In one sense, many vendors can talk a pleasant-sounding game around making IT more efficient, more effective, more agile and so on. Whether or not they can actually deliver on that rosy picture is always an interesting question to ask.
But that's not the point here.
Because -- occasionally -- I am getting more involved in scenarios where "IT being strategic" takes on a whole new level of seriousness. It's not about IT supporting or aligning or enabling the business.
It's when IT becomes the business.
The Rise Of Focused Service Provider Models
If you -- as an organization -- have developed a set of killer internal proficiencies, does it make sense to expose it externally to others in your industry who need the same?
If you're a large regional hospital, does it make sense to stand up IT services for smaller, local healthcare providers?
If you've learned how to rate insurance risks better than your industry peers, does it make sense to market that expertise (as a service) to others?
If you're a telco or communications provider, does it make sense to invest in becoming an internal IT service provider so you can help the front-end of the business sell IT services?
If you're a retailer, and have developed unique insight into consumer behavior, does it make sense to monetize it beyond your four walls?
There are dozens and dozens of other examples I've encountered, but I think you might have the idea. More and more interesting business models are centering around externalizing internal capabilities.
And, in those situations, IT become capital-S Strategic to the business mission.
A Thorny Strategic Question
As I hear more of these stories, there's inevitably a healthy discussion.
Do we use the organization's unique proficiencies to support the broader business model and keep it a competitive advantage, or is it better to expose our capabilities externally as a separate (but aligned) business model?
Certainly, there are big-bucks strategic consultants who can help you wade through the pros and cons around these fascinating scenarios.
My personal opinion tends towards openness -- exposing useful capabilities to others builds a healthy (yet somewhat dependent) ecosystem, and -- at least in the hyper-competitive IT industry -- healthy ecosystems are an essential part of strategy 101.
It's Not Easy -- Unless You're Prepared
Traditional IT organizations sometimes struggle to effectively act as an internal service provider, let alone one that is serving external customers who are highly dependent on the service.
The back-end and front-ends of the organization look totally different than old-school business-as-usual IT: different people, different roles, different processes -- and frequently very different motivations.
However, there's hope.
Put a model of an internal private cloud IT organization on the table. Now put a model of a proficient external service provider right next to it.
You'd be amazed by the similarities.
Both think in terms of service creation and delivery. Both have heavy investments in front-end skills like business analysts, account reps, end customer support, and the like. Both run "IT as a business" to a great extent.
Why can I say this? Easy.
On one hand, EMC is very focused on enabling the next generation of IT service providers -- from business case to go-to-market to partner ecosystem alignment to service creation to supporting infrastructure and processes and the whole shebang.
We've amassed an impressive set of capabilities to help service providers build and grow their businesses -- far beyond enabling technology (although that stuff is pretty cool when it's time for that discussion!)
At the same time, we're very focused on helping our traditional IT customers transition to an internal service provider model as well: new processes, new roles, new IT org structures -- again, far beyond just enabling technology.
At EMC, I get involved in both. And I can personally vouch for the amazing similarities between the two.
Yet Another Rationale For Pursuing A Private Cloud Model?
Pursuing a private cloud strategy could be nothing more than getting deadly serious about delivering IT-as-a-service using internal capabilities: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and so on. Even if it's IT as usual, there's a compelling case in most situations.
However, senior IT leaders typically have a good grasp on the overall business strategy, and a strong sense of where things might be heading. Some see the externalization of core competencies as a possibility, other are a bit more vocal and driving these externalized service models as an attractive and compelling business strategy.
Either way, I see cloud-izing internal IT as a good thing: not only to do a better job at what IT is being asked to do today, but creating the foundation for what IT might be asked to do tomorrow.
Comments