All Systems Go

January 5, 2008

Once these three gears are aligned and locked together, IT organizations and systems tend to deliver results rapidly– in many cases within six months. Yet despite the obvious benefits of these gears, some businesspeople may ask themselves,“Do we really have to do all of this ourselves? Can’t we simply outsource to firms that already know how to do this stuff? And wouldn’t outsourcing be a cheaper alternative in the long run?”

The answer to all these questions is yes and no. Over time, fewer and fewer CIOs will run their own networks and data centers, and much development may be augmented by partners. However, the “gears” become even more critical when you bring outsourcing and offshoring into the picture, because management complexity rises. You can’t abdicate the leadership and vision for these critical functions. And when you have a number of long-term contracts with various suppliers, the long-term plan must be extremely well articulated (Gear 1). When you work with a number of vendors that have their own tools and methodologies, it’s critical to orchestrate an overarching common framework under which everyone can work productively (Gear 2). It’s also much easier to build a highperformance culture when you own the human resources (Gear 3). In operating a multi-company workforce, it takes extraordinary leadership to create the esprit de corp required for high performance.

Without question, the next decade will require much more professional and sophisticated IT leadership than ever before. Fortunately, companies are learning fast. As we progress through the next decade, IT will mature from adolescence to adulthood, and much more speedily than any profession ever has. As the technology matures and improves, so will the skills, processes, and principles on which effective IT is based. And here’s the bonus: Once organizations get IT right, they will get much more for far less.

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