Today`s CIO must do more with less in an environment of constant change. While change has always been a factor in business, especially in IT, the pace of change seems to be accelerating, making it increasingly difficult to understand and respond effectively.
One effective strategy for managing change is to build an IT infrastructure and business processes that are fast and flexible enough to quickly respond to change, no matter what it is or where new developments have come from - either inside or outside the business.
The ultimate strategy would be to move beyond simply reacting to change, to using change as a major competitive advantage. An adaptive enterprise dynamically links IT and business strategy so that IT is automatically driven by changing business priorities. As a result, customers gain an IT foundation that is simplified, agile and value-driven. A pivotal component of the adaptive enterprise is an infrastructure that is highly adaptive, allowing a simplified, standardised, modular, integrated business and IT environment.
To understand the power and potential of standardisation, consider the impact it has had on the manufacturing industry. From the invention of interchangeable parts to the assembly line; from automation to robotics; from just-in-time inventory to global resourcing; each represents a new wave of standardisation that dramatically increased productivity by organising and utilising people, processes and technology in new ways.
Today standardisation is having a similar impact on IT - reducing costs, improving productivity, maximising ROI and, this time, disrupting a wide range of technology-driven industries. Jobs, business processes and technology are beginning to be standardised, virtualised and integrated into an IT "supply chain" that delivers services on demand. This trend means that standardisation is relevant to every CIO today.
There are four critical challenges every CIO confronts: maximise returns, mitigate risk, improve performance and increase business agility. Standardisation impacts all four, but specifically maximises return by lowering the cost of change and improves agility by enabling a faster response to change.
Until recently, standardisation simply meant "industry standards" - a diverse group of widely deployed architectures that form the basis for the latest communications, networking, security and Web-based services. But, industry standards alone are not enough. Simply stated, in order for customers to truly embrace change and turn it into a competitive advantage, a broader approach to business and IT is needed - one that encompasses industry-standard architectures, reusable components and consistent implementation to reduce cost and simplify change. By taking a holistic approach, standardisation has become a major ingredient in the strategy for building the adaptive enterprise.
The maximum benefits are gained by applying the principles of standardisation to the way people, business processes and technology are organised. All three have become so interlinked that change to one must be addressed in all three.
Share
Editorial contacts