IT has always competed with outsourcing. The cloud might increase that possibility somewhat. And it will likely go through a cycle, just as staffing does--use a bunch of cheaper off-shore folks; oops, went too far so start hiring again; rinse and repeat.
There are two major roles of IT. The commodity aspect of operations like running the data center, help desk, network, telcom, etc. And the business aspect. Viewing the business through a technology lens. Being an active part of the business, not an order taker. Those that outsource the latter, because everything IT is lumped into one group, will do themselves a disservice. Side point: IT isn't alone in holding the blame/credit for the state of IT. -Rob --- In [email protected], Gervas Douglas <gervas.doug...@...> wrote: > > > Please load the images to see all the content in this ZapFlash! > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umesaiauqyaoaeswqazambmuu/click.php> > > > Preventing the Demise of the IT Department > > Document ID: ZAPFLASH-200957 | Document Type: ZapFlash > /By: Ronald Schmelzer/ > Posted: May. 07, 2009 > > ZapThink has long championed the role of Information Technology (IT) and > the information technologists that turn IT resources into capabilities. > However, we are especially champions of the users of IT, notably the > business. After all, if it werenât for business users, there would be > little funding and relevance for IT. Yet, we must distinguish between IT > and the IT organization within the enterprise. Whereas IT represents the > assets business wants to leverage, the IT department serves as an > organizational structure by which the IT needs of the business can be > met. Simply put, the IT department is a means to an end⦠or at least it > should be. > > One of the frequently repeated complaints weâve heard over our past nine > years is that the IT department is increasingly non-responsive to > changing business needs. Complexity, fragility, unpredictability, and > unreliability all conspire to turn even the simplest of business > requests for IT capabilities into a months-long, expenditure-heavy > activity. And until very recently, there was really very little that the > lines of business could do about that. Every business-IT interaction > becomes a negotiation, with business trying to wrangle as much > functionality as the time and budget would allow, and the IT department > trying to limit new requirements so as to maximize the impact on an > already over-stretched infrastructure. > > As we discussed in our SOA: Enabling the Long Tail of IT ZapFlash > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umemarauqyaraeswqaiambmuu/click.php>, one of the > roles of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is to change this sad > reality by enabling business user empowerment > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umejaxauqyadaeswqalambmuu/click.php> of a sort we > have not seen before. But, the purpose of this ZapFlash is not to > iterate again on that point. The main issue we are seeing now is that > far too many companies still see SOA as a luxury that they can afford to > postpone in tough economic times. Looming on the horizon, however, are a > variety of technology and cultural changes that are combining to force > rapid change in the IT industry. The amazing and rapid evolution of > online IT capabilities is now conspiring to put the very future of the > IT department in question as users become empowered to solve their own > problems without involving the IT department within the enterprise. As > we first stated in 2006, IT must Service-orient and empower their users > or be doomed <http://t.ymlp178.com/umebapauqyaiaeswqarambmuu/click.php>. > This is not hype or hyperbole -- this is now a reality for IT. Those > companies resisting SOA will undoubtedly put the nails in their own IT > coffins. > > *âYou, IT, are Competing with the Cloudâ* > Last week, I recorded a podcast with Dana Gardner and a few other > notable analysts and experts as part of the thought-provoking Briefings > Direct series. In the podcast, which will be published in a few weeks, I > discussed that individuals now have so much capability available to them > through Web 2.0, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Cloud-based > applications that they can not only develop significantly powerful > applications, but do so faster, with better quality, and less costly > than they can do so within their own IT departments > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umehazauqyaxaeswqaoambmuu/click.php>. In fact, > many of these web-based applications are targeted to relatively > non-sophisticated users with simple interfaces that empower users to > develop complex applications without having to know how to code. In that > podcast, I asked, âAt what point does the line of business get > frustrated enough with the cost and complexity of their own IT > departments that they resolve their problems using capabilities outside > the network rather than inside. Is the IT department in danger of > becoming obsolete?â > > To further reinforce that point, ZapThink recently attended two major > vendor events: IBMâs IMPACT 2009 > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umewacauqyanaeswqaiambmuu/click.php> and Software > AGâs SOA Summit 2009 > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umeqanauqyadaeswqafambmuu/click.php>, with > speakers that quite coincidentally echoed the above sentiment. At IBMâs > event, a number of speakers made the point that the potency provided by > Cloud Computing capabilities enables business users, not career > technologists, to develop very sophisticated applications at remarkably > low costs due to the pay-as-you-go model and virtualization of IT > resources. Even more remarkably, at Software AGâs SOA Summit, Kevin > Flowers, Director of Enabling Technology at Coca-Cola Enterprises stated > in stark terms that âyou, IT, are competing with the Cloud.â What he > meant was that the âcloudâ (which in his terms referred to the general > capabilities of Web 2.0, SaaS, and Cloud Computing > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umeyaaauqyadaeswqacambmuu/click.php> as a whole) > provided such tempting capabilities that if the IT department canât rise > to the challenge and equally empower its users, the users will go > elsewhere to get their needs met at potentially greater quality, lesser > cost, and in shorter time. > > *Enable User Empowerment ⦠or your Users will go Elsewhere * > Now, this vision of the self-empowered business user is still a ways off > given security, privacy, and access to local data concerns, but these > challenges are purely technical. The real issue is an organizational > one: will a business audience already fed up with ITâs inability to meet > business imperatives authorize their non-IT users to get their needs met > by outside providers? If so, Cloud, SaaS, and Web 2.0 companies will > quickly rise to the challenge (and newfound revenue streams) and solve > the aforementioned technology challenges much faster than the IT > department can react to the threat. Therefore, it makes sense to revisit > two themes that are a persistent thread in ZapThink conversations: using > SOA as a means to enable business empowerment, and dealing with the > rapidly emerging âdigital divideâ. > > On the first note, we must re-emphasize the point that it is not ITâs > role to own and manage the applications on behalf of the business. > Rather, its role is to enable business users to consume and compose a > wide array of Services that IT manages as simply as possible. > Enlightened IT organization should see emerging Web 2.0 / SaaS / Cloud > (âCloud in the largeâ) capabilities offered by third-party vendors both > as a source of opportunities for Service deployment and consumption as > well as competition. Every evolution and advancement of the Cloud in the > large raises the bar for what is expected of internal IT capabilities. > To respond to this reality, the IT department must stop its incessant > focus on the âTâ in information technology and redouble its efforts on > the âIâ part. This means that the focus on abstract, easy-to-consume, > easy-to-compose Services is more important than ever and is the primary > goal of IT, rather than a nice-to-have addition. > > In addition, we continue to remind companies that the IT experience that > their business people experience away from the office â" on their > handheld devices, Internet browsing experience, and other devices â" is > rapidly becoming more sophisticated and powerful than their enterprise > IT experience. This is the true âdigital divideâ that we often refer to > in our conversations with end users. Indeed, the enterprise IT > experience is downright embarrassing. Why is it that when weâre at home > we get the luxury of using apps as sophisticated as Facebook, iPhone, > Tivo, and Google Docs, while at work we have to suffer decades-old user > interfaces and frustratingly unproductive experiences? This rapidly > widening digital divide between the IT-at-home and the IT-at-work > experience is threatening to once and for all put IT on the > much-deserved defensive and justify its millions of dollars of > expenditure for systems that pale in usability comparison against those > that are either free or cost pennies on the enterprise IT expenditure > dollar. > > *The ZapThink Take* > As Miko Matsumura, Deputy CTO of Software AG put it at Software AGâs SOA > Summit 2009, âevolution is about survival.â SOA, along with Cloud and > other emerging architectural approaches to agility, represent an > evolution in the way that users work with IT assets. But, the entire > purpose of evolution is to avoid a certain death. Organisms evolved to > deal with environmental realities that, without their evolution, would > have meant their extinction. Likewise, organizations need to evolve to > deal with the reality of the IT landscape that requires agility to avoid > a certain death. From this perspective, if the business finds that they > can get their IT needs met without the IT organizationâs involvement, > the IT organization will die. IT without business support is an > impossibility. > > Trying to avoid, deny, restrain, or otherwise negate the inexorable > march to Service-oriented, user empowered IT is an exercise in futility. > Those organizations that think they can successfully survive in this new > environment by canceling their SOA projects > <http://t.ymlp178.com/ummsacauqyadaeswqalambmuu/click.php> are stringing > their own nooses. CIOs who are so short-sighted to believe that the > business will accept the current inefficient, inflexible, expensive, > unreliable, and unpredictable IT systems of today while ignoring the > obvious alternatives should be strung up on the nooses they have set up > for themselves. While technology challenges remain to make the vision of > agility an uncontestable reality, technology challenges are the easiest > of all to solve. When the business begins to express their desires, will > the IT organization rise to the challenge or face inevitable demise? > > > > > > > > > > > > <http://t.ymlp178.com/ummhaxauqyaoaeswqagambmuu/click.php> > > > > > > > > <http://t.ymlp178.com/umwbadauqyagaeswqarambmuu/click.php> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >
