The Nirvana Scenario is not Enough

In the CIO post IT is transforming itself from a manufacturing to a service industry I like the theme of the IT department moving from a manufacturing mindset to one more service focused. I love the idea of encouraging all technologists to understand the implications of what they do on the customer's condition. Conceptually this is not new. This is what the business-IT alignment evangelists have been pushing for at least a decade. The significance of this piece is that we are still not really there yet.

Worse still the nirvana scenario that the article promotes in my view is not enough. We need to move beyond alignment to entwinement. The IT function, once it has got to the 'trusted supplier' stage, needs to press the agenda forward to the trusted partner state. Only then will we move from IT as a tool for automating business processes (cost efficiency focus) to IT as a tool for gaining a competitive edge (cost effectiveness focus).

The article presents a pragmatic perspective on what most organisations need to sort out today. I am simply trying to say that CxOs need to be alert to what needs to happen thereafter.