CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11 - 56

with a new way to do something. Operations
focus on continuity. They think about what
will happen if? instead of let's do it and let's
see what happens. It's a different mindset.
Just as Operations needs to share some of the
Development vision, Development needs to keep
an eye out for the operational shoals that might
be out there.

DO THESE CHALLENGES MOSTLY
STEM FROM TRYING TO KEEP UP
WITH THE TECHNOLOGY?
Not really. Yes, technology is rapidly changing.
But these days, the crucial questions in any
digital strategy are: Who is the end customer?
And can you develop a detailed understanding
of that customer's persona? The customer focus
is what's really changing the whole mindset of
our industry - perceiving the customer as not
just an IT user.

MANY ORGANIZATIONS HAVE TO COPE
WITH LEGACY SYSTEMS AT THE SAME
TIME AS THEY PRESS AHEAD. WHAT'S THE
BEST WAY TO DO THAT?
Legacy in itself is not a bad thing. The question
is, how can one include value-added services
on top of that legacy? Replacing entire legacy
systems is a very expensive game, unless it adds
value or functionality to your end-user.
This means that most companies need to deal
with a new reality, which is about, how to operate
at two speeds - the old, plodding speed of
legacy maintenance, and the new Agile-DevOps
speed. The complexity comes in the way you
connect these two different speeds.
The key is to accept that this transitional period
might not be temporary, that it will take a long
time to move from 100% legacy to 100% Agile.
And Agile can't solve everything, anyway. Agile
is nice when you want to innovate, to speed up.
But for operations, we prefer to begin with Lean
management. Lean is a more generic practice
you can use everywhere all the time. Then, when
you want to innovate, use an Agile approach.
But to an extent, all of this is less important
than leadership. From a management point
56

of view, I would say a digital strategy starts
with leadership. Are you really ready to open
up to others - to your people, to your
employees, to sourcing partners - to see if they
can help you innovate? You cannot innovate
yourself. If you could have, you would have
done that already. You need other people,
other partners, new ecosystems, you need to
think out of the box in order to innovate. And
that means you need to open up. But most of
us are defensive. Let's make sure this report is
OK, so I can sign it and then move on. That's
not the way to innovate.

HOW SHOULD YOU
CHOOSE AN IT PARTNER?
You need a partner with a broad range of
capabilities who understands many different
solutions and knows how to integrate them.

SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR INNOVATORS?
Yes, but innovation must begin at home. A
lot of customers complain about the missing
innovation paragraph in the contract with
the outsourcer, but innovation starts with
the business. IT services are making serious
investments in AI and DevOps. But the real
innovation needs to begin on the business side.

HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF YOU'VE
PICKED THE RIGHT PARTNER?
You never know if you have chosen the right
partner until you're working together. Cost
savings, price points - that's the easiest way to
select an IT partner, but you're better off paying
attention to whether you like the people and the
way they work. The proof of the pudding is in
the ease of the eating!
But it's also true that, in a long-term relationship,
after five or ten years you may need to add some
fresh sparkle to that relationship.

HOW DO YOU 'ADD SPARKLE'?
Try changing the team members before it's
necessary. Most people-changes occur when
it's necessary, because there's been a fight or
misunderstanding. Try swapping out staff before
CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CIO Straight Talk - Issue 11
