IT organization is at the crossroad to either become irrelevant or move up to the next level the digital maturity.
Due to the exponential growth of information and changing nature of technology, IT organization needs to keep evolving, shift the management focus, and take a smooth journey of digital transformation. In practice, the path of going digital will not be flat, there are many roadblocks and hidden pitfalls on the way. It takes a lot of energy to break down old habits and outdated processes, make leapfrogging business changes. Here are three barriers IT needs to overcome in order to lead changes and move up to the next level of organizational maturity.
Segmentation: In many traditional organizations, often IT is perceived as an isolated function and support desk, IT managers feel business wanting to go back to the segmented organization and define Information & Technology as something outside of the business - a separate entity. But nowadays, IT is impacting every business unit and it is the “business of the entire company,” not just the business of IT. Silo mentality, overly restrictive hierarchy or function segmentation could create barriers that surface between different departments within a company, causing “small thinking” - people who are supposed to be on the same team, work against each, cause business ineffectiveness, and decelerate business speed. To run the digital business as a highly functional living system, it’s important to strike the right balance of segmentation and unification, to ensure that the business as a whole is superior to the sum of pieces, build cohesive capabilities and operate with the premium speed. IT needs to be like the lubricate to keep the business information flow frictionless; to flatten the organizational hierarchy which can balance the welfare, freedoms, and responsibilities of the subsystems and total system of the business. The transparency in IT value proposition to the business plus more engagement in partnership is needed to achieve coordination toward the strategic business goals. It's also important to run IT as the linchpin of a highly adaptive and autonomous business system, for keeping all subsystems flourishing, functioning, and self-organizing so that they can respond to the more complex and interconnected digital dynamic timely.
Complication: Technology is complex, IT is perhaps one of the most sophisticated puzzle pieces in a modern company. Organizations "become complex," not for their own amusement, they should do it to respond to environments more proactively. But in a corporate world, you will find the attitude of complicating things in systems and procedures. There are many shades of corporate complexities, some are desired, such as design complexity; but the complication caused by redundancy, poor management; fractal organizational structure, outdated processes or technologies, should be eliminated, otherwise, it will slow down enterprise speed and cause business failures. A complex business system, contrary to what people believe, does not require complicated systems, regulations and intricate policies. IT management needs to figure out the “just right” level of simplicity by having the minimum required complexity, removing unnecessary complications by optimization. In fact, consolidation, integration, modernization, and innovation, etc, should be the never-ending management cycle to keep IT fit. Keep it Simple” should always be one of the guiding principles and management cultures for running IT to achieve IT excellence.
Change is the new normal. The speed of change is increasing, and the growth of information is overwhelming. The IT organization is at the crossroad to either become irrelevant or move up to the next level the digital maturity. It has to set up a clear vision, make dynamic planning, overcome various obstacles, to satisfy both short-term gratification and long-term prosperity.
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