IT at the Fork in the Road: From Support to Service

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Information Technology departments have come to a fork in the road where the IT function will either continue as a support organization focused on the next technology implementation project or become a services organization which is responsible for managing across a full spectrum of information resources. Those IT functions that remain on the "implement and support" course will invariably continue to downsize and outsource. The businesses that rely on an "implement and support" IT function will miss valuable opportunities and many departments in the business will likely circumvent the IT function entirely. Those organizations that undergo the transformation necessary to rebuild IT as a service organization with broader responsibility will prosper as forces discussed in the book continue to drive the need for technology solutions but not necessarily for technology departments. Relying on rich research, IT at the Fork in the Road takes an in-depth look at the IT function as it exists in enterprises today, paying close attention to several of the shortcomings as well as what has made IT vital to 21st century business. The book then examines three forces that will change not only the demand on the IT function but also the landscape of business and offers high-level steps for a transformation from the traditional "implement and support" model to a new kind of services organization. The conclusion highlights five principles organizations should utilize when transforming the IT function. This is a must-read for business leaders inside and outside the IT function who wish to prepare their businesses for the growing criticality of Information Technology in organizations that can no longer be limited to the bottleneck of the traditional "implement and support" model.