Maintain cost disciplines, rationalize and consolidate further
New disciplines and controls have ensured better IT business alignment and cost control during the past two years. Without continued attention, efficiency could ebb away as an IT recovery gradually unfolds, creating pressure to do new things. But to keep consolidation and rationalization going, further funds from operating costs need to be added to modest budget increases. That will generate enough cash for significant new investments. Take these specific actions.
Refresh pre-Y2K hardware and aging software
During the past two years, many enterprises have extended the life of servers, PCs and other equipment to control costs, but this expedient can't continue indefinitely. Maintenance and opportunity costs increase as assets age. PCs bought in 1999 for a three-year intended life could be extended to five years, but replacement must be seriously considered during 2004.
Continue consolidating IT infrastructure and applications
IT consolidation takes two forms:
The first dominated throughout 2002 and 2003. The second will grow in importance in 2004 and beyond.
Plan for new competencies and give valuable staff an unexpected pay raise
Key competencies and high performers are scarce in any period of business growth, and 2004 will be no exception. But they might not be the same as ones used in the past, because of technology change and a growing need for business-focused IT leadership.
Assess imminent shifts in business and technology, and prepare to respond
Many vendors have maintained R&D spending to continue advancing their technology, despite the recession in IT. The effects of a networked economy have deepened and accelerated some business and economic trends. As the global economy warms up, it presents new challenges, opportunities and operating conditions. These trends should be fully understood to prepare for the next wave of technology-enabled business improvements.
Make clear technology choices and set policy
Many CIOs have deliberately left some technical policy questions unanswered. Their staff was kept busy on investigations that reduced eventual risk and delayed cash outlay. But the return of favorable business conditions will bring pressure to expedite approvals on long-delayed projects. Developers will rightly propose powerful new technologies and methods that have been maturing over the past two years. Without a clear policy, the first flurry of local project approvals will set ad hoc precedents that will be regretted later.
IT leaders should decide now and ensure explicit policy is set on issues such as:
Stay in direct touch with technological developments
Many CIOs have not visited trade shows recently. In 2003, the biggest shows had a 25 percent to 30 percent drop in visitors. But progressive technology and services march onward, and reading reports is not a complete substitute for direct experience.
IS leaders should get personal experience or demonstrations of newer technologies that business and IT colleagues will encounter in 2004, including:
Anticipate external drivers of uncertainty and complexity
Many factors are accelerating business complexity, and because they all interact, that complexity is increased. Globalization and virtualization -- combined with the effects of the global economic downturn -- and the rise of regulatory regimes for business of all kinds have already had a profound effect.
The increase in strategic sourcing and the continuing role of traditional outsourcers brings yet another wave of restructuring. Frequently, this involves people, departments and functions moving between enterprises, not just within them.
Invest in mid-term opportunities and pull back from short-term expedients
Many CIOs have been approving only projects that promise a return on investment within six months. While this can accelerate progress temporarily, easy targets are quickly stripped from the portfolio. Now enterprises must return to the more substantial investments and decide which few to select. Often, these will give more substantial returns.
Migrate toward a real-time infrastructure
Smoothly scalable utility computing that is truly "self healing" and operating-system neutral is still a vendor advertising dream, and grid computing remains a curiosity for most. But real progress is being made in infrastructure management.
Ahead of the technical delivery, major vendors are innovating their service models and financial re-engineering options as a way to deliver value. For the remainder of this decade, the real-time infrastructure (RTI) will evolve to free corporate IS installations from much of the pain of scaling and tactical maintenance. To take advantage, plan now and link this opportunity to pre-Y2K server
Create a competency center for business process skills
More than a third of IS leaders see business process improvement as a key issue for 2004. Business process fusion will be an important enabler of the RTE, and will unlock the full value of Web services-oriented business applications via process-centered change. But at least half of midsize-to-large enterprises lack adequately staffed process competency centers.
Specialist skills in process mapping, modeling and modification can be supplied by external services providers (ESPs), but most often cannot substitute for a lack of experienced, process-articulate staff that have a knowledge of industry operating models. IS could proactively bridge this gap by "re-tooling" the IT workforce toward higher-level contributions, especially as more programming and data center operations work is outsourced.
Build processes and skills for managing partnerships
Business strategies are becoming concerned with external partners and stakeholders, with agility, and with the RTE. Examples include the creation of an e-business market with new partners, a merger or acquisition, and the use of ESPs. Enterprise partnerships will become a critical focus for IT value.
By 2005, more than a quarter of IT capital budgets in at least 70 percent of large and midsize enterprises will be directed to transforming the enterprise using external focus and agility (0.7 probability).
IT leaders should champion opportunities for IT-enabled business partnership strategies and align competencies and architecture capabilities with them.
Plan to overspend your IS budget
Managing IS functions by cutting costs and delaying upgrades while maintaining service levels may have been a short-term necessity, but there needs to be a more proactive demonstration of confidence in IT's ability to help drive strategic growth.
Start by straining at the financial leash -- privately plan to overspend a little on the total IS budget, but stay within defensible limits. That will give the message that IT has a bigger contribution to make to the business than current financial constraints allow. Conversely, repeated underspending reinforces the sense that IT is a utility and a cost center, rather than a source of strategic and innovative business value for the future.
Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an Gartner .