Businesses must remain in a constant state of transformation, or they will become extinct. Customers are always going to crave new services and offerings that bring them more value. As a result, agility and a willingness to change must be embedded into the DNA of the organization. I believe that IT leaders will be an integral part of the formula in how businesses accelerate and keep up with this pace of change.
An evolving IT mindset
Fortunately, IT leaders themselves are also in a state of change at the moment. Where many were once extremely conservative and averse to change, IT leaders are now embracing change as a means of enabling the businesses they are servicing. This goes beyond cloud migration or adopting DevOps. Change is not just about the technology; it's about being more aggressive in understanding and streamlining business processes for the future. You can't change what you don't understand, and you can't fully bring to fruition the benefits of all these new technologies without first streamlining and simplifying the business.
For example, you could have the most automated, advanced virtual environment cloud service available on the market today. But if you have an outdated or inefficient process that requires a lot of checkpoints and multiple levels of approval, you'll have a harder time translating that technology innovation into actual business results.
Innovating IT with the customer in mind
With that in mind, a great first step in understanding the business processes and what is required for change is to look to the customer. How are you going to continually delight your customers? It's not by simply giving them what they ask for – it's going above and beyond their immediate needs and anticipating their future desires. This is what will separate the disruptive leaders in IT.
This distinction is not easy. It takes going out and walking in your customers' shoes, and experiencing what they experience when working with your organization. From the customer's perspective, you can get a better understanding of the processes, the services, and the white spaces between them where value can be created.
For instance, earlier in my career, I discovered a need for better social network and collaboration tools among my organization's customers, so I set out to build a virtualized environment. In time, that virtual environment became the backbone for the company's initial cloud service.
Similarly, in the banking industry, cloud services that were initially implemented for virtualization, automation, standardization, and lowering OPEX/CAPEX went on to unlock value for customers in unexpected places. Because of the lowered cost of managing data, banks were able to more easily detect and prevent money laundering and a variety of other risks – a win for both the banks and their customers.
Both of these examples underscore the importance of having a pulse on customer needs, areas for future innovation, and a deep understanding of business processes that can generate additional value. It is important to maintain an agile IT strategy that truly evolves with your customers’ needs and market forces.
This agility is not just applicable to IT. Agile should be a way of leading, a way of seeing business, and a way to innovate. Don’t try to create the next revolutionary thing, because most ideas are built on other ideas. They are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Start small, be nimble, be quick, and most importantly, keep moving.
