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Are IT Strategies Bad for Business?

By Dr Wing Lam
Associate Professor at Universitas 21 Global
http://www2.u21global.edu.sg

Since the early 70's, academics all over the globe have been conducting research into IT strategy. The key concept underlying most of this research is that IT must be aligned to the business, and many academics developed nice IT strategy methodologies that involved mapping business goals to technology needs. Most large organizations followed suit, and even today, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) will tell you about the various IT strategies that they have in their company and how they are mapped to business goals. It all sounds good.

But times have changed, and paradoxical though it may seem, IT strategies may just be bad for business. For one thing, business cycles are much quicker than they used to be. Who, for example, would have predicted the explosive growth in e-Business? Quite simply, businesses no longer plan out what they are going to do in 10 or 5 years time anymore. So why should one even consider having a long-term strategy for IT? Another thing is that business needs to evolve. IT strategies, however, are all about establishing what the business needs are and then creating technology solutions to support those business needs. But how can one define a strategy when business needs are forever changing? So while IT strategies may have been useful in the 70's, they may not be so relevant today.

Which brings me onto those organizations that do have an IT strategy. How many times do you think end-users have heard the response from their IT folk 'Sorry, the system can't do that'? Unfortunately, building an IT strategy means making certain decisions about technology that may seriously limit the business later on. An organization may find itself strait-jacketed with a particular solution, vendor or technology platform that is unable to cope with those changing business needs. Furthermore, technology cycles have become so rapid now that technology decisions made even two years ago may not be so appropriate today.

So why do some organizations still hang onto the notion of an IT strategy? For many CIOs and CTOs, it's probably what they've always been doing so they just keep on doing it. In short, it's a legacy practice. From a CIO/CTO viewpoint, it's also nice to be able to put up a nice set of powerpoint slides that shows how the organization's IT strategy has been meticulously planned out and how well under control it is. In fact, this may be what the CEO expects the CIO/CTO to do. And maybe those CIO/CTO's with so-called IT strategies that seem to change year in year out don't really have a strategy and are simply changing their minds to fit what looks good now. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean to say organizations should stop making strategic IT decisions, but rather recognize that the notion of an all-encompassing grand master-plan known as the IT strategy may no longer be so appropriate in a modern business setting.

So unless your CIO/CTO is a Nostradamus who can predict the future, perhaps you should question if your organization's IT strategy is actually helping or hindering.

Dr Wing Lam can be contacted via email at:
Wing.lam@u21global.com
http://www2.u21global.edu.sg

Source: http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/Article1103722.phtml

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