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IT strategies and roles in the future
(excerpted from a 1999 benchmarking report, The Future Role of IT in Reengineering)

What should CIO strategies be for IT in the future?

Participants recommended that CIOs (chief information officers) or heads of IT/IS departments adopt strategies along three major themes:

1. Be customer-value driven. Develop a customer-driven business model and help align technology capabilities with business needs.
2. Be an innovation leader. Be a catalyst for the application of new technology and partner in business process improvement.
3. Create a standardized, open-systems environment and infrastructure that leverages common platforms to:

• maximize speed and access to information
• allow flexibility and rapid development of specific end-user applications
• streamline the integration of commercial and custom applications across the business

Participants listed the associated steps that IT should take to realize these strategies in Tables 1 - 3.

 

Steps IT should take to support future strategy

Participants recommended specific actions that IT should take to support each primary strategy (see Tables 1 - 3).

 

Strategy: Customer-value driven

Supporting steps: Open communication channels with customers Engage in joint strategy and planning sessions with operational groups Move to a client-based consultative relationship Listen to customers and be open to change Educate customers on technology in terminology they will understand Join project teams - be an active member of reengineering projects Recruit IT resources with customer service skills Decentralize IT - move resources out to operational departments or rotate IT resources into operational positions Measure customer service performance

Table 1 - Steps to support customer-value driven strategy

 

 

Strategy: Innovation leader

Supporting steps: Research and track emerging technologies Subscribe to leading-edge technology journals and attend technology conferences on a regular basis Know the business needs and operational processes thoroughly Align technology capabilities with business needs and goals Attend business meetings and operational meetings on a regular basis to stay current on business needs and issues Migrate resource profile to have more technology and business analysts and fewer programmers

Table 2 - Steps to support innovation-leadership strategy

 

 

Strategy: Open and standardized platforms and infrastructure

Supporting steps: Design and develop an open-systems environment Invest in technology infrastructure to support robust networking and rapid access to information Create platforms and networks that allow flexible application development for end-users Establish standard protocols and interfaces that allow easy integration of systems and applications across the business

Table 3 - Steps to support open and standardized infrastructure strategy

 

What is the future role of IT in business process reengineering?

With regard to the future role of IT in business process reengineering, participants emphasized three roles:

1.  Participate as a member of the reengineering team:

• help define business processes
• research new technologies
• help brainstorm and design new solutions
• be a motivator and change agent
• partner in the management of the reengineering process

2.  Define technology solutions to enable new business processes:

• provide technology alternatives
• explain the effective uses of technology and provide reliable information for decision making
• build rapid prototypes to demonstrate feasibility

3.  Implement the technology needed to support the new business processes:

• develop or coordinate the acquisition of technology components
• integrate the overall technology solution
• implement and support the systems
• provide education on the effective use of the technology

 

What are the biggest mistakes a CIO or IT/IS manager should avoid when supporting reengineering projects?

When supporting a reengineering project, the CIO and IT managers should:

1. Avoid displaying a lack of interest in or ignoring projects; actively participate with the project team
2. Avoid focusing only on the technology component of the solution and driving a technology solution instead of a business process solution
3. Do not assume ownership and take over control of projects, thereby reducing the accountability of operational managers
4. Do not overlook the business needs and operational issues driving the project, or lose sight of business objectives and needs as technology implementation progresses
5. Avoid forcing a solution from the top and dictating decisions to the team

 

What are the most important activities or steps a CIO or IT manager can do to support a reengineering project?

Participants stated that the most important activities that a CIO or IT manager can do to support a reengineering project are:

1. Build solid relationships with operational managers and foster teamwork between IT staff and operational employees.
2. Develop a thorough understanding of the business strategy and needs, and help teams align their technology solutions with the business direction and goals.
3. Be actively involved with the project team from beginning to end; provide visible support.
4. Encourage early involvement of IT staff with the reengineering project; promote joint design teams with both IT and operational personnel.
5. Provide the needed staff and resources to enable the project to be successful.
6. Facilitate clear communications and education across the boundary between IT and operations; help IT employees understand the business strategy and operational issues, and educate operational managers on technology solutions.

    

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Complete benchmarking results about the role of IT in reengineering answer the following questions:

• What resources and competencies are needed by IT for the future?
• Should IT develop its own technology vision of the future independent of operational counterparts?
• Is it possible for reengineering to occur without IT support?
• Should IT foster the use of internally-developed or off-the-shelf applications?
• What is IT's single greatest contribution to reengineering projects?

For information about the full report on the future role of IT in reengineering, click here.

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