Published: January 23 2012, 03:56 PM | 1 Comment(s)
by Eric Feldman

When I was in film school, I remember a student asking a question in an advanced filmmaking workshop, "what brand of film will we use?" The professor said "Kodak. Is there any other?"

When I read the recent news that Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection, I thought about all the once great and innovative companies, many of whom were household names, yet either operate vastly different from what they once were, or are no longer with us.

• Bell & Howell - manufacturer of motion picture machinery
• Bethlehem Steel - the second largest steel producer
• F. W. Woolworth Company - the largest department store chain in the world
• Gulf Oil - the 9th largest corporation in the US, now essentially a collection of intellectual property and brand assets
• Netscape Communications Corporation - the dominate web browser developer
• Palm Computing, Inc. - leading producer of PDA devices
• Pan American World Airways - the "flagship" and largest international air carrier in the United States
• Rockwell International - aerospace and semiconductor manufacturer and builder of the space shuttle
• Silicon Graphics - the dominate force in graphical workstations
• Studebaker-Packard Corporation - luxury auto manufacturer and once the 75th largest corporation in the United States

There are many reasons for the demise of these and other companies. Many did not adapt to market forces, or the growth of new technology. Others suffered the fate of bad management, or did not effectively react to different legal or political environments. And many pursued a poor acquisition strategy, made bad investments, or did not effectively control their costs.

In regard to Kodak, were they really in the photographic and film business? Or perhaps they were in the business of sharing life experiences and memories. There was a reason an event was called a "Kodak moment."

The lessons of failed businesses that were once the giants of their day can be an important tool within your enterprise IT organization. We do not need to review the complex operations of a large corporation over decades, but rather break down aspects of IT operations into a few basic business concepts.

You might say that this list of failed companies could not effectively answer many of the following questions:

• Within your IT organization, do you regularly review your portfolio of services? How many of your offerings still meet current business demands? Are you effectively embracing the latest technology in a cost effective way? Are your services competitive with market offerings?
• Throughout the enterprise, do you market yourselves throughout the broader business, including establishing and communicating your value? Do you appropriately set expectations and measure effectiveness and quality? How does the business provide feedback and help ensure continuous improvement practices?
• From a financial perspective, do you have detailed knowledge of your service costs? Do you measure service consumption using meaningful and appropriate business metrics? Do you understand your "per unit" services costs, and appropriately set prices for your offerings? Do you communicate costs in a way to effectively offer financial transparency?

Yes, this is a long list of business questions, however their answers are vital to the continued success of your IT organization, and its alignment and effectiveness to the enterprise. For 2012, detailed answers to these questions should be prominent on your to-do list, lest you become the equivalent of a little yellow box of film.

Camera graphic used under Creative Commons License courtesy of Capt Kodak.