Towards Thoughtful IT

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia!

We've all enjoyed the pleasure of stumbling upon a great blog that we hadn't known about before.  Last week, I happened to stumble upon Cap Gemini's CTO blog, which I found excellent in several regards.

One posting in particular made me stop and think .. it was about "slow IT", part of the overall "slow movement".  I would offer that the word "slow" is a bit of a misnomer -- perhaps "thoughtful" is more appropriate.

And the prediction is that -- given the economic picture in 2009 -- we'll probably see a lot more time being spent on thoughtful IT.

What's This All About?

The umbrella concept -- worth appreciating -- can be found at SlowPlanet and Carl Honore's blog.  The idea is simple -- there are certain activities in life that take a bit of time and careful thought: parenting, relationships, career management, and so on.

And in our get-it-done, always-connected, can't-find-any-time world -- well, maybe it makes sense to intentionally slow down in a few areas, and make time for some careful thought and engagement.

On a strictly personal level, I can vouch that the best things in my life -- personal and professional -- were a result of thoughtful engagement at a measured pace.  This thinking has worked for me, anyway.

Slow IT == Thoughtful IT

As we map this concept to the world of IT we all live in, I found a certain resonance worth noting.

I'm seeing that many IT organizations are seeing the effects of a general slowdown -- there's less money to spend on big projects, there's a bit less of get-it-done-right-now going on. 

I've had a few IT leaders tel me that -- for the first time in a while -- they might get some "breathing room" to pause and reflect a bit as to their overall game plan for the next few years.

Certainly, there's a lot to think about going forward.

For example, what does virtualization really mean to you? 

Is it all about being more efficient, or being more responsive to the business?  And, if it's mostly about being more responsive, what else has to change in the infrastructure and supporting processes in order to delight the business?

Closer to home -- what about your storage strategy?

We're in the middle of a "golden age" of newer storage technologies that are in the process of changing the rules regarding how we think about this ever-increasing part of our technology portfolio.  New technologies means new strategies in many cases.

Or, the whole discussion about service providers and clouds? 

Do we as an IT organization really understand what aspects of IT will be core of us, that we'll invest in to be really good at -- and what aspects are simply things that need to be done, and thus a candidate to have someone else do them faster, better or cheaper?

Lots of other technology strategy topics to potentially go explore -- everything from next-generation data centers, to corporate social computing, to newer approaches to information security -- even using the time to start an information governance initiative that reaches outside of IT to bring other parts of the business into the information discussion.

Or, one of my personal favorites, what does an IT leader look like five years from now?

Are they really good at technology, really good at understanding where the business is going, or a healthy dose of both?  Do they bring speadsheets showing costs and service levels to their review meetings, or do they bring new proposals on how IT can propel the business forward in new areas?

Your Situation May Vary

Now, that being said, I meet many IT organizations who probably aren't going to get the luxury of a bit of breathing room.  Their businesses are still driving IT hard -- good economy or otherwise -- and they're still as much under the gun as before.

But -- if you're in a position to have the luxury of a bit of time for some reflective strategy and planning processes -- I guess I'd encourage you to take advantage of what the world has handed you, and make the most of it.

I know that -- counter to my initial expectations -- there's still a lot of demand for someone like me to meet with customers, and brainstorm current thinking on many of these topics. 

Just to be clear -- I don't bring nice and neat answers; I try to bring my perception of the best perspectives I've heard on these topics and more. It really doesn't matter what I think -- it matters what you think, and what you're going to do differently in the future that you're not doing now.

So, How About You?

Is your organization finding some breathing room for a bit of "thoughtful IT"? 

What topics and areas are you interested in?  

Are you thinking strategically, or more in terms of a better set of tactics?

I'd be interested to find out ... thanks!

 

Comments

[David Wallace]

G'day Chuck, I'm a first-time poster (at least here), long-time fan and one-time contractor for EMC marketing...Since your post on Support Central, I've been trying to find users from New England-area GE operations -- to showcase at the Boston Knowledge Mgmt Forum. Do your GE connections offer local contacts? And/or would you want to discuss EMC's experience in virtual team/blog/communication for an upcoming program? The group's blog is www.Bostonkmforum.org

[Chuck Hollis]

Sure -- I'd love to share at your event.

Can you drop me an email at:
hollis (underscore) chuck (at) emc (dot) com

Thanks!

[Dave Davidson]

Virtualize the Cloud while Mashing Up your blog on your iPhoneBlackBerry the way to the way to the airport to meet with the next buzzword bingo vapid IT department looking for magic solutions. Scared to call it slow? Why? IT is a vapid, broken profession in much need of slowing down to meaningfully redefine itself. What we need is less "get it done yesterday, no future foresight" sysadmin work and more slow IT; not to mention more thoughtful blogging full of content and free of industry buzzwords.