"The most important thing for the future of networking is not technology, but the management of cost, quality and business alignment," says Dimension Data`s strategy and technology executive Derek Wilcocks.
Wilcocks told a business forum on networking this week that prior to 2000, there was an unfounded trust in IT. He said many companies believed that any spend on IT would show some return, but now one of the biggest problems of the IT market is the breakdown of that trust.
He said the relationship between business and IT service providers should ideally move from the peak of unrealistic expectations to a "slope of enlightenment".
"This means moving from the high level of trust and low level of contract of the late 1990s through gradual enlightenment towards a better balance between trust and contract. This is obviously more desirable than the alternative of falling into a 'trough of anger and resentment` that could result in a total breakdown in relations.
"There is a need to distinguish between the building blocks and the use of IT," he noted. "How companies use IT will give them the competitive-edge, it will not come from the technology itself."
Wilcocks believes no single technology can create competitive advantage, and the thinking around how to use IT is what makes the difference.
"The three most important factors in considering how to use IT are cost, quality and business alignment." The most important of these is cost, and networking is a major driver of IT cost, he said. "This is particularly true in SA, where the telecommunications monopoly results in network operational costs being three times as much as hardware costs, compared with only twice as much elsewhere in the world."
When considering future network operational costs, Wilcocks warned that it is important to realise that "rapid change is under way", and for that reason all future engagement and contracting needs to be flexible. He advised that business should avoid non-standard features of solutions and ensure understanding of long-term cost drivers.
Wilcocks said the IT industry is not known for quality of service delivery and this must be changed to improve relations with business.
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