In order for the digital business to become a reality, organisations need to move from the typical model of IT as a cost centre, to a new model where IT becomes a driver and creator of revenue for the business.
So says Collin Govender, VP for systems integration at T-Systems SA, who is of the view that the digital business is one that embraces next generation technology, including the cloud, big data and mobility, placing information at the fingertips of executives to enable them to make accurate decisions in real-time.
According to Govender, these technologies can also be used to create new business models and services, which can, in turn, be used to develop digital assets that were simply not possible in the past.
"This requires not only a new mindset, but a breaking down of traditional silos between IT and business, integrating IT fully into the business in order to deliver the right information to the right people at the right time," says Govender.
He believes that next-generation technologies are fundamental enablers of the digital business, and work together to deliver agility, flexibility and new insights that can drive competitiveness.
"Mobility enables executives and other employees to work from practically anywhere. However, without the cloud, for example, provisioning these mobile devices to integrate with the enterprise and deliver a consistent user experience across devices would not be possible," he explains.
To Govender, this people-enablement component is critical in positioning an organisation as a digital business. Big data, too, is essential, as these data sets, using sophisticated technology that can be delivered via the cloud, can be mined for analytical purposes to produce valuable insights into the business, he notes.
"Using insights gained via big data, as well as technologies such as mobility and cloud delivery, organisations can develop digital assets, which not only benefit the business itself, but can often be sold to other organisations to create additional revenue streams. Thus, IT becomes a valuable driver of revenue to the organisation, instead of a cost centre."
However, says Govender, without integration of IT into business, none of these benefits is possible. This integration requires several steps to be taken, he adds. "Firstly, IT needs to understand business - simply having the technical knowledge to manage an IT environment is no longer sufficient if IT is to become a valuable business tool.
"Achieving this in itself is no easy feat, and requires executive support. There is no doubt that IT is critical to the business of today, but in order for the necessary mind shift to occur, the CIO needs business acumen to be able to take on a new role as part of the business executive."
In addition, Govender notes, the traditional silos need to be broken down to provide ubiquitous access to information across the organisation. Adopting and ingraining service oriented architecture into the organisation, its processes and methodologies, can go a long way towards resolving this challenge.
He also points out that achieving the required business mindset to break down silos requires a middle-out process or approach - any organisation trying to do this from the bottom up will never deliver sufficient results to their business in time - and a top-down approach will equally fail. The time frames for delivering change and value to the business are getting shorter and shorter, he states.
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