expect your IT revolution – Why not start it before someone starts it for

you and dictates how things will go from here (You probably won’t be a key player in this scenario)

Business not knowing what they want is a systemic and enduring fact of IT life – you can live with it – in fact you can thrive with it!

We shouldn’t even call it ITConsider this:

IT = Information Technology

We shouldn’t even call it ITIf

IT = Information Technology

Then why? We’ve never done the “I”, and now, given the Cloud, consumerization,

mobility, BYOD, an all the other trends in my previous “Death of IT” presentation, we shouldn’t even do the “T”

We should be called “ACT”

We should be called “ACT”Remember this?

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20% It is what business wants from their IT department

We should be called “ACT”

Deliver IT

Business improvement

Leadership

20%

60%

20%

Technology

Applied

Competitive

20%

60%

20%

Let’s change the words

Deliver IT

Business improvemen

tLeadership

20%

60%

20%

Technology

Applied

Competitive

20%

60%

20%

Technology

Applied

Competitive

Change the Order

We should be called “ACT”

We should be called “ACT”

Deliver IT

Business improvemen

tLeadership

20%

60%

20%

Technology

Applied

Competitive

20%

60%

20%

Technology

Applied

Competitive

And we have A C T

How do we “ACT”A = Applied How we use technology in OUR business Newsflash: It’s not about the technology

How do we “ACT”A = Applied How we use technology in OUR business Newsflash: It’s not about the technology

C = Competitive How our use of existing technology, and harnessing of new technologies

allows us to gain new customers, products, channels Often in the busy-ness of business we forget to look at what’s out there

How do we “ACT”A = Applied How we use technology in OUR business Newsflash: It’s not about the technology

C = Competitive How our use of technology, and harnessing of new technologies allows

us to gain new customers, products, channels Often in the busy-ness of business we forget to look at what’s out there

T = Technology Don’t sit back and say – “Yes, I knew I could keep doing the tech stuff!” The “T” in ACT is the management of technology

• Not the doing of technology

The application of technologyThe tech is there – in spadesIt’s how we use it

Fun things to do to apply technologyHere’s some “A” actions for you to do now: Get up, and go into your factory, branch, truck, shop-floor Look at some stuff:

• How much technology can you see?• Who is using it?• Why are they using it? (It’s OK, you can talk to people!)• What do they need? (Don’t make promises, yet. You will get to a place where you can

promise without fear, but not just yet)• What technology (not computers – technology) is not being used – but is there. Why?• What business processes can you see that would benefit from tech you already have?• Add your own technology application question here…..

Now prepare a presentation for your management team about what you found. Challenge every member of the team to do the same. Set up a schedule for each team member to do this once a week and report back Look to second-order issues :

• Example: Don’t deal with why tellers are not using the tech properly, but with why that situation arose

• Don’t look about the sheer volume of unmet demand – look at why it is not being met. (There are solutions to meeting demand – in fact some of our clients’ businesses have asked IT to slow down please!)

How to commit suicideHere’s some things that people tell us about why they can’t do the above: It’s not my business.

• Actually it is – in fact it should be MOST of your business! It will just open a Pandora's box of unmet demand.

• Look at it this way – given the drivers of IT change, there isn’t much time before your business will look to get their IT demands met elsewhere. See: http://www.slideshare.net/TerryWhite01/the-death-of-the-it-department

• Give some thought (no… get on with it) to using a proper Agile Platform like Outsystems to get the backlog sorted out. It has been done – all that changed was the mindset!

• Also re-look at the four speeds of business change we’ve talked about in http://www.slideshare.net/TerryWhite01/aligning-it-with-business-change

We just have to fix the technology first• No you don’t. You have to do it all. And there’s no way you can do it all yourself! Ever!

That’s what I mean when I say do as little as possible – Just do the stuff you can do – let others do the stuff they do best – Like fixing your technology

But our people can’t do the business stuff• Here’s the hard part – if your people do technology, they should be working for a

vendor. ALL your people (including tech managers) should be business people first.

Competitive technologyYou can’t be competitive unless you’re different Faster, closer, cleverer And your existing tech will allow all that – you really just have to think

about it And given that tech allows you to be faster, closer and cleverer, then

what new products, channels, markets and competencies can you unlock?

Closer

Faster

Cleverer

Products Channels Markets Competence

Fun things to do to be more competitiveGet faster, closer, cleverer…Let’s start with cleverer, because it makes faster and closer easierHow can you use existing technology to be a cleverer organisation? Ask everyone: You have an intranet right – if not, get one free from the Cloud

• Set up idea generators around the matrix in the previous slide• Forums, social networks• Proof of concept engine – Do you have one?

Ask your customers• Funnily enough they want to play too – ask for feedback, new ideas

Use BI, data analytics, data mining properly for once

How can you use existing technology for a faster organisation? Funny thing here, this is unlikely to be a technology issue, and more of a control

(over-control), bureaucracy, people, not invented here issue. Who said the ACT department can’t be involved with people?

How can you use existing technology to be a closer organisation” Closer to your customers? To each other? To your competitors / suppliers / to your objectives?

Manage technology – (Don’t do technology)Find out how little you really have to do? Here’s a hint: A national Police Department controls only 5% of its data – the rest

is not confidential Another hint: A telecommunications company builds NOTHING! Their motto is:

“We find and apply the best” Another hint: A large manufacturer owns no IT infrastructure. At all! And it’s

cheaper.

Decide what the difference is between managing and doing: Manage the POEM way:

• Plan (But go for the 20% that’ll achieve the 80%)• Organise (people, processes, governance)• Execute (Get someone else to do this, but make sure it gets done)• Monitor / Measure (You still have accountability, so monitor and measure, and act)

Change your skills set You need managers, not doers You need business understanding not technological understanding

Moving from IT to ACT is a journeyActually it’s a mind-set before it’s a journeyDon’t map out the journey – You’ll never startChoose the small thing that will get results and have tangible benefitsBuild on that… with your new mind-set

There’s a lot more to do, and the road is a long one

Call us if you need help. We’ve done this before, and have the learning to show for it.

IT’S DAYS CHANGING

B

Terry Whiteterryw@cxo-advisor.co.za