The number one concern of today's CEOs is being able to adapt to the explosive rate of change, says IBM. Ninety-eight percent of CEOs expect their business models to change, while a rapidly growing percentage recognise they lack the ability to handle change effectively.
This was highlighted as the IBM Smart Service-Orientated Architecture (SOA) World Tour 2008 kicked off in 100 cities simultaneously around the world. The tour focuses on business process management (BPM) as well as IBM's Smart SOA business suite with built-in agility indicators.
According to the IBM Global Study 2008, the gap between IT and business management is narrowing, and the business world is increasingly recognising the strategic importance of technology initiatives in today's competitive environment.
Abiy Yeshitla, director of IBM's worldwide SOA sales, explained at the conference held at The Forum, in Bryanston, that winners in today's competitive marketplace need to be able to quickly and effectively react to change by becoming more agile.
“BPM powered by Smart SOA drives this agility and innovation through business processes,” said Yeshitla. “One of the shortcomings in the industry is that the right questions are not asked. Businesses need to understand their requirements to develop the product solution and deliver sustainable performance advantages.
“Process automation alongside SOA improves operating efficiency, reduces business costs, reduces cycle time and implements consistency and easier management.”
Joe Rutfin, IBM SOA country manager for southern Africa, said low-cost global competitors that are quick to adapt to change are impacting the global market, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. “In a London study, it was found that aligned IT and businesses result in double the productivity gains.”
Business should strive to create an SOA centre of excellence with a joint decision-making team comprising business and IT leaders, said Rutfin. This would help define and build business processes, and also implement them. “It's important that the IT department understands the business language. The CIO needs to become the change agent -less of an information officer and more of an innovation officer. For a business to stay competitive, the organisation needs to encourage IT to become the enabler of ideas.”
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