HDI Member Discussion Room / HDI Discussion Rooms / IT's Role in Business Alignment

What is the future of IT?

Admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:27:56 GMT

Here's an interesting tibit from the folks at Gartner Group. It begs the questions, "What is the furture of in-house IT organizations? Have business managers become so comfortable with technology that is increasingly easy to understand and operate, that IT professionals are no longer a vital part of an organization? What do think?

The number of IT staffers may shrink by 15 percent within five years, according to a new report.

Analysts at Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based industry analyst firm, say by 2010 the number of IT staff in the profession will drop by 15 percent due to the 'accelerating capabilities of external service providers and the increasing need for IT services'. And they also predict that by 2010, six out of 10 people affiliated with the IS organisation will assume business-facing roles around information, process and relationships.

Gartner analysts are advising IT leaders to figure out this year if the future of their departments lies in bringing information technology services to their business units, or if it lies in offering strategic value to the overall business.

''The IS organisation will need to either reinvent itself to create and manage assets of business processes and relationships, or it must choose to focus on the sourcing and execution of IT services,'' says John Mahoney, worldwide chief of research for IT services and management at Gartner. ''Our advice to IS leaders is that although they have some very difficult decisions to make over the fate of their department, they need to act now as the transition will take a number of years.''

Mahoney says IT staffers will have to deal with the competitive pressures of external service providers who will be able to offer standards for professionalism and price that internal workers may find hard to match.

And he adds that those external pressures will only grow.

Retail and Distribution Support models (world class or COEs):what are you doing and what works best

Admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:27:56 GMT

I'd love to gets some feedback from other HDI member in either Distribution or Retail enviroments regarding your World-class Support structure. Ideally not just helpdesk configuration by how it all fits together (i.e., helpdesk, training, process, infrastructure, enhancement, local champions, etc)

How they are you configured, lessoned learned, what works best, etc. Thanks for your time and feedback. Kimberly

What is the future of IT support?

Admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:27:56 GMT

Does this information suggest that IT support has to reach a new level of professionalsism & sophistication? I think it does; what do you think?

The ITAA (Information Technology Association of America) does an annual IT Workforce Survey. The total number of individuals within IT has now reached 10.5 million (2004). The number of individuals identified as being in Technical Services is 19 percent of the total and the number in programming positions is 20 percent. Technical Services will likely pass the programming position by the end of 2005. This fact illustrates the shift in IT job functions. So, consider your customer and their support needs when you structure your IT organizations. The result will be a more effective IT unit and a happier customer.