Organizations and their IT teams are not in sync when pursuing their digital transformation strategies, according to a new report released today by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The report, From gatekeeper to enabler: the role of IT when digital transformation is the norm, sponsored by BMC Software, shows a prime example of this disconnect. Two-thirds of private and public-sector organizations in the survey (66%) say they buy new systems and solutions without involving IT teams — a situation that flies in the face of IT's traditional role as a gatekeeper of new technologies. The findings are based on a survey of senior executives and administrators in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Reasons for the shortfall in collaboration with IT departments on digital transformation initiatives include:
■ misalignment in objectives, with non-IT teams prioritizing revenue growth and reducing costs, in contrast to IT teams that typically prioritize integration within existing systems and overall security
■ time pressures, as demonstrated by the finding that 37% of respondents cite excessive length of the procurement process for the failure to consult IT teams on the purchase of new technologies.
Nonetheless, despite many companies saying they bypass IT when purchasing new technology, 43% of respondents say their IT teams are still accountable if something goes wrong with a digital transformation initiative. This can be risky if IT teams have not evaluated the technologies in the first place.
This apparent lack of collaboration appears counterintuitive, given the generally positive view of respondents towards the benefits of co-ordination between IT and non-IT teams. Notably, organizations in which IT and non-IT teams collaborate regularly are significantly more confident about overcoming digital transformation challenges. 89 percent of collaborators say they are confident about overcoming obstacles compared with 55% of non-collaborators.
Another hindrance to seeing the results of digital transformation can be time itself. For organizations who have only had their initiatives in place for one or two years, only 42% strongly agree their organization is realizing the benefits of digital transformation. This is much lower than the 63% of respondents who have had their initiatives in place for three or more years.
Kevin Plumberg, editor of the report, says: "Digital transformation is not a one-off, unique journey that some organizations are experimenting with. It has become the norm, and companies where IT teams are working closely with the business rather than in silos are better positioned to manage the challenges that inevitably arise."
The Latest
Navigating observability pricing models can be compared to solving a perplexing puzzle which includes financial variables and contractual intricacies. Predicting all potential costs in advance becomes an elusive endeavor, exemplified by a recent eye-popping $65 million observability bill ...
Generative AI may be a great tool for the enterprise to help drive further innovation and meaningful work, but it also runs the risk of generating massive amounts of spam that will counteract its intended benefits. From increased AI spam bots to data maintenance due to large volumes of outputs, enterprise AI applications can create a cascade of issues that end up detracting from productivity gains ...
A long-running study of DevOps practices ... suggests that any historical gains in MTTR reduction have now plateaued. For years now, the time it takes to restore services has stayed about the same: less than a day for high performers but up to a week for middle-tier teams and up to a month for laggards. The fact that progress is flat despite big investments in people, tools and automation is a cause for concern ...
Companies implementing observability benefit from increased operational efficiency, faster innovation, and better business outcomes overall, according to 2023 IT Trends Report: Lessons From Observability Leaders, a report from SolarWinds ...
IT leaders are driving an increasing number of automation initiatives as a way to stay competitive, reduce costs and scale as they navigate an unpredictable social and economic environment, according to the 2023 State of Automation in IT survey conducted by Jitterbit ...
