Rethinking IT in an age of disruption

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Rethinking IT in an age of disruption

9 Big Shifts impacting Technology Operating Models

We at Deloitte think the disruption from digital technology can be described as 9 Big Shifts. Businesses are demanding faster access to new technology, increased adoption and seamless deployment. To keep up with these demands the role of IT is evolving.

It is time to rethink the role that IT plays in organisations

Technological developments are disrupting industries and organisations more extensively, more frequently, and more radically than ever before. Today, an organisation’s ability to capitalise on technological disruption is a prerequisite for success in almost any industry. This has inevitable ramifications for their IT functions, which are becoming bigger, more heterogeneous, more pervasive, and more complex−and more difficult to manage effectively. Almost every business organisation is now dependent on its IT function to compete, to differentiate itself and ultimately to succeed in its industry. The challenges of rapid technological development are exacerbated by the volatility and ever-changing nature of the demands on IT functions within their respective business context.

IT functions are not only struggling with the 9 Big Shifts, but also with changes in their role within the organisation. In a ‘traditional business’, the role of IT is one of ‘service provider’, with the sole task of operating the technology efficiently. By restricting the IT function to such a narrow role, it cannot support the 9 Big Shifts we are seeing in the marketplace today. Four perceptions of the role of IT are shown in the diagram.

Rethinking IT in an age of disruption

Four perceptions of the role of IT

Our experience is that in almost every organisation, the IT function and the rest of the business have fundamentally differing views on the role of IT. Reasons for this misalignment in views are that:

• IT is overambitious in wanting to achieve continually -evolving standards

• traditional businesses view IT only as a support function not as an enabler for business

• IT operations are often outsourced and therefore the IT has less influence over the business.

In order to bring about positive change, there needs to be a realignment of the ways that IT interacts with the rest of the business.

 

Please read more in our point of view on the 9 Big Shifts, the diverging perception of the role of IT, and strategic questions to be addressed by the leadership.

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