Change may be a constant, but the last two years give new meaning to this truism.
When there are more questions than answers, it’s not an easy challenge to move forward, and it’s not easy to stay productive in uncertain times and constant disruption. IT managers and their teams in particular had to quickly create new processes and use new tools.
Here are some of the strategies that have helped increase IT efficiency in this new normal, and some strategies that some executives may be overlooking.
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1. Become an IT evangelizer
With increasing reliance on technology and digital transformation, IT leaders and their teams are critical to the success of most organizations. In return, CIOs should seize strategic opportunities and market that importance.
The pandemic has underscored the need for IT leaders to exercise some power in the C-suite, said Mike Bechtel, managing director and chief futurist at Deloitte, a research and consulting firm headquartered in New York.
“The heroics we saw from our Tech Leader customers in 2020 and 2021 have secured their place in the company again [leadership] table, and I think that’s a big silver lining,” Bechtel said.
This could mean that we gradually stop trying to do more with less.
“This recognition gives IT leaders the impetus to request budget increases for their projects,” said John-Claude Hesketh, global managing partner at Marlin Hawk, a consulting firm headquartered in London.
“The world is becoming more and more digital, and [during the pandemic] “The reliance on the CIO role was greater than any other role in the company,” he said. “CIOs are now learning that they are highly valued by CEOs and business leaders.”
2. Automate routine functions
More and more IT teams are turning to business automation technologies to automate time-consuming tasks that algorithms and AI may be better suited for.
Many corporate IT departments use outdated management and operating systems that require a lot of time and attention, Bechtel said. The problem is that those tasked with maintaining and managing these systems are often senior IT professionals who earn high-level salaries while performing essentially routine tasks.
This became increasingly clear early in the pandemic as companies raced to virtualize systems to continue operating during lockdowns, Bechtel said. While many executives acknowledged that automating certain functions was the best way to move forward, they didn’t necessarily have the manpower to make the transition. Now, more and more of them are taking the time to implement automation, particularly automating systems management and operations, so they can better utilize their experienced IT staff.
Automating these types of tasks could allow enterprise IT organizations to make better use of their resources, Bechtel said. From his perspective, it is also a question of employee experience and talent retention.
“This automation trend is a Trojan horse for talent acquisition and retention,” he said. “In a world where workers are more scarce than ever, automation doesn’t eliminate jobs – it helps you hire the people you need for more demanding technical work.”
3. Reserve funds for technical developments
The use cases for virtual reality and augmented reality seem to be growing day by day, as does the metaverse hype.
While such technologies may seem like a fad to some, they have the potential to help us move beyond the video conferencing platforms that companies now use for richer interactive experiences, Bechtel said. IT organizations should reserve a portion of their budgets for the next generation of extended reality technologies, which, while this may seem like a passing trend at the moment, could become the next system of choice that all organizations need to integrate into their workflow.
“It’s really about allocating the organization’s time and budget wisely [amount] is dedicated to implementing the new and exploring the next,” Bechtel said. That doesn’t mean IT leaders should follow fads. Instead, they should be willing to evolve with technology.
“Just make sure you have some budget so you can digest what’s next and balance it with what’s coming now.”
4. Secondary functions of the cloud source
Resistance to cloud technologies has decreased over the years, and their ability to increase IT efficiency in the new normal has been particularly attractive.
The cloud gives companies the freedom to concentrate on their core competencies, said Bechtel. He illustrates this with the example of a luxury hotel chain: If this company competes based on its experience with white gloves, moving and simplifying its reservations function to the cloud could mean that employees can spend more time on higher-quality customer services.
Cloud technologies could allow enterprise-level companies to behave more like startups and become more responsive, Bechtel said.
Moving at least some functions to the cloud was also important as CIOs focus on digital transformation.
5. Be on the lookout for IT staff dissatisfaction
As the Great Retirement progresses, focusing on employee experience and better talent management is critical. This may mean that executives need to examine areas that could pose problems for IT departments – not just workload issues, but also less obvious areas, such as cultural issues.
For example, companies in traditional industries sometimes recruit workers from technology-oriented companies.
These organizations want to become more innovative with this new expertise, Hesketh said. However, such a strategy can backfire, largely due to the culture shock that comes with moving from a Silicon Valley-style tech company to a traditional company. Cultural views on technology vary widely.
“At Google or Apple or wherever they were, everyone understands technology, so you don’t have to waste your time explaining the benefits of it,” Hesketh said.
This may not be the case at a bank, where IT may be viewed as a cost center rather than part of the business strategy.
“Therefore, [former tech workers] “I see there is a big opportunity in a bank to improve technology and customer experience,” Hesketh said. “But they don’t know how to take the core business with them on this journey because they don’t understand it.” [the organization’s] Thought patterns.”
Cultural problems like these don’t just go away.
IT efficiency in a new normal that is constantly changing
The list of tools and processes that can potentially help support the efficiency of IT departments in these ever-changing times continues to grow. What is clear, however, is that CIOs and other IT leaders need to examine their organizations for the specific challenges and strategies they need to manage disruption and move forward.
About the author
Carolyn Heinze is a freelance writer and editor living in Paris. It covers several topics including technology and economics.