Often in business, as in life, we presume that because everyone is talking about how wonderful something is that everyone must be doing it and – we fear – doing it better than we are. This goes for everything from participating in grueling triathlons and flawless family vacations to undertaking a successful IT transformation. In reality, none of these things are happening without careful planning and the right support – even then there are hiccups. A recent study by the BPI Network reveals some of the key factors preventing enterprises from hitting the mark with IT transformation:
- No Clear Plan: Despite the fact that 92% of businesses polled by BPI Network reported progress, a whopping 83% reported in this survey that they had no plan, outdated plans, or only a general direction as to how to proceed with an IT transformation. In short, they know they want to get on the road to transformation, but they don’t know how to get there.
- Lacking Necessary Skills: IT workers questioned for this survey reported long-term planning, application development, data analysis, and software engineering as their weakest skills. The very skills deemed to be most important to undertake the task of IT transformation. If your business also seems to be lacking in those skills and is actively planning or pursuing a IT transformation, recruitment and training may be in order.
- Collaboration and Communication: Only 18% of those polled reported to be in regular communication with departments outside of IT with 51% collaborating for bigger projects only. This is problematic when business has come to depend on technology and sees transformation as a way to achieve the innovation, agility, and cost reduction it needs to thrive. IT cannot operate in a vacuum if a transformation is to be successful.
- Budget and Support: It goes without saying that a transformation/IT infrastructure upgrade must be funded. It’s no surprise then that 66% of those polled rate their ability to adapt to transformative technologies as moderate or weak when a full 48% report insufficient funding as their biggest obstacle to innovation.
So, how does this help you? Take a cue from the enterprises polled here and look at your own IT infrastructure upgrade plans. Where are you stalling? Is your plan clear enough to reach success? Does your IT team truly have the skills necessary to not only execute, but also to strategize and conduct long-term planning for the future? And are you aware of the business needs IT is fulfilling with total buy-in (moral and financial) from the C-suite for their efforts? Even if your transformation efforts have stalled, you can kick start them again by learning from the reality of IT transformation pitfalls as reported by these enterprises.
Interested in incorporating colocation or a hybrid cloud environment into your infrastructure upgrade? Contact us to see what solution fits your business best.
