IT Success!: Towards a New Model for Information Technology

9.9. How tools can help

Starting to implement the new model, even on a basic scale in selected parts of your company, will require the help of a software tool to support the new processes. It would be inconceivable to manage the end-to-end business processes covered by the new model on a mix of Microsoft Excel, Access or in-house developed systems. It would also be difficult for an IT department to justify using its scarce resources on such an exercise.

Amazingly today, in an age in which most companies would simply be unable to function without IT to manage its production, sales, delivery and service, the IT department remains the proverbial cobbler's child with no shoes. Whereas the rest of the business like marketing, sales, order management, finance, customer service – even HR – all have their systems, from stand-alone applications to integrated ERP and CRM, the IT department usually has to make do with Microsoft Project and Excel! And yet it has to run a business just as complex as the rest of the company, one based on products, services, orders, resources, projects, technology, finance, inquiries and support. This is an aberration, to say the least!

The main reason for this is the lack of appropriate tools and technology, which has come relatively late to IT. Fortunately, there now exists a mature offering of software packages which allows an IT department to 'do business' with its customers, both internal and external. They virtually all fall into the category of 'IT governance' ...