In a technology world
coming apart at the seams - that's a good thing by the way, and of
course we mean decoupling in general - the question comes up, how big a
culprit is IT itself in the complicated nature of enterprise evolution?
Minimalist Andrew Clifford in his blog at ITtoolbox admits to multiple heresies, cheerfully, and can't help but ponder a world of simplified IT.
"Over the past weeks we have been considering a simpler IT architecture,
made up of independent systems that encapsulate their technical
implementation, and which are aligned with the responsibility
structures of the organisation.
"The impact on IT professionals could be profound. There would be
less need for all types of IT staff: technical specialists, architects,
project managers, development staff. IT departments may end up more
like HR departments, giving specialist advice but leaving day-to-day
management with the main business." -
The dismantling of IT
The conversation following Clifford's post raised the critical
point that business itself is not exactly a scientific structure to
model yourself on.
"The
problem is business systems are extremely complex, intertwined with
legal systems, and sometimes have sections that end up contradictory to
each other [...] Because of this complex intertwining we end up with
systems that are forced to encompass everything in order to do
anything." - [COMMENTS]
ibid
As
so often with blog posts, and collaboration in general, it's not so
much the published thought as the reworked conversation that adds the
true value. And Clifford in this one comes back with the telling point:
"assuming that business is not rational enough for a simple
architecture, why is a complicated, layered architecture any more
suitable? Overlapping, shared applications might be a better reflection
of true business structure. However, they might equally be another
competing layer of irrationality." - [COMMENTS]
ibid
What
arises from this conversation is the conclusion that a simplified IT
can guide business into more logical pathways, and suddenly we're back
on familiar ground here in THIS blog - the idea that IT can lead the enterprise, and create areas of profit and opportunity through its grasp of technology.
Business
Week last month reported on a new survey that showed an astonishing
correlation between how technical CEOs are and how rapidly their
companies grew (hat tip to Dan Morrill for the story):
"So, an owner's level of tech savvy seemed to correlate with positive business growth, in terms of revenue and employee counts? Yes—73% of the "total geeks" reported double-digit average annual growth in their businesses over the past five years." - Why 'Total Geeks' Build Businesses Faster
This is compelling information for every CEO to pay attention to, but CIOs even more. As we point out frequently, the Marketing-Savvy CIO begins with numerous advantages, and is the greatest asset the enterprise can have, even more than the tech-savvy CEO.