Bach Seat

IT departments will be done in the enterprise within the next five years according to a group of CEOs and VPs. They predict that consumerization of IT and self-service trends will lead to a restructuring of today’s IT shop, leaving behind a hybrid model consisting of tech consultants and integrators. Brandon Porco, chief technologist & solutions architect at Northrop Grumman recently told a group at the CITE Conference and Expo.

The business itself will be the IT department. [Technologists] will simply be the enabler

Computerworld reports that Kathleen Schaub, VP of research firm IDCs CMO Advisory Practice, echoed Mr. Porco. She said many corporate IT organizations now report to the head of the business unit it is assigned to. “The premise is that wherever IT sits in an organization will dictate what they care about,” she said. “If they’re in finance, they’ll care about cost-cutting. If they’re in operations, they’ll care about process management. If [the company] decides it wants to focus on the customer, they’ll put it in marketing.”

John Mancini, CEO of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), agreed with Mr. Porco, saying that in the consumer technology era, it’s the business side that has all the tools, so it will be able to trump IT’s desire to control who uses what and how.

While the business can dictate the service or technology it wants, IT can influence the decision. Nathan McBride, VP of IT & chief cloud architect at AMAG Pharmaceuticals told Computerworld, “We’re not trying to be ahead of the technology curve and we don’t’ want to be behind, but we’re trying to maintain pace to know what they’re going to ask for next before they ask for it.”

Help Net Security points out a recent IDC study that found 61% of enterprise technology projects are now funded by the business and not the IT department. IDC says IT spending driven by the functional business areas will outpace IT’s own spending. Today’s business executives who are more tech-savvy, have easier access to technology through the Cloud, and are under pressure to quickly implement new technology initiatives are driving this change.  The Help Net Security article states that today’s line of business employees are looking more and more like an extension of the IT department as, on average, 8% are technical staff.

Another concern raised is whether IT is losing control as consumer technology becomes part and parcel of everyone’s work in the enterprise, and the data center is left behind. AMAG’s McBride told the audience, that in five years, companies will have to make sure they’re matching their enabling technology to the demographic of that time. He said 75 Fortune 100 companies now use Google (GOOG) Apps along with most Ivy League schools, meaning that the next generation of workers won’t be users of Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange or Office.

While the CIO position will likely stay in an enterprise, his or her role will morph into a technology forecaster and strategist, and not a technology implementer, according to Northrop Grumman’s Porco.

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This sounds like a solid case for training technical staff in project principles and increasing the number of IT project managers. There have to be clear two-way communications between the business owner and the implementers.

Proper and detailed scope definition is one of the most critical steps for the success of any project. The business team, implementation team, and operations team must get together before the work starts to check the proposed solution and work through all the questions, concerns, and gotchas before the project even starts. This way problems can be discovered. Once the requirements are defined and the scope is complete and everyone agrees, then the project can be signed off and a formal kick-off meeting can be held.

In IT projects, it is important to look beyond the defined project to ensure success. Does the plan consider impacts on end-users?

• Does the project need new policies or procedures? If something falls through the cracks, they blame your project.
• Does the PC fleet meet requirements? Do they need more RAM? If they have to upgrade, they blame your project.
• Does it work with your current server OS? If they have to upgrade, they blame your project.
• What about the software? Are you locked into IE only? Do you need a specific level of .NET? Does it work on iOS and Android? If they don’t have the right software, they blame your project.
• How much bandwidth does the new project require? Will it try to send a graphical interface to a remote office on a slow link? If it loads slow they blame your project.
• Training? If the end-users can work the program, they blame your project.

Related articles

• IT morphs as tech and users change (networkworld.com)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.