Act now to prevent project lethargy

IT departments are at the heart of business development plans, so it is time to make sure you stay one step ahead, says Mark Samuels

Computing tends to concentrate on the British industry blue chips, such as last week’s interview with Royal Mail IT chief Robin Dargue.

And why not? Big companies fund big IT initiatives, such as the postal service’s £1.2bn change agenda.

Such projects are exciting, and attention is rightly paid to blue-chip technology successes, especially when domestic companies achieve a global lead.

But it is not always like that. Every worker has at one time or another experienced project lethargy.

You know the feeling ­ the one where you and your colleagues come up with a brilliant initiative; something that could improve business efficiency. You also know other firms in your sector have been slow to realise the benefits of the latest, greatest trend.

But your transformation plans are slowed by layers of bureaucracy, and the leading edge quickly blunts under a stack of executive sign-offs. What once seemed an opportunity to beat the competition quickly
becomes a game of catch-up.

Sound familiar?

One IT leader certainly seemed to think so, suggesting to me recently that the project lethargy story was all too familiar.

One possible conclusion is that the bigger the firm, the slower it is to realise the value of a new opportunity.

New business models do not help IT leaders. In what seems a matter of months, technology has gone from being a misunderstood backwater to a business essential.

Technology teams were once left to come up with their own ideas. Now, more executives are approaching the IT department with specific demands.

Analysts talk of the need for agility; vendors talk of the need for line-of-business IT management.

And while big companies often fund big IT initiatives, they also slash spending.

A recession means the IT department is pushed to create innovative solutions with a decreasing budget.

The bright side is that in an age of information and collaboration, the IT department has never been more central to business development.

Focus on how your ideas can transform organisational processes ­ it should help your boss wake up to the
importance of leading-edge technology.

What do you think? Read Mark Samuels’ blog at: http://knowledge.computing.co.uk