One of the most common messages coming out of recent IT-related conferences is that there needs to be a shift from technology to business needs as the basis for making IT decisions. But are local decision-makers yet able to make mature, objective decisions?
It appears that in these times of narrow margins and conservative spending, a much greater emphasis is being placed on the decision-making process behind IT investment. The gradual change within the industry towards considering business needs and business value above technology trends is perhaps one of the first signs of maturity.
On the surface, then, all appears to be well. However, a conversation with a proud new father this week resulted in a several leaps in thought and made me suspect that maturity in IT decision-making may still be a long way off. It remains largely based on business culture rather than on business needs, business value and proven return on investment.
A casual remark by the new father that his baby son had been circumcised that day sparked a debate on the topic, but of greater relevance it led to a questioning of the process that had resulted in the long-term irrevocable decision to carry out the operation.
It became clear to me that many of the decisions we think we make are not truly our decisions.
Warwick Ashford, Journalist, ITWeb
Surprisingly, little appeared to have been taken into consideration in the decision-making process. In a perhaps over-simplified view, one could say a course of action had been followed that will affect the rest of the newborn`s life, with little consideration of anything else but the fact that it "had always been done before".
When challenged, the father argued in mitigation that his decision had been rather automatic, based on what had been handed down through the generations, "something one does without really thinking about it". In the absence of any counter-argument from the medical practitioner concerned, the baby boy`s fate was sealed.
Falling into decisions
At the time, this explanation sent shivers down my spine and later as I drove to my afternoon appointment, I began to consider how much of our personal and professional lives is determined by decisions based on careful or conscious consideration and how much is merely driven by need, expediency, circumstances and culture.
Commonly, people judge others by the cars they drive, but from personal experience, it is clear this is an extremely flawed basis for judgement because neither the model nor the colour of the car I drive reflect much about me personally.
I "chose" the model of car based on the fact that I had a contact with a particular dealership owner who was willing to offer me an excellent deal and I "chose" the colour based on the fact that I would have had to wait six months or more for the colour I really wanted.
During a long wait to turn across a traffic intersection, it became clear to me that many of the decisions we think we make are not truly our decisions.
The truth of this was further illustrated when during an interview I asked a software developer why he had chosen to build his solution on a particular Linux distribution. Like the new father mentioned earlier, it was clear that he had not really thought about it. "No one has ever asked me that question before," he said.
After some thought, the developer explained that Linux distribution used in his solution just happened to be the one his company had always used. In a sense, just like the circumcision decision, the distribution decision was "handed down to him" without any careful or conscious decision-making process being involved.
Driving home after the interview, I thought over the day`s conversations and began to wonder how many IT decisions are still based on company culture rather than business or demonstrable business value.
Instead of de-emphasising the importance of technology in decision-making, perhaps business process evangelists should be attacking the apparently prevalent tendency of human beings to act according to the dictates of culture instead of any kind of logic.
It is not uncommon to encounter statements declaring company allegiances to operating systems, development platforms, software developers and hardware manufacturers among decision-makers. In light of this and other evidence presented here, it is a reasonable assumption that when it comes to upgrading or renewing IT components, company culture plays a much bigger role in the decision-making process than most realise.
One can only ask whether there really is a growing maturity in local business, or whether like generations of fathers, decision-makers to this day continue to inflict the unkindest cuts of all on their companies without really thinking about what they are doing.
Share
