IT must take the lead as business evolves

After three years in the doldrums, IT professionals are in a position to take a leading role in business - if they accept the irresistible realities of a changing world, says Gartner.

Chairman and chief executive Michael Fleisher told delegates at the analyst's Spring Symposium that the focus of companies is already moving away from cost cutting.

'Chief executives are now demanding that IT executives support their number one priority - innovation and growth,' he said.

By 2006, he believes we will be entering a new era of opportunity as new technologies (see box) begin to meet new market demands.

'This next generation of innovation and growth will create new markets and enormous wealth. The rewards will be very great indeed for those who can understand and exploit these technologies.'

But if IT wants to be at the forefront of change it must take control of - rather than resist - unstoppable trends.

Outsourcing

The world is on the brink of a new wave of technology innovation and growth but it will be accompanied by a huge transfer of white-collar jobs overseas, warns Gartner.

The analyst believes that up to 25 per cent of traditional IT jobs in developed countries will move overseas by 2010 - particularly to emerging economies.

The IT executive must not be swayed by the 'firestorm of controversy' offshore outsourcing is generating, says Fleisher.

Protectionism at business or national level will fail and there is no use looking for someone to blame for job losses.

'It's not your company's fault, or your government's fault, still less those people in China and India who are just trying to make better lives for themselves. We have all created this world for ourselves through our own choices as investors, consumers and citizens,' he said.

Fleisher believes that the IT executive is in a unique position to influence the course of outsourcing in companies.

'IT must help the company understand what, and what not, to outsource - and show how it can be done. We know how to do it and are uniquely placed to take charge.'

The real-time enterprise

The second reality is that the key differentiator between businesses over the coming years will be speed of thought, response and action.

Organisations have wrung nearly all the efficiencies out of traditional back-office systems, warns research fellow Ken McGee, and should now be looking elsewhere for competitive advantage.

The art is to look at business needs and processes, not the development of individual bits of kit.

McGee says the key is the real-time enterprise - the continuous process of change towards fast detection and speedy response.

Following corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom, the law demands that companies know what is happening at any given point in time and act fast to root out wrongdoing.

'Show me a business mishap or a corporate scandal, and I will show you where there was warning. If companies had detected where those events were happening, they could have avoided the scandal; there's no such thing as a legitimate business surprise,' he said.

'You need very, very little data. The problem is normally that people are not collecting it in the first place.'

Creating a real-time enterprise is a continuous process, and IT is only one issue, says research director Mark Raskino.

'It's an iceberg looming in the mist and may take 10 years. But we are already in a "now economy." The markets and consumers want instant response and those that can't keep up will suffer,' he said.

Smart businesses will follow the maxim: 'detect earlier, act faster,' says Raskino.

The connected enterprise

We are well on the way to becoming an always-on, always-connected society.

Technologies such as mobile phones and wireless connections mean we are rarely disconnected from some kind of network.

The trend is likely to advance at pace. Inexpensive chips and sensor technology will constantly track movement and behaviour. And new interfaces will allow more personalised interaction across networks.

Quite quickly it will change the way we work. Gartner believes that in as little as 10 years the majority of us will only go into a physical office once a week.

New business models are already arising, such as micropayments and microcommerce.

But there are big challenges.

'The combination of wireless mesh networks and inexpensive sensors will drive massive increases in data collection, a corresponding reduction in privacy and a fishbowl society,' said research fellow Nick Jones.

The first change will be our definition of privacy.

'The idea of privacy as anonymity will go. That battle has been lost,' said Jones.

'You can't prevent the collection of data. Privacy will be defined by how we control the use of that data.'

How do we regulate the use of data? How do we retain trust in a data-centric society? How will we combat criminals wishing to exploit the availability of data?

These are questions that IT decision-makers should be considering now, claims Gartner.

The analyst sees stark choices - take the lead and create a leading future role, or resist and become irrelevant.