ICT strategies as business differentiators

Information technology is fast becoming a primary driver of market differentiation.

"In this context, the IT agenda is quickly extending outside of the realm of IT executives and into the agenda of the CEO, COO and CMO. It is clear that technology trends are changing the world as we know it, and business leaders who are able to grasp these trends and execute on their implementation will position themselves for future business success," says Hans Zachar, senior manager of IT strategy at Accenture.

In order to gain insight into the adoption of ICT strategy trends within South African organisations, ITWeb, in partnership with Accenture, is conducting an online ICT strategy survey during September.

"The goal of this survey is to take a snapshot of the extent to which South African businesses understand these technology trends and gauge the progress of their implementation. Changes in the adoption rate of these trends signal a broader transformation in the role of technology in South African businesses," Zachar says.

When asked his opinion on the factors that contribute to the success or failure of ICT strategy projects, Zachar believes businesses must try to balance providing an IT vision for the organisation while also providing practical steps to achieving business results.

"If an IT strategy can tell the business and IT what they need to do on a Monday morning to achieve the five-year ICT vision of the organisation, the golden thread between vision and business results is maintained. The composition of an ICT strategy is thus quite important. It needs to describe how IT will enable the business, the technology architecture to support this and the delivery capabilities required to implement these technologies."

According to Zachar, a successful strategy demands business and IT buy-in. "An ICT strategy that is developed in a dark corner will typically stay there. It should be clear in everyone's mind that the document produced through the process is what they will live out in the coming years. Thus, it is essential that the ICT vision is shared by all involved."

Commenting on the steps South African organisations could take to ensure the success of their ICT strategies, Zachar advises that they be executed through various programmes and initiatives. "The key to implementation success is an IT operating model that is capable of successfully delivering on these initiatives. Success of projects generally comes down to three factors: process, governance and capability." According to Zachar, establishing these enablers is not a trivial task and the importance of this should not be underestimated.

Having the correct skills is imperative, which is achieved by maintaining strategic functions and control while leveraging industry partnerships for execution, he says. "Having the best team possible on the project is key to success, and given the limited pool of professionals locally, a critical component of the IT strategy is the development of the sourcing strategy to support its execution."

"In the past, SA has typically lagged behind the rest of the world, but the gap is getting smaller. This is because the ICT trends of a few years back are starting to reach maturity and have presented local companies with the opportunity to leapfrog the technology adoption curve," Zachar says.

He believes cloud-based services have become commoditised and are immediately implementable. Local companies can use them with minimal disruption and capital outlay.

"Cloud-based computing allows businesses to exploit business process as a service and software as a service, thereby taking advantage of industry leading practices and avoiding some of the complexity of large systems integration projects.

"These types of technologies are now available to local companies that can almost immediately take advantage of the experience gained over the last 10 years," concludes Zachar. "Including these trends in their IT strategies to exploit this opportunity is something local companies should not ignore."

To take part in the survey, and stand a chance to win an iPad Mini, click here.