Featuring:

Gordon Barnett, Principal Analyst

Show Notes:

The IT organization of today will look very different in the future, thanks to three primary forces. First, an increasing focus on customer experience for both internal and external customers will alter CIOs’ view of the function. Second, increasing employee power will inspire CIOs to better understand internal needs and work preferences in relation to IT requirements. And third, the continued advancement of technology will change users’ expectations of IT.

In this episode of What It Means, Principal Analyst Gordon Barnett details the impact of these forces on the IT organization and provides guidance on how CIOs can adapt and focus their organizations on the future of work.

Why the need for change? Historically, IT organizations functioned like product teams, according to Barnett. They delivered what they thought was important to their customers. Today, CIOs must become more customer-centric and deliver what their customers truly need.

Barnett also points out that, in this era of change, different IT teams have different requirements. In some legacy-focused functions, there is less change and specialization. But customer-facing IT functions are typically faster paced and focus delivery of IT services based on customer demand. “They are cocreating IT services with those that are consuming those services,” he says.

A good first step for CIOs is to review the work IT does today and decide if some of that work can be moved to other internal teams or automated. The level of IT knowledge among younger workers in other business functions might allow for more unbundling than previously thought.