He writes: “The IT groups that remain within companies will change their focus from data center operations to the design, construction and constant adjustment of systems that meet ever-changing business conditions. The value of IT groups within most companies will no longer be measured by how well they operate information technology but by how well they combine technology with business processes to create a stream of responsive and profitable products and services for their companies’ customers.”
Farfetched? Pipe dream? I don’t think so….I believe the writing is on the wall—in that technology employees must learn the business…understand the processes that drive the organization. Otherwise we need to relegate our future to total reactionary practices as other business units will be driving the technology they want/NEED down our throat. We’ve seen examples of that pushing already within our Organization….others are doing our research & development and asking for specific technology. We must change for face extinction or be relegated to basement vault. While being exposed to outside (of IT) suggestions is NOT necessarily a bad thing…we need to be in the foreground in researching, investigating, developing NEW technology solutions that move Conservation forward.
If you read Michael’s article, he goes on and describes other scenarios that I believe are critically important for us to consider also. For years, “outsourcing” was the bane amongst IT Staffers….the tide has turned and like it or not, organizations must do what is right for the business. They must be looking for costing advantages, productivity and efficiency gains, and ways to be more responsive. Looking at offloading run of the mill tasks within an IT group may be the perfect opportunity to gain back some valuable time from an IT Staff. That time can then be spent working on new ideas, new approaches, and new technology that continue to add value to the org.
I don’t believe total outsourcing is of immediate value to this Organization. But, we owe it to the folks we work for, to find ways to continue to “do more with less.” If we ignore that challenge we only provide more fodder for those who would believe outsourcing is the less expensive and best solution. We need to become more educated on the value that some offloading can provide. We should be investigating and recommending those opportunities to free up some of our time to work on more important tasks…..
TAFN
3 comments:
I haven't read the article yet, but will sometime today. But, I wanted to comment before I forgot about this.
When I first came into this unit, I was given a bunch of stuff to read and one thing that I ran across was the idea of a "technology scout." Someone within the IT group who actually spent most of their time researching new technology and new ideas. It takes a specific type of personality to do that day in and day out. It also takes a person who understands the business for which they are researching!
I know that you have asked us to come forward with any new ideas/technology that we run across that might have a benefit for the department. I can see that spreading the task out among all of us will give different perspectives on the technology currently being used in the outside world. But, would it be useful to have a specific person who does that as major part of their job?
Susan, in short: Yes.
I think it would add value...frankly anything we can do to try to get out front would help us. Realistically, it's not likely under current constraints that we'll get such a position in the near futture. AS a result, we need to find ways to build such an expectation into existing staff. AND we need to find ways to free some time for the R&D....thx for the comment.
Ok, now that I have read the article, I can comment on it. This struck me:
"Companies will outsource more basic IT operations so they can remain efficient enough in their operating costs. What they keep internally will be the ability to be responsive."
Hmmm... "basic IT operations." Already I have heard rumblings of outsourcing some of our AppDev projects. That is fine, as I believe that outsourcing sometimes can be the best scenario.
But what are we looking to outsource? Financial projects? Employee management projects? Or are we going to outsource development of tools that will actually improve resource management within the agency?
What is our agency's business? Managing the forest, fish and wildlife resources of the state. Shouldn't the inhouse developers be focusing on the actual business of the agency and outsource the commonplace financial and HR related tasks to those who have tons of experience in that arena? We, as developers for the Missouri Department of Conservation, should be the best people to develop applications specifically tailored for the business of conservation. We should have the best grasp of what the agency needs and the best understanding of our users and their projects. Do we? Can we? or will we be relegated to what we have been termed in the past "Fiscal and HR people?" I certainly hope not!
Post a Comment