Features
The Future of Business IT – Repositioned at the Front of the Firm
By Richard Davies
The accelerating pace of digital technology innovation is reshaping the dynamics of global business. Mobility, social media, cloud, collaboration, business intelligence and more is creating tremendous opportunities for Enterprise IT and the IT profession.
But too often, IT organizations still spend most of their time maintaining legacy systems and applications. In many firms, the gap between what IT could be doing and what it actually is doing has never been wider.
Forward-thinking CIOs and other business/IT leaders are committed to closing this gap. They seek to sharply reduce their legacy IT burden so that their best people can focus on front-of-the-business support of their firm’s products, services and customer relationships. The goal is a smaller, but more powerful, team of market-oriented business/IT leaders, keen to energize their people and sharpen their firm’s competitive edge.
While this goal is not new, a consensus roadmap has now emerged:
1) Virtualize the back office by off-loading commodity tasks to traditional and emerging third-party providers.
2) Consumerize the front office by empowering employees with modern self-service tools of choice.
3) Reposition senior staff to work much more closely with the market-facing parts of the firm.
We call this the VCR model.
An Invitation for CIOs and Business Leaders
CSC’s Leading Edge Forum Executive Programme is hosting an International Executive Forum on March 8, 2012, in Washington, D.C. This exclusive event is only open to CIOs and Senior Business Leaders from large enterprises.
During this one-day meeting, pioneering CIOs, prominent business strategists and LEF researchers will show how ever-advancing technology and rising business pressures are now transforming the skills, competencies and mission of Enterprise IT.
In addition, this event will help you:
- Identify potential game-changing technologies, applications and business models.
- Understand how social media is being used today and will be used in the future.
- Leverage the changing technology landscape in preparation for a Post-PC era.
- Determine the future shape of Enterprise IT for your organization.
- Extend your network of business associates and colleagues.
Together, we will explore how some of the world’s finest companies are preparing for the technology-driven marketplaces of the future. The event is open to both business and IT leaders, but space is limited. Learn more and register for The Future of Business IT.
Richard Davies is vice president and managing director of the Leading Edge Forum – Executive Programme.