Chapter 2 – Organization
Five Flavors of Alignment
Alignment for a company in its simplest terms will mean streamlining its present business and being operationally prepared for implementing any future changes in its products and services. Alignment generally feels like a huge and unachievable task. Author has simplified this process by differentiating between different types of alignments. He has divided the whole alignment process into five different parts or flavors as he calls it; Strategic, Infrastructure, Operational, Innovation, and People. I think the author has taken the right approach here. Differentiating between the flavors of alignment will help a company to properly understand its objectives and to develop the right mindset and procedures to achieve those objectives. The biggest benefit of the categorization is that it allows a company to understand its requirements of resources and skills which it will need to achieve the holistic alignment of its business.
Cost versus Profit Centers
According to the author, most of the companies see technology as a cost center. They see technology as a necessary evil, something they have to invest in but if given a chance they would rather not. This happens because companies do not understand the active role technology plays in their growth and customer satisfaction. If even they do, they do not fully understand how to effectively acquire, deploy and support technology. In this technology driven world, this attitude can be poisonous. Companies need to start seeing technology as a profit center and judiciously invest in which otherwise sooner or later they will be left behind the times.
Should Boards of Directors Govern Technology?
In this section, the author talks about the extent of involvement of Boards of Directors in the governance of the technology department of their company. The author carried out an online survey and conducted several interviews with the CIOs, CTOs and other senior technology executives of major companies. The author found that in most of the companies the involvement of Boards of Directors is almost negligible. Knowing the important part technology plays in a company’s growth and overall performance, the results are just appalling. Until and unless the Boards of Directors take an active interest in technology governance, it will always be considered as a cost center.
Just Enough Organization
This section deals with the proper organization of technology department. As understood, the organization process can be very daunting. Author advises to focus on just the basics and everything else will fall in place. The organization should be done based on five basic pieces; Governance, Executive Committee, Business Technology Strategy, Data & Application, and Infrastructure, each with their specific fields of tasks assigned to them. For example, while the governance organization will make the rules pertaining to the acquisition, deployment and support of technology the Executive Committee will review business cases and large project plans. I found the organization pieces to be very effective and useful in organizing any technology department. It gets the work done effectively without creating any clutter and overlap in management. However, the organization will be only as good as the coordination between the pieces. Without proper channel of communication and coordination, the organization is bound to fail.
Tuning Up the Business Technology Organization
As he did in chapter 1, here again, the author advises on following and responding effectively to the relevant market trends albeit pertaining to a different matter (Business Technology Organization). The author charts out the different trends and the best practices which should be used as a response to those trends. I again agree with author’s main idea here. Both business and technology are getting more and more integrated and observing a rapid change in the landscape. Companies should timely review and adjust their strategies to match the best industry practices in their fields if they want to remain on top.
Would You Survive an Alignment Audit?
You Report to Who?
This section deals in detail with the components of organization strategy and how they should be employed to reach maximum efficiency and output. The author argues that the rate at which the technology is changing, it will be next to impossible for any company to keep up with the changes. A company should pay specific attention to their organization structure and should organize the IT in such a way that it supports the lines of businesses. Also, IT should be flexible enough to incorporate changes to maintain profitability and growth. More emphasis should be put on outsourcing the IT which is not an essential in-house requirement. Basically, IT should be organized in such a way that it can adapt to changing business priorities.
Who’s Minding the Technology Store?
In this section the author advises a company to create and implement a technology watch strategy which will help in identifying and tracking the technologies which are profitable and best for its future growth. Thus, a company can invest in the technologies which are fruitful for its purposes and save its finances from being wasted on unrequired technologies. The strategy comprises of two parts viz. tracking and investing. Companies should keep track of technologies which are relevant to universal macro trends and its own target areas and pilot projects. I believe this is the best practice a company can include managing its technology budget while maintaining its technological prowess. It will reduce the expenditure on undesirable technologies and redirect those funds to better purposes.
Five Hours to Influence
In five hours to influence the author tries to explain the technology side to the business side of the aisle in less than five hours. He divides the whole presentation into three modules; Technology architecture and infrastructure, Technology challenges and opportunities and Trends and best practices. I do not believe there can be an easier way to explain the technological process in such an informative manner. The way author covers all the important points in such small modules is unbelievable. The modules will help in increasing the executive’s understanding of the importance of business technology and its complexity thereby increasing their appreciation of the matter.
Grading Industry Cultures
Whatever Happened to Mentoring, Meritocracies, and Sabbaticals?
Here the author gets inside the mindset of a company’s culture when it comes to their human resource management. He argues as to why mentorship, meritocracy and sabbaticals are becoming rare day by day. I think author has touched a nerve here. A proper mentoring program should exist in a company for the proper development of a new employee. A company should also focus on the needs of its old employees. The main reason dissatisfaction arises in employees of a company is if they are not being valued appropriately and if they are overworked. A company should reward its employees based on their performance, period. Also, hardworking people should be given leaves occasionally to help them cope with the pressure. A company should never forget that it is as good as its employees.
Has Anyone Been to Nordstrom’s?
Here author compares between the customer support of Nordstrom and Dell. He argues that if a company (Dell) is selling a product it should be wholesomely responsible for providing the customer support after the sale regardless of the fact that the product is made by different vendors (software and hardware). I think the author has made a valid point here. A company’s approach should always be customer centric and after sell support services matter as much if not more than the product itself.
Do You Have a CTMO?
In this section, author talks about the importance of having a positive brand image for your technology organization. He insists on the fact that good perception of a company’s technology organization is as important as the products it markets. Hence, there is a need to invest in this area. I only somewhat agree with the author on this topic. Marketing for creating a good perception will only work if the technological organization is in its perfect shape. A company should first put more emphasis on enhancing its technology organization and then invest in marketing.
Another Audit
The concept of optimization audit mentioned in this section by the author helps a company to get the most out of its existing resources. Basically, the audit looks at the present infrastructure (computing & communication) of a company and assesses their potential value which they can provide to sales, marketing, growth, and profitability. This is a step every company should employ to achieve optimization of their technological resources. The audit will reveal if the resources are being used to their full potential or not. Before making any new investment in technology a company should make sure that it is doing its best with what it already has. Optimization audit will greatly help in this regard.
The Whole Context and Nothing but the (Whole) Context
In this section, the author talks about the different variables that influence the business technology decisions made in a company. The factors include politics, leadership, culture, management best practices, company’s financial state, technology integration and collaborative business models. The author has identified most of the important variables and these variables should be kept in mind before taking on a new technology effort. If one finds that some of the variables are hampering company’s decision-making process, those should be managed effectively before making any decision.
What Kind of Technology Center Are You, Really?
In this section, the author basically repeats his arguments about seeing technology as a cost center or profit center. There is nothing new in the argument hence this section does not require further explanation.
Who’s in Control?
Discipline
Making Money with IT: Three Ideas for Revenue Generation
A Little Exercise Goes a Long Way: Internal Focus Group Problem Solving
In this section, the author takes on the problem of politics and gives a satisfying example of a solution. Politics hampers the free flow of thoughts and ideas thereby crippling creativity and innovation. IT professionals do not speak out much as they feel they will have to face rebuttal (which they do face from time to time). The best way to solve this problem is to provide the professionals with a level of anonymity and air cover. Also, it should be made sure that their ideas get a fair chance of being implemented.
Of PMOs, VMOs, and XMOs: Why So Many Management Offices?
In this section, the author criticizes the need of creating different management offices for tackling every major problem. He argues that if the key management processes and disciplines were already a part of a company’s culture and work process, there will be no need to create a new management office to enforce the best practices which should already be a part of it. I mostly agree with the author on this. I do believe that best practices should be followed from the start but there might be a need to create ad-hoc management offices to solve some challenging problems in a project.
What are your biggest takeaways from this chapter?
My biggest takeaway from the chapter is the fact that this chapter changes the perception of people with regards to IT. Technology should never be viewed as just a cost center as it is so much more than just a necessary evil. Technology ensures efficiency in the process and maintains profitability and growth. The only thing to learn is to find the right path for investing in it. The concept of optimization audit will go a long way in creating that understanding. Also, companies should devise a way to give voice to IT professionals. They should be included in major decision-making processes. What this chapter does best is to establish the importance of technology with respect to business processes. It shows that to ensure efficiency and profitability, technology is integral to the business processes and hence should be given equal importance.
How long did this assignment take you to complete?
It took me one day to complete this assignment.
References
Andriole, S. J. (2009). Best practices in business technology management. Boca Raton: Auerbach Publications.
