If there is one New Year’s resolution that IT managers should adopt for 2007 it is this: this year, I will use IT to do something different.
More than ever, innovation is the big theme in the coming 12 months. Ask yourself these questions: How can I use IT to improve the way people in my organisation work? What technologies have emerged in the past three years that we – and our rivals – have yet to exploit? And how can I use technology to make us closer to our customers, suppliers and partners?
Of course, there are plenty of IT leaders who ask themselves these questions every day. But apart from those high-flyers there are plenty of IT managers who have been ground down by the day-to-day responsibilities of keeping the lights on. For the sake of your employer, your career, and of UK competitiveness, this is the year you need to lift your head up and look around.
The post-dot com slowdown is well and truly over. Most IT departments have cut costs as far as they can possibly go. Most chief executives now understand the potential for IT-enabled change.
And we are in the early days of a social revolution in technology use that will transform the role of IT in business and public life.
There has never been a better time to make your mark.
During the slowdown, there was no end to new technologies, and there are many tools and trends that have yet to be fully exploited. Have your rivals yet investigated the potential for voice over IP, Web 2.0, virtualisation, mobile, radio frequency identification, biometrics or online collaboration?
If not, you should – your chief executive will love the innovation that these and other emerging technologies can bring to your organisation, and the competitive edge that they offer.
But what if your rivals get there first? Don’t let that happen – because it will if you do not take the lead. Good luck to all our readers for 2007.
What do you think? Email us at feedback@computing.co.uk
Further reading:
reader comments