IT is growing in organizations, there is no doubt about it. IT diffusion is associated with the concerns of competition, return on investments, resourcing, offshoring strategies and expectations from IT by business. Almost all enterprises, all enterprises are undergoing the transformation, with short and long term plans to roll out IT strategy. What is the view of leaders on the IT strategy? IT is an asset or a liability? IT is creating platforms or dissolving them? IT is bringing people together, or disconnecting physical space? These are certainly the dilemma and thoughts to ponder with as we go on being IT savvy in organizations. .
In a nice interview in the WSJ of MIT’s Peter Weill on IT Savvy talks about some of the above points. In his recent book, co-authored with Jeanne Ross. Peter reiterates some of the issues that I raise here.
Some excerpts from the interviews :
BI:Your newest book is about IT-savvy companies. How do you define IT savvy?
Peter: IT-savvy companies make information technology a strategic asset. The opposite of a strategic asset, of course, is a strategic liability. And there are many companies who feel their IT is a strategic liability. In those companies, the IT landscape is siloed, expensive and slow to change, and managers can't get the data they want.
IT-savvy companies are just the opposite. They use their technology not only to reduce costs today by standardizing and digitizing their core processes, but the information they summarize from that gives them ideas about where to innovate in the future. A third element is that IT-savvy companies use their digital platform to collaborate with other companies in their ecosystem of customers and suppliers.
So, IT-savvy companies are not just about savvy IT departments. It's about the whole company thinking digitally...........IT-savvy companies are 21% more profitable than non-IT-savvy companies.
The book also covers operating model, revamping IT funding model, allocating decision rights and accountability, driving value from IT and leading an IT Savvy firm. Highly recommended !
Some salient points from the book :
- Stop thinking about IT as a set of solutions and start thinking about integration and standardization.
- IT Savvy firms have 20% higher margins than their competitors.
- An operating model is a pre-requisite before committing sound investments in IT
- IT funding is important, as systems become the firm's legacy that influence, constrain or dictate how business processes are performed.
