|
Are you thinking strategically for your
organization? Are you creating value and innovation for the various business
units, as opposed to only managing the IT environment? Are you seeking and
promoting IT processes that enhance the goals of your organization?
Analysts at Gartner say you had better be prepared for the "new" IT manager's
job, which will look dramatically different in just six years. One possibility:
An IT person as part of each business unit instead of siloed in one IT
department.
According to Barbara Gomolski, a Gartner research vice president, central IT
budgets are growing slowly, while business unit IT budgets are rising rapidly.
The traditional IT function, she says, will become a utility, focused on
"efficiency, sourcing management and IT process optimization." There will
continue to be a need for someone to maintain the hardware and software
functions, she says, but task outsourcing and productivity improvements will
decrease the amount of staff needed for such tasks.
A second IT function is evolving, Gomolski contends, where IT managers "help
line-of-business managers recognize opportunities to improve the organization's
business processes."
This new "IT department" is where the money is going, she says. In fact, in the
not-too-distant future, your organization's business units may take over
responsibility for IT completely. In such a scenario, Gomolski says of this
"embedded IT organization," IT managers will be indistinguishable from business
managers.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Gartner analysts tend to think big, with long-term scenarios. They also tend to
echo what is happening in larger organizations and early adopters. Many
organizations, in fact most organizations, are slower to respond to such trends
than many analysts expect. Waiting tends to be the default choice for most
organizations, as they try to wring as much value out of their past purchases as
possible.
Then there's also the matter of whether today's IT managers are qualified or
motivated to provide the type of strategic thinking necessary in the Gartner
scenario-some are, others are not. Or even whether their management desires such
a change. Gomolski does recognize these possibilities.
"We recognize that there is not one future for all IT organizations," she
offers. Some companies, she says, will be more aggressive in moving toward the
Gartner model.
"Aggressive companies seek advantage and will invest for opportunity, even if
that opportunity is risky," she says. "Moderate companies seek parity with their
industry peers, and their investment strategy revolves around investments for
which payback can be clearly proven. Conservative companies maintain the status
quo until the pain of maintaining that status quo outweighs the benefits.
Investments lean toward defensive tactics rather than offensive strategies."
Which one are you?
kanderberg@comnews.com
|