IT needs to keep pace with the speed of business, but in most cases, it doesn't.
This is according to Wolfram Jost, CTO, research, development and product marketing at Software AG, who was speaking at the Software AG Process Forum 2012, in Midrand, yesterday.
According to Jost, business and IT must align and support each other, and this can be achieved through the effective management of three common layers.
First is the business model layer, which indicates who an organisation's customers are; the second layer, the process and integration layer, supports the business model and must be flexible as it is the collaboration layer within an organisation. Finally, the application layer supports business processes but faces the challenge of standardised packaged apps, which silos business units instead of fostering collaboration. Jost pointed out that the problem with apps is that they, too, are not built to match the speed of business.
The key driver for change in any organisation is its business model, Jost said. Business models are not stable and change over time - and as soon as they change, processes must change, too. This is also the reason why these three layers need to be separated, as this will create agility and provide the organisation with the opportunity to respond quickly to new business demands, Jost said.
The way that enterprise software has been developed, deployed and used must change, Jost said; complete collaborative platforms - instead of products - must be built.
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