In the most recent issue of Service Talk, the itSMF UK quarterly magazine I published an article on a controversial topic that has formed the basis of multiple roundtables and CIO discussions globally, the changing role of the IT and the value of the new CIO. Whether you agree that IT will disappear or simply grow larger as the dependence on technology grows it is clear that trends such as cloud computing, social media and the consumer focus of IT are significant disruptive forces on IT and the role of the CIO. My thoughts are documented in the most recent issue of the Service Talk magazine and with thanks to the itSMF UK the article appears here.
Agree or disagree, I welcome your thoughts!
(For more information on the itSMF UK please contact Mark Lillycrop at itSMF UK - Mark.Lillycrop@itsmf.co.uk).
The new CIO - are you ready to change role?
Robert Stroud reflects on the mysterious disappearance of the IT department
Have you been so focused on your IT service management implementation that you have missed the massive transition-taking place within the enterprise today? If you were asleep and woke to find ‘IT' missing you are not alone. Yes, it is finally happening, IT is being delivered to and consumed within the enterprise without the direct involvement of the existing IT function, or with IT increasingly playing a new role.
One large customer that I was talking to recently said that a segment of his business was no longer relying on internal IT to provision and deliver technology. One of their business units had hired a number of computer science graduates who were developing on a ‘platform as a service' and were then delivering the application through the platform providers. One of the benefits of this arrangement was that the platform and application scale to the capacity required to meet demand, and the organisation simply pays for the capacity consumed.
But this is not simply a capacity management issue. Many enterprises are leveraging emerging technologies like social media, mobile, cloud and video to by-pass the whole IT function. This scenario is further accelerating as consumers of technology today are extremely ‘tech-savvy' and expect information in real time, personalised user experiences, and access to mobile applications.
Of course the large capital investment in data centres and the vast functions they support make them easy targets for outsourcing in order to achieve cost and operational efficiencies, particularly with the consistent investments required to leverage better technologies. Outsourcing per se is nothing new, but coupling the potential cost savings and efficiencies with the need to support the latest communication and networking technologies places further pressure on internal IT to play a new game.
Many pundits are starting to predict that this is the end for the CIO and the information technology function as we know it. Yet others predict that this is simply another stage in the evolution of IT, as it truly migrates to being the critical component in the delivery of most, if not all, business services. Whether internal IT remains a player in this new world depends largely on whether they embrace new technologies or treat them with suspicion, although there clearly has to be a balance between the two. Another customer told me that he had spent significant time and effort recently communicating industry changes such as social media and cloud to the business, and warning of the potential security risks and compliance requirements. But whilst this cautious approach was successful at the policy level, he was to find out that support for the cloud was gathering fast behind his back - and largely outside his control.
It is clear to me that we are now at the point where the demands on IT-enabled business capability are rapidly outstripping the ability to supply internally, so a new plan is required, and quickly.
The ‘cloud revolution' is responding to this need. That said, in my opinion this is not a revolution, it is simply the continuation of the evolution of computing. The harsh reality here is that the CIO and IT will need to recognise that total control, perceived or real, will be lost and their role will transform to be strategists and aggregators who will foster and drive innovation in their organisations.
Forward-thinking organisations are already using this changing paradigm to bring about a transformation in the way they develop and deliver IT-enabled business services. As they commence this journey they are looking to become part of the innovation process and accept the role of the service broker. This involves the acceptance of disruptive technologies to support new developments, partnering closely with the business to drive growth and customer engagement.
A further part of the CIO's new role will be to build new relationships across the business, devolving responsibility for relevant areas of technology to those who can best exploit its capabilities, and ensuring that an effective channel is created to gather ideas for improvement and disseminate them across the organisation.
It is clear that IT is at the beginning of a major transition and change is inevitable. Your organisation will need to deal with this changing paradigm and probably sooner than you think!
Robert Stroud is Vice President, Strategy and Innovation at CA Technologies. He is also a Service Management, Governance and Cloud Computing Evangelist, serves on the ISACA Strategic Advisory Council, and is co-chair of the ISACA World Congress, INSIGHTS 2012.