Published on the 07/09/2016 | Written by Donovan Jackson
In the rush to digitally transform, don’t neglect the basics…
Being in the IT industry has probably never been more exciting aside from that whole Year 2000 thing, but even as organisations of every stripe rush to innovate and introduce new digital business models, it’s a good idea to make sure the basics are in place.
That’s according to John Ascroft, CIO at Jade Software. “There’s a lot of activity out there as people press on with digitalisation. That’s driven by demand from consumers who are not going to put up with channels that aren’t fully online,” he said.
Just recently, this was confirmed by Skinny’s Ross Parker, who noted that his company’s new ‘direct’ offering was indeed driven by customer behaviour patterns.
“So,” continued Ascroft, “There’s this drive to improve customer experience and workflow. The ‘creative innovation’ thing is huge – but so is the meat and potatoes stuff.”
Gartner calls it ‘bimodal IT’ and describes it as the practice of managing two separate, coherent modes of IT delivery: one focused on stability, the other on agility.
“Without doubt, customers need both; [the danger is] that most want to be involved in the grasshopper stuff, jumping around with exciting projects that open up new possibilities. But don’t forget what delivers the day to day benefits,” Ascroft said.
It is, he added, something of a Maslow’s Hierarchy, where the base needs should be sorted out before the ‘self-actuation’ of innovation can take place. “And of course, you need to get to that innovation before someone eats your lunch.”
Globalisation, said Ascroft, means your lunch could be on the menu of just about anyone. “There’s constant pressure and it comes across industries. The taxi industry, for example, may have thought regulation and high barriers to entry provided a buffer, but Uber came in anyway. They knew it was coming, yet they did nothing about it; globalization is a very real threat to any industry. Don’t think it can’t or won’t happen to you.”
His advice for companies looking to move ‘digitally forward’? “We’ve never worked with one that has regretted it,” for starters. “We’re past the point where it is an option; you have to have a digital strategy regardless of your line of business, or you’ll get cleaned up. And it’s not enough to just ‘go digital’, you need to innovate constantly.”
Presumably, while also keeping the lights on with the day to day IT stuff.
