Last week our team attended Agenda18 in Miami, Florida. The conference was a celebration of current achievements in technology, with a focus on the most pressing tech issues organizations face today. We saw exciting innovations in artificial intelligence, digital assistants, machine learning, data management and blockchain from some incredible leaders at the forefront of these emerging technologies. We left inspired and excited to continue conversations about the transformative value information technology can bring to any business.
Enabling digital transformation
On Day 1, we attended a workshop titled, “Increasing Your Impact in Transformational Times.” Attendees were put into groups to discuss how we in IT can increase our individual and collective impact on digital transformation. How can we keep up with, support and even lead the digital evolution that’s redefining business today? What’s hindering transformation?
Consistent themes emerged in every group’s response. Ultimately, our strategies for increasing IT’s impact focused on removing four critical barriers:
Velocity of change
Lack of strategic alignment at the enterprise level
Resource and skill gaps hindering delivery
Proliferation of legacy systems and data
If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll know that for the last six weeks, cShell Consulting has been exploring a variety of ways to tackle these very same issues. We’ve highlighted the many benefits of using data to better understand your team’s ability to deliver – now, and in the future. We firmly believe that insights from yesterday’s achievements and challenges can – and should – inform your IT strategy today to enable greater success over time.
Start with what you already know
A data-driven strategy starts with changing the conversation about IT to reflect its role as a business partner, not just a service provider. Which means bringing your functional data to the table. You already have an abundance of information about your team’s performance, processes, visibility, strengths, gaps, etc. All you need is to make that data easily consumable and meaningful.
Don’t wait until you’re under pressure before assessing your delivery capacity. Grow your value by better understanding your cost structure to learn what’s possible today and down the road. Ask yourself:
Is my delivery roadmap fully aligned to my business agenda?
Does my team have clear priorities that empower them to focus on ongoing success and sustainability?
Are my employees engaged and aligned on where we’re headed?
Am I appropriately communicating the trade-offs needed to enable better delivery results?
Are we equipped to handle change effectively and quickly?
How cShell can help
We help organizations better understand their capabilities and costs and communicate them in a consumable fashion. By collectively identifying and applying best practices, we elevate not only each other, but the industry as a whole. Which is why we want to hear from you – where have you had success, and where are you struggling? If you’re interested in having a more in-depth conversation about how you can better understand and communicate the value your IT organization delivers, send us an email.
We look forward to hearing from you!