IT-to-business alignment is a hot topic at the moment - however, many IT organisations find that they invest in best-practice initiatives, or advanced business service management (BSM) software, yet fail to realise the full value of their time and financial investments.
This is according to Appie Pema, managing director of Aptronics, a local customer-focused IT solutions and service provider to the public and private sectors.
"What's typically lacking is a pragmatic, phased approach, and a clear understanding of underlying technology dependencies," Pema points out, quoting from observations made in a recent HP white paper by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA).
"According to EMA's findings, some businesses find that they are simply not yet well enough equipped to sufficiently gain insight into IT infrastructure-to-service dynamics, which is a requirement if BSM is to work effectively," he observes.
Or, says Pema, businesses may find that they know how and where the business service is impacted, but that they lack the tools to take effective action to isolate and remediate the relevant problems.
"From the local perspective, the majority of South African businesses are operating in 'point mode', that is, purchasing products to meet a specific requirement only, rather than seeing the need for a longer-term, more holistic solutions approach which is driven by overall business strategy," Pema points out.
"According to this white paper, the findings are that there is a growing interest in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), with its focus on a more accountable and customer-centric role for IT.
"There is also a growing interest in IT service-to-business alignment, associated both with advanced service management and BSM - in which IT services are modelled with explicit connections to business services in a mutually informing dynamic," he states.
Pema says that, according to the EMA white paper, common stumbling blocks to successful implementation include the following:
* IT organisations seeking to find effective IT management technology support for best practice and service initiatives after they have initially failed.
* Weak underlying foundation for IT infrastructure management.
* Building on a failed system results in complex approval cycles and processes that are only more fragmented and prone to human error, instead of new levels of automation and efficiency.
"The white paper observes that the triad shaping IT success, or blocking progress in a way that leads to IT failures, is made up of management technology investments, management processes and organisational/cultural realities," Pema comments.
Essentially, he says, what is required is an approach that understands this triad as a cohesive industry driver that should be approached as a continuum, rather than through fragmented, and often uncoordinated efforts.
"In the IT industry, we often talk to our clients about the need for increasing IT/business alignment and operational consolidation," he observes.
This would entail:
* Unifying IT operational structures for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.
* The future success of IT will depend on core management investments, providing a consistent point of integration and automation across a consolidated number of best-of-class brand choices.
"Finally, there is the burning question of what will separate the leaders from the followers in this industry," Pema states.
"According to EMA, the next-generation fault and performance management leader will support these criteria by 2007:
* Cross-domain inventory and topology
* Application flow and route analytics
* Transaction analysis and quality of experience
* Integration between fault and performance management
* Support for Web services and SOA application components
Next-generation service assurance will also be process-aware, so that automation is directed at real roles and organisational needs.
"According to EMA, these include the as yet-unresolved problems of breaking down the obstacles to fluid interactions between the help-desk and operations - with an eye to maximising both automation and accountability," Pema adds.
"Through Aptronics's consulting strength and skills-base, as well as our broad experience in the implementation of infrastructure optimisation solutions, we are strategically well-positioned to deliver on our customers' business requirements, in terms of making BSM a reality in South Africa today.
"As such, we always strive for excellence while at the same time conveying the message to our clients that BSM is not about a one-stop, quick-fix solution - but rather about mapping your business processes to your business strategy for the long-term stability and profitability of your company," he concludes.
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Aptronics is a customer-focused IT solutions and service provider to the public and private sectors. As such, we have a sound industry reputation for putting principles into practice when it comes to having high standards of skills development and customer service excellence.
As a very active corporate reseller, Aptronics works closely with several key international vendors, including HP, Novell and Microsoft.
Aptronics' mission is to be the leading corporate reseller of world-class products and IT infrastructure, achieved through strategic partnerships, teamwork and integrity based on an inherent customer service ethic.
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