Organizations Organizations striving to excel at exploiting information technology need to adopt a new IT mindset. By changing how we look at IT within our organizations, we can change how the technology is exploited to help drive business performance and your organization’s industry competiveness.

To exploit IT as a strategic resource, we need to look at it with a fresh new attitude. We have to approach it with the same creativity and objectivity that we approach other business resources and not with reverence, fear and exasperation. It is one thing to declare, “IT is a strategic resource”, and it is another thing entirely to start living by this mantra.

The new IT mindset has three defining characteristics of:
- IT knowledge is a requisite part of business competence,
- IT investments are the responsibility of the business manager,
- IT and business are not separate concepts or domains.

IT Knowledge Is A Requisite Part Of Business Competence
Today, basic business competence also requires knowledge of IT trends; it’s potential as well as fluency in business-IT terms and concepts. Ignorance about IT is no longer bliss. A good grasp

of the strategic and operational value of IT for the organization and its industry are a must for today’s environment.

IT knowledge has to be inbred into the fundamental business thinking and decision-making. To be of practical business use, IT knowledge and insight must be synthesized with other kinds of knowledge and incorporated into a manager’s overall business view.

The time when an IT manager would patiently and repeatedly explain to a business manager a basic IT concept with far-reaching implications to the whole organization are now firmly behind us. IT experts will still be needed, but not to explain the IT equivalent of “why we no longer believe that the world is flat.”

Because the IT world evolves at such a rapid pace, keeping up with new technology trends and developments will be more challenging for the business manager than keeping up with concepts and trends in other business management disciplines. But it is precisely that instability and the speed of innovation that makes IT such a formidable weapon --- whether for a business to exploit it or a business that gets left behind by it.

Unfortunately, I have run out of page space and will address the other two in a later issue.

Volume: May 2005
The disclaimer…
These articles are intended as starting points and do not thoroughly cover the topic.
For further help, information, requests, questions or comments, please contact me at…

Regc@QEDSoftwareSolutions.com

Reg Cawston
QED Software Solutions Ltd.
Suite 2010, 7445 - 132nd Street
Surrey, British Columbia
V3W 1J8

Office: (604)501.1474
Fax: (604)501.2454