One of the things that Mr Murphy discusses is ‘introducing an IT-led product or service’; a term he does not actually define. In this context if he means that IT should be leading business focused change initiatives, then that is agreed. However this is not the context this reader interpreted it as. If what is meant by this statement is the introduction of technical tools, or even the technology department dictating change then I would disagree.

Recently I argued that IT leaders need to be contributing to revenue generation or assisting to reduce costs by being involved in business led initiatives. It is automation or rapid solution deployment that can often contribute to that overall success. It is the business that needs more effective tools in order to assist overburdened staff in all areas of the business, and this involves the business processes as much as any technical solutions.

If there is to be any imminent return to growth then IT’s role is in transforming business to a smarter more collaborative organisation, and not simply as provider of technical components. Part of this is about improving efficiencies across the business, by looking for opportunities to automate tedious manual processes. Each of these areas will make the organisation more effective and more economically savvy.

As much as we would all like to see a return to growth as soon as possible, it is unlikely to happen on a global scale before 2012. There is no individual industry, or even country, that is taking a real lead at this time, the belts remain quite tight for the forthcoming period. Right now the challenge seems to be about doing more with less resources, those that are in a job are often overworked, yet at the same time there are too many talented people looking for work.

Virtualization of services is of course perhaps the only exception to this rule, yet at the same time this should be considered a part of a corporate cost saving initiative, with providing more effective use of existing resources.

Budgets for IT departments may be on the increase – they had to from the severe restrictions faced in 2009 and 2010. No matter how far, or how deep cuts go it is a fact that business will always subsequently find it necessary to replace certain aging capital assets, or respond to stimulus from outside the business’s control. It is this that is driving any spending right now rather than expansion in response growth.

If hiring is still frozen then it is unlikely that major budgetary growth will occur. It is unlikely to allow room to expand the number of staff, or contractors that can be engaged.

It is good to see that technology leaders feel they have a role to play in driving new products and services to market. For too long there has been too little involvement in this process for IT leaders, with many only being told of release plans only days beforehand – necessitating bolt-on’s to existing systems instead of proper impact assessments.

Where we can agree on is the need for corporations to better leverage data in order to drive revenue and aid growth. This is one of the basic aims of business intelligence; and sadly one misunderstood by many corporations. Understanding the natural flow of business can aid both when to release a product to market and optimisation of production schedules. Sizable investments can be put into context by proper use of BI. For one corporation this meant a saving of over $30 million as they discovered that changing production schedules for existing manufacturing facilities abrogated the need to build a new factory. It also saved layoff’s in at least two sites. All possible because of leveraging readily available information.

Data driven revenue and savings opportunities abound across the average corporation, their is either insufficient expertise or training available to recognise available options.

Much has been written recently about the changing role of the Information Technology department and strategic implications for the leading IT manager. The current challenges facing CIO’s demand a new way to work with the business community in order to meet their demands.

IT can make a positive contribution to both business results and everyone’s working lives. Over the past years we have always seemed to have been building a foundation, but not delivering a real impact on the business, yet today’s business lives. Well now is the time to do that (or die as a profession).

Current Focus: IT at a Cross Roads

Saying that Information Technology now stands at a cross roads in respect of the leadership of the Information Services department in the average corporation. A new future exists with a totally different focus, specifically in the area of contributing to improved business results. Failure will result in day-to-day activities being managed under the auspices of the corporate operations department, under strict cost control.

Many CIO’s focusing the majority of their efforts on departmental operations:

• Managing the day-to-day functions
• Maintaining the infrastructure
• Managing data and storage
• Managing applications

To a large extent to challenges of operational systems should be thought of as a thing of the past. Technicians are required to ensure the operation continues to run, but little effort is required to develop new applications. Many of these functions can be effectively outsourced. Significant investment has been made into the systems that run the day-to-day operations. Many software vendors are keen to convince us that our legacy systems ‘must’ be replaced to fit today’s challenges. This is a discussion the average business manager is ill equiped to face.

Yet to do that we spend much needed budget to replace an already functioning system. Such proposals must be fully justified, before identifying a replacement strategy. Often old legacy systems can be moved onto more modern servers thus the software outlasts the hardware that it was installed on (and that was often the limiting factor).

I am not arguing that we should never replace old technology, there comes a time when everything must be replaced, but the average corporation has invested a great deal on its applications, and needs to leverage its investment to the fullest extent. The IT department has an ongoing role to monitor developing technologies and identify new components or services that can be leveraged to enhance corporate operations.

Future Focus: Supporting Business Decisions

I am concerned that the average IT leader is not spending enough time focusing on the areas that deliver the best value to the overall corporation. So what delivers best value to the modern business? IT’s value should be measured by the extent to which Information Services can contribute to business growth.

Agile development and service oriented architecture are part of it – there is requirement to deliver results in weeks, not months, but this is only part of the picture. Business Intelligence offering is IT’s greatest contribution to the diagnosis and solution of complex market trends, will be central to our value proposition.

On the IT front there is a need to integrate data between applications (both for operational and for business intelligence services). Effective data governance and master data management (MDM) strategies are the strategic impact that will have the largest impact on existing operational systems. It is important to remember that data governance is actually a business responsibility, they own the data, IT are mere custodians.

The Business Intelligence offering will use data derived from operational systems it is possible to identify a greater understanding of our business and its capability. Add to this market data and our business is capable of understanding the corporation’s impact on its marketplace, and monitor this as business conditions change – when understood correctly this can be the early warning system for any impending downturn in our business sector. This is the cycle that drives most value for the business community. The business community has a continual need for information, facts, and figures in order to drive business growth.

By Peter B. Giblett