Many CIOs are adopting a bimodal IT strategy to help them manage day-to-day concerns while navigating their transition to a digital world
As companies look to go digital, IT strategy is coming under increasing scrutiny. Not only does IT need to take a leading role in the strategic planning and implementation of that transformation, but it also needs to deliver business continuity with the support function it has historically performed.
In companies looking to implement a digital strategy, IT is called on to perform critical functions across the board. For example, it must provide the sophisticated cloud systems and capacity for data analysis needed to meet customers’ expectations on any device. And when digital is the primary product, security and reliability are paramount, because there is no physical fall-back.
McKinsey pointed out that Amazon, a thriving digital company, invests five times more in IT as a share of revenue than traditional retailers. But it would be wrong to say that Amazon gives IT a high priority – rather, IT pervades everything the company does.
Balancing Innovation with the Day-to-Day
As companies seek to move into the 21st century they must develop agile, lean processes, which can respond to constant changes in business conditions. IT needs to develop what the McKinsey describes as “both a support and a leadership function”. Put simply, businesses must give IT strategy the central status it deserves. And many IT leaders are being given the chance to help bring this about.
For this year’s CIO Agenda Report, Gartner surveyed 2,944 CIOs in 84 countries, and found that nearly 40% of CIOs said that they are the leaders of digital transformation in their enterprise, and 34% the innovation leaders. Many CIOs “want to move away from being seen as a mere support function, and toward a stronger role as an innovative and transformative part of the business”.
But the task, though exciting, is a difficult one, because despite the demands of digital, the existing functions of IT within a company cannot simply be abandoned. Although IT leaders may want to take on a more strategic role, it can be hard to escape what EY calls the “helpdesk trap” of being expected to spend their time on operational issues as well.
This is why many successful companies have adopted a bimodal IT strategy. This is one where the company’s IT operates at two different speeds – maintaining its traditional support function, while accelerating the key components of digital transformation.
While Google is a digitally native company, it provided an illustration of a bimodal strategy when it changed its corporate name to Alphabet. Google, while still generating the bulk of the company’s revenue, is now only one division within Alphabet. This restructure allowed the company to consolidate the established parts of its business, while creating a separate space for more experimental areas to develop.
Introducing Bimodal IT
A bimodal strategy is increasingly the norm. Gartner’s report found that “nearly 40% of CIOs are on the bimodal journey, with the majority of the remainder planning to follow in the next three years”.
But as well as having the right IT strategy, a successful digital transition also depends on recruiting the right staff. This can be a challenge. CIOs told Gartner that their biggest barrier to success was skills and resources. Recruitment can be especially tricky for many organisations, because start-ups and leading technology companies can be more appealing destinations for the best talent. But a bimodal strategy can help counter this, by fostering a digital culture in-house, alongside more traditional business functions.
Of course, most businesses are not start-ups, and they need to think about making the transition to digital, while protecting processes that are currently manual or paper-based.
Analyst Louella Fernandes says that many leading organisations are using Managed Print Services (MPS) providers to support their move towards digitisation. That's not surprising as an MPS provider can use their specialist expertise to understand your organisation and work with you to create an overarching strategy that enables the transition to digital processes. At the same time they can take over the day to day fire-fighting involved with paper-based processes. It's estimated that 12-15% of all helpdesk calls to internal IT departments are printer-related, and this can be reduced to 1% with a proactive MPS provider.
Aside from more thorough Process Automations, MPS can also help to improve efficiency and bridge the digital-paper divide using techniques like document capture, routing and archiving. For example, smart multi-function devices (MFDs) enable paper documents to be scanned and integrated into IT systems.
Today’s IT leaders need to focus on the bigger picture while making sure all the operational nuts and bolts are in place. As Fernandes argues, MPS can provide the tools needed to deliver a successful digital transition.
Takeaways
- Despite the excitement of digital innovation, the existing functions of IT within a company cannot simply be abandoned.
- In a bimodal strategy, the company’s IT operates at two different speeds – maintaining its traditional support function, while accelerating the key components of the digital transformation.
- Many leading organisations are using MPS providers to support their move to digital.