The IT business has always been about change

Ian Sherratt urges the channel to keep up with the dynamics that serve business change today

From the moment the IT sector first spluttered into life, its leaders have been forced to contend with a process of perpetual evolution, struggling to keep existing technology working while simultaneously introducing new kit at break-neck pace. It's been like driving down the M1 at 70mph while changing a tyre at the same time, and we're pretty used to it.

The current evolutionary phase, however, is different in kind.

Senior IT leaders have recognised that their departments must face up to multiple challenges and think differently if they are to remain relevant to modern business, but this time the imperative is different, representing a holistic challenge rather than a number of small technology projects.

Why? Simply put, this change is not just about infrastructure but - most importantly - the cultural and behavioural adaptations necessary to make the evolution a success.

Forget those key elements, and you could miss a massive opportunity to delight stakeholders and engage with the business itself.

Although momentum is now finally building, there is also a widespread understanding that IT departments have failed to respond quickly enough to the changing "prosumer" needs within customer businesses.

The market disruption that we have seen in recent times, brought about by cloud services and the consumerisation of IT, has become the norm rather than the exception - whether IT and the business support and allow it or not.

Business demand is running many times faster than IT can deliver necessary changes and additional services, and this isn't set to slow down any time soon.

Millions of workers, consumers and companies accustomed to everything being freely available are now demanding that the benefits offered by the social networking and mobile technology revolution be applied across the corporate landscape.

Therein lies our challenge as IT professionals. We typically don't have the infrastructure to support these demands right now, partly because we are not beginning with a blank slate; we must deal with legacy as well as innovation.

IT isn't all about the technology any more. It's about the user experience, culture and business changes that are meant to create a modern dynamic application landscape. This must suit not only business needs today, but be flexible enough to be able to meet change and demand for future innovation.

Ian Sherratt is chief technology officer at SCC