Kathy Gibson reports from Gartner Symposium – IT has to tread the fine line between innovating in a digital business environment and remaining solid and reliable.
Jeffrey Mann, research vice-president of Gartner, says being rock solid is the core of the business, but fluidity means that organisations will be able to succeed in the new digital business.
Many CIOs have recognised that the bimodal IT organisation is the model of the future, he adds, with 45% already have a second stream of IT development within their organisations. This is expected to grow to 75% in the near future.
While traditional systems are linear, safe and accurate – like rocks, Mann points out that the digital world is in constant motion. “Fluidity is a fundamental quality of the digital business,” he says.
“It institutionalises business moments, making them permanently available, embedded in the way you exist, a deliverable habit. It allows you to build process to leverage serendipity, that lets people use technology on their own.”
Because the fluidity of business moments is all around us, Mann says that having always on, institutionalised systems that let people create their own digital opportunities can only be good for the business.”
Mann stresses that there needs to be a balance between the solid, rock-like traditional IT organisation and the new, fluid side of the business. Part of this involves risk management, where CIOs need to think about all the risk scenarios and set up contingency plans.
Not all risk is bad, he adds, but in the new environment CIOs will experience unintended consequences and need to beware of the amplification of those consequences.
“However, in the digital business you must change your relationship with risk, treating your ability to manage specific risks as a quality. If you take on risk, know why you can; and focus so you can see what others can’t. Accepting risk is OK; ignoring it is tragic.”
