5 Lessons in Transforming to Contemporary IT

We used to deliver projects in ERP terms with complex, multi-year investments leaving the business little choice regardless of how long it would take or what it would cost. However, today’s information generation wants convenience and near instant gratification, so if we are not agile or fast enough, they will get their infrastructure, apps or cloud services elsewhere.

To get ahead of this at EMC, we have transformed IT to be more business aligned to dramatically improve innovation, performance and reliability. That said, it is not for the faint of heart, so let me share a few lessons we’ve learned along the way

  • It is a journey. In addition to transforming your foundational technologies, you must evolve your people and processes to be more agile, innovative and value driven. This requires your commitment to the strategy, as well as the flexibility to course-correct if you encounter an obstacle.
  • Transparency is a business expectation. Creating transparency around utilization, costs and any reductions that IT is unlocking fulfills this expectation and solidifies the business commitment you need for IT as a Service to be a success.
  • Bring your team with you. Change is never easy, but providing an environment for your employees to innovate, take risks, develop new skills and step into new roles will make it go smoother.
  • Deliver results. Demonstrate how this model helps reduce cycle times; enables self-service; reduces bureaucracy; and ultimately drives a return on investment and value for your business users.
  • Humility is a necessity.  Listen to your team. Communicate openly. And, fail and learn fast.

Transformations are never easy. To evolve with the times and become a more client centric, business savvy IT organization, we need to question all aspects of our technology, people and processes. As CIOs and IT professionals, we must lead the charge or risk being disrupted.

This blog was originally published in the Evanta Leadership Network.

About the Author: Vic Bhagat