Achieving the company's growth strategy with IT

Shane Louw, Senior Partner and Managing Executive of IT Talent Solutions, said that the industry is facing a digital tsunami. "The reality is that in South Africa, 85% of organisations will change their technology and sourcing relationships in the next two to three years for a variety of reasons. Forty-six percent of these will need to work with new categories of partners, e.g. mobility, big data, cloud, analytics, digital agency and social."

These high-level and strategically driven decisions require employees who are able to combine IT savvy with business acumen; individuals who are able actively to manage their IT portfolio in a way that drives enterprise value and allows evaluation of portfolio performance in terms that business leaders can understand. However, there is a marked shortage of IT individuals who possess these skills and although building a digital enterprise has become a priority for most companies, recent studies reveal that IT is still being viewed as a cost centre rather than being accepted as a strategic partner around the executive table.

"For example, with businesses using increasing volumes of data for analytics purposes, it is surprising to note that more than 50% of CIOs are not piloting, implementing or adopting analytics in their organisations," said Louw.

A strategic business function

A 2014 Brainstorm CIO survey revealed that although the majority of CIOs (74%) saw IT as a strategic business function, only a select few saw it as an innovative force. And, although more than half agreed that IT was something that supports business growth, one-third of these same CIOs said that IT merely played a "keeping the lights on" role in business.

"The perception that IT is merely a supporter of business innovation, rather than an innovator itself needs to change," cautioned Louw.

Many companies have, in fact, reduced IT to a technical delivery role rather than a profit centre for investing in new technologies and driving growth. "Not only do we need to change perceptions to address and reframe the ways IT professionals and business see the field of IT radically, but we also need to find ways to better upskill and reskill IT professionals to engage, retain and develop the talent. We need to ensure IT professionals have the right skills and capabilities in place to meet forthcoming challenges."

IT-driven transformation programmes

To change perceptions and to create better business value, Louw said large IT-driven transformation programmes are required. Training solutions should offer skill-based learning programmes in line with business strategy and skills assessments that help analyse gaps in the IT team and then continue to create a road map based on the areas in which they need to improve. "Better utilisation of employee skills, more efficient use of training budgets and increased retention leads to a fitter, more agile and competitive IT department," said Louw. He says once the gaps are identified, learning programmes can be developed for each individual based on the areas in which they need to improve.

"IT professionals will need to equip themselves with the tools and knowledge required to play a key innovative role in business strategy. To transform the IT role successfully, CIOs and other top professionals in the field will need ongoing high level support," concluded Louw.