The case I’d put to you is that IT as we know it today is a dying beast. Or put it more positively the IT department has come to a point in its genesis where, through necessity, it’s starting to undergo an evolutionary leap into a more modern and relevant form.
The “fix or react” mentality is no longer the order of the day for the technology department and we as a technology industry need to look to the future and think what’s the right model / structure / strategy for a technology departments in 2012 and beyond. What we do know is that many CEO’s and CIO’s are after technology strategies and departments that result in far a deeper relationship with their businesses than to just a transactional one of “fix the systems” or “code the widgets”.
As “IT” professionals we have spent years tuning our technology teams to do “IT” better, faster and cheaper but little time working out how our technology people can be as ubiquitous throughout our businesses as our technology systems are.
Technology is now absolutely ubiquitous in almost every part of our business processes and the business that utilises and integrates both their technology systems and their technology people best in their industry to drive growth & innovate will have a huge jump over their competitors, (interestingly, I think this applies at a macro level as well, in that the county the utilises its technology assets, both people and systems, best will have a leap over country’s don’t utilise these asset as well)
The Case:
The case I’d like to put to you is that it’s time for us to start playing a bigger game, our businesses need us to play a bigger game and in my opinion the bigger game has the potential to be a far more rewarding, fun game to play. This is what could be called it2point0 or more commonly Business Technology.
Incidentally it’s worth noting that this term was defined by George Colony of Forrester back in 2006. - http://blogs.forrester.com/ceo_colony
The existing “fix or react” model is out of date
Taking the presumption that technology is ubiquitous in almost every businesses process and that every business has many issues to solve and many more opportunities to take, then it follows that for a company to win it will need an technology team that plays a far bigger game than to just fix or react.
The question to answer then is how do we deliver technology teams who truly understand our business models, business issues, absolutely get the business drivers and are truly integrated into a business?
Given the current detached fix or react model we predominantly follow as IT departments it is little wonder that our businesses are going elsewhere (eg. the internet / cloud) to solve their problems rather than try to explain these complex issues to “fix or react” IT departments?
So what is Business Technology?
To get us all on the same page let’s talk definitions for business technology:
BT can be described in both a Qualitative (the absolutes of a thing) and Quantitative (the qualities of a thing)
A quantitative definition:
“Business Technology is the art of creating a reality within your organisation where your technology people are as ubiquitous throughout your businesses as your technology systems and services are, and where your technology team actually listens to your business and understanding what really matters to them”
But I feel it’s more helpful to talk about the qualities of BT “the vibe of it!” rather than a qualitative definition as it conveys the message with far more meaning.
A qualitative definition:
| Information Technology |
Business Technology |
| Prescriptive |
Collaborative |
| Tech speak |
Business speak |
| Control |
Empowerment |
| Constraints |
Opportunities |
| Dictatorial |
Consultative |
| Defined |
Blurred |
| Now |
Now and the future |
| The business |
Our Business |
| Sole supplier |
Technology broker |
Standing on the shoulders of giants / operational excellence
It’s very important to note that no technology department is going to make the transition from IT to BT without doing the traditional IT job very well.
It’s the day in day out operational excellence that buys the right to sit at the executive table and participate in guiding a business. Quite simply if the email servers keep on failing you just don’t have the emotional banking / kudos to participate in any meaningful way in a conversation about how technology can help transform a business.
At the end of the day it’s operational excellence that buys business technology a seat at the big table.
So these are my first thoughts on this topic, from someone who is in the middle of delivering this kind of thinking into an organisation.
I’m very keen to get your angle on this Business Technology concept and understand any of your perception or learning’s. Please comment below or contact me directly.
In the future and continuing on with the BT theme, as a starter for 10 I would like to blog about the following topics over the coming weeks / months:
- Relationship architecture
- Our business
- Capability mapping as a technique to know your business
- Technology strategy in a Business Technology context
- Generous listening
- Vendors & Partners
- Blurred edges
- BT and IT, can they live together?
- It’s all about letting go.
Talk soon,
Mat
