When IT becomes a roadblock
Delayed projects, ageing technology, and generally behind the times… does this sound familiar?
Whether your’re losing work to your competitors or being challenged by new team members with questions like “why do you still have that software?”. The perception of not keeping up with the times can have a detrimental impact on your reputation in the market place and that of an employer who isn’t willing to invest in technology. Both can be avoided.
It is very easy to lay the blame on IT departments for “not keeping up” or “letting the side down”, but it is important to remember that IT departments are part of the business. And its the business who determine what they can and cannot do. However, IT departments are the ones who must drive technology forward within a business, and this has to start with a reinvention of the IT department.
Let’s take a step back for a second. The core functions of a business are Finance, HR, and Operations. All these core functions depend on IT and technology. Whether it’s the accounting software, running the payroll, hiring new talent, or maintaining compliance and health and safety, these all rely on technology as a back bone in one way or another. Keep that in mind.
For as long as I have worked as part of internal IT teams, IT departments have been seen as an high cost - low return department. Now, I don’t disagree that IT is expensive, but we must remember the core business functions that rely on technology and the value they bring to the business. For many years IT departments have had budgets cut, and relied on the technical ability of the IT team members to bandaid solutions and keep systems running across the business. With all the good intension in the world, this fundamentally results in unreliable, unscalable and resource dependant technology.
I’m not about to start a blame game, so lets take a look at the big picture again. A team has a problem, the IT department has little to no budget, and yet comes up with a solution. The issue here is that a solution has been created to solve a “symptom” or “surface level” problem rather than looking deeper by way of a root cause analysis to solve an underlying issue. Treating (for want of a better word) a symptom of an underlying problem, allows the problem to fester and manifest itself in other ways… and when it does, the IT department start all over again. This is commonly referred to as “firefighting”.
Now, while IT departments are firefighting, they cannot be innovating and working to develop the underlying technology stack within the business. This can lead to a number of unexpected disruption through technology creep (commonly referred to as shadow IT) and individuals finding alternative methods to “get work out the door”, all of which have unintended consequences for the business. Something has to happen in order to break the cycle.
So what can you do? Firstly, take stock of your technology and for the purposes of this example we are going to classify technology as hardware, software, data, services and SaaS offerings.
What technology do you have and who is using it?
Who should be using it?
Where is your technology?
What do you need?
This 4th step is the hardest step as it requires challenging the status quo and your colleagues on the technology they use, how they use it, and the legitimacy of its existence in the technology stack.
Once you have done all this, you must look to see if you have the IT resource capable of changing the mindset of firefighting, and moving toward innovation and technology for all.
IT must move in parallel with the rest of the business in order for it to be an effect part of the core business functions. In order for this to be achieved, and in the same way a business focusses on its financials, its people, and its operational stability, it must focus on its technology and regard it as the forth pillar supporting the success of the business. Creating a culture of collaboration, transparency and openness is essential across each of these four pillars to support the foundation of the businesses future.
Building a culture that holds IT as a core business function, takes time and dedication, something that can be challenging to dedicate internal resource to focus on. At Parallel, we take the load off your internal IT department and partner with the business to establish a technology stack that enables growth, stability and innovation focussed on the business goals. Get in touch to discuss how we can help your business.