The widening adoption of cloud computing in the enterprise is spurring the growth of a relatively new role in corporate IT - the service broker.
So says Joseph Kim, senior director and GM of HP Propel at HP Software, who notes there are certain services that other service and cloud providers can provide to businesses much more efficiently and cost-effectively than IT.
He points out it's time organisations rethink their IT service delivery, as new technologies are racing ahead of IT processes; shadow IT is creeping across the enterprise; and expectations for IT are rising.
"To ensure compliance, security and cost-effectiveness are achieved, organisations must provide a method to streamline all services the business may want to consume in a single repository rather than disparate places. For example, through a single portal to IT and/or a single catalogue," says Kim.
Analyst firm Forrester Research states IT enterprises looking to move towards brokerage should look towards separating the service catalogue initiative from the traditional service management initiatives.
To regain control and build influence, IT must become a true service broker, says Forrester. Dave Bartoletti, principal analyst at Forrester Research, believes the internal service broker concept for cloud offerings will work only if end-users understand the concept themselves.
Meanwhile, Kim believes if IT becomes a service broker, it can gain credibility from the business and become part of the business' digital revolution, and service brokering is the first step in ensuring alignment of business and IT.
He believes mobility and big data technologies will make the biggest impact on IT organisations in 2015. "Mobile is already here, with growth of users easily outpacing almost all forms of technology utilised in IT," he notes.
"The way these applications are created, consumed and purchased, all fundamentally change the way we think about IT systems. In regards to data growth, the ability to mine this data is critical to make good business decisions and can lead to business innovations or differentiation for those that take advantage first."
According to Kim, the biggest challenge currently faced by IT is the digitisation of everything, and concepts like the Internet of things are a reflection of this movement.
"The business needs to move fast, and the way IT moves today is not fast enough, as it is trying to provide all technology answers. The reality is either IT will become a business partner, or the business will find other partners.
"I would not see this as a threat, but an opportunity for IT to showcase all of its wonderful people, process and technologies to drive business forward," Kim concludes.
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