Let’s get started with technology! – Part 2

By guest writer Lemuel Longwe.  Lemuel is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) with more than 10 years working experience in different industries, including airports, banking, external & internal auditing, information communications technology, management consulting and not-for-profit.

“Let’s Get Started with Technology” will help develop strategic thinking and initiate action towards retaining critical and scarce business and IT skills.  Let us talk about technology from a business view point and turn our thinking to the journey towards organisational fundamentals.  These are to define, find, recruit, nurture and retain essential business and IT skills necessary to deliver on the organisational strategy.

The information technology journey commences with an understanding that everything begins and ends with the business. The objective is for a business leader and manager to be equipped with correct and accurate information in order to make informed IT decisions. In order to make informed decisions, an organisation should take time to define the required business and IT skills necessary to implement and deliver the business strategy.

Definition of skills is an iterative process and should be aligned with the organisation’s vision, mission and strategy. It is fruitless to have the best vision, mission and strategy without the relevant skills and resources to bring the vision to life.

There are several methods or ways to define skills relevant to strategy and service delivery. A one size-fits-all approach does not necessarily apply. Each enterprise needs to assess its business context from an internal and external perspective and derive an appropriate method to analyse and define the vital skills that will drive the business strategy from an IT viewpoint. Ultimately, skills should either be in-sourced or out-sourced or a combination of the two.

Analysis and definition of business and IT skills is crucial. It is a continuous and rewarding management process and mandates regular monitoring, performance and realignment. To assist with analysis and definition of business and IT skills, here are some key pointers to consider:

• Vision, mission and culture – recruiting skills that share the same vision, mission and culture ensures a common goal, understanding and sense of achievement. Likeminded individuals are bound to achieve more than opposed individuals. Any organisation should aspire for IT skills that have the ability to comprehend, embrace and translate the corporate vision and mission into a workable IT service delivery model for the attainment of corporate goals.

• Governance – enterprise governance of IT is the heartbeat of an organisation. Without governance there is no trust, integrity, credibility, accountability and even unity of purpose. Governance skills are essential especially from an IT view point to ensure integration of IT and corporate governance.

• Business strategy – over the years IT strategy has existed and operated in isolation of the overall business strategy hence the failures of many organisations to harness the power of technology. Business and IT strategic alignment is pivotal to the success of any enterprise. Individuals that appreciate the need for strategic alignment and continuous improvement are worth considering for employment.   If such skills are in your employment, then engage them to ensure that strategic alignment processes are instituted and set in motion to work. A team with common objectives and directing their daily efforts towards those goals have a high chance of making it over their competitors. There are supporting disciplines from a governance view point which assist strategy achievement and these are resource management, performance management, risk management and value management. These should be incorporated into the organisational structure and the relevant roles and responsibilities defined and appointed timely.

• Enterprise architecture (EA) – this is an evolving discipline which is not yet fully articulated by most organisations. However, for those that embrace enterprise architecture, they are probably reaping and enjoying its benefits. EA takes the viewpoint of the entire enterprise including business and IT, each component and their relationships and how they work together to achieve the strategic objectives. Considering skills in EA will potentially catapult an organisation to a much higher level than its competitors. An understanding of EA and its practical application greatly facilitates strategic alignment between business strategy and IT strategy.

• IT services – gone are the days that IT exists on its own accord and dictates to the business services which may not necessarily enable and support them. IT services should be aligned to the business strategic objectives and capabilities enabled to sustain operations and long term enterprise plans. Prior to the technical side of technology, an organisation has to ensure that the basics are put in place, essentially items mentioned from 1 – 5. Once the base is in place, it somehow gives an organisation a clear perspective of what human skills and resources are required to drive the strategy and make the technology work to its advantage, advancement and profitability.

Enterprises have the ability to map out the right skills and resources required to deliver on its objectives provided that they have clarity of purpose and aligned business and IT strategy.  Going forward, it would be prudent to bring into context for the benefit of business leaders the relevance of the organisational vision, mission and culture, governance, business strategy, enterprise architecture and IT services in skills selections and in augmenting these skills if recruited already.