How can I improve my IT department's performance?

The sudden change in consumer habits during Covid was a real gas pedal for the digital transformation of companies. Companies used digital innovation to adapt, demonstrating that greater agility in Information Systems (IS) was both necessary and possible.

"Digital transformation challenges the CIO".

This article, written by IT & Digital Transition Managers, explains how to make IT more agile by changing its behavior to speed it up.

Businesses and customers demand greater agility

Unsurprisingly, companies that have been able to get a head start on their digital transformation are the ones able to stay ahead of their less agile competitors.

Today's businesses and customers perceive digital technology differently, and want to go much further, much faster.

An IT department that's not keeping pace with expectations

Often trapped in outdated and obsolete patterns, IT Departments need to reinvent themselves. Slow, unavailable, incomprehensible: there's no shortage of adjectives to describe the perceived shortcomings of some CIOs today. And yet, it has never been more important to accelerate IS responsiveness and agility, to offer a 360° view of all processes, facilitate rapid integration of new projects (new products or services) and pave the way for a real-time IS accessible from any type of medium.

ISD acceleration is the key to success

The IT department must undergo a profound transformation of its organization and operating methods. This implies adopting a new approach, focusing on speed and adaptability rather than on streamlining technical processes and dealing with technical debt. Acclaimed by all the Group's business units, this emphasis on agility requires a real paradigm shift, involving two major transformations. On the one hand, the management of the IT Department, facilitated in particular by the intervention of a Transition Manager and/or a team of experts. And secondly, that of the IS architecture itself, to enable faster integration of new software in SaaS mode (Software As A Service: software hosted on the Internet).

Putting the IT department back at the heart of the game

By promoting CDOs (Chief Digital Officers), some companies have effectively bypassed CIOs on certain digital transformation projects. In the quest to save time, this has sometimes led to confusion. And yet, companies cannot afford to overlook the need for consistency and security in their information systems. Once General Management has defined its objectives, it must redefine the roles of each party and give the IT Department the means to be in phase with the company's desire for transformation.

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Gaining leverage with Interim Management

In many cases, the IT department will have to reinvent itself. There are two options. Either opt for ad-hoc improvisation, which will take time. Or use Transition Managers who have already carried out a similar transformation, able to provide immediate operational solutions and adapt the IT Department to the post-Covid era.

The IT department is often a brake on business transformation

Digital transformation is now seen as a necessity by managers and all the company's business functions.

Yet there is a growing disenchantment with the IT Department: "Is our IT Department really capable of supporting our digital transformation, pushing it in the right direction and keeping it moving at the necessary pace?". This doubt is on everyone's mind.

When it should be accelerating transformation, the IT department can become a brake on innovation. When it should be a vector for digitization, the IT department can become a bottleneck.

Findings of a malaise

Wrong priorities, a techno-centric vision, lack of communication, growing frustration, and much more: there's no shortage of symptoms of the IT department's malaise, and its difficulty in positioning itself at the heart of the game.

A damaging loss of confidence

For many years, the IT department was the object of blind trust, as it was mainly focused on technical issues. Today, digital transformation is raising expectations of an unprecedented nature and level from the IT Department, which has not always been able to transform itself as it should to meet new needs. This slowness and rigidity are at the root of the loss of confidence we are currently witnessing.

Mutual incomprehension

IT and business departments can no longer talk to each other, or have difficulty understanding each other. This is detrimental, because dialogue is essential in all digital projects, especially when they involve a major transformation of the company. This communication gap, for a variety of reasons (vocabulary mismatch, technical posture, the demands of new generations, etc.) must be corrected at all costs. The IT Department needs to become aware of the dissatisfaction of the business units, and stop pitting technical complexity against the demands of the latter.

Conflicting expectations

Attached to its IT and technological expertise, the IT Department sometimes locks itself into a hermetic bubble that isolates it from other players. Rather than proposing business solutions, as is their role, IT specialists sometimes provide technical answers that are completely out of step with the expectations and perspectives of the business.

Incompatible tempos

Everyone wants a more agile IT department. However, IT specialists and the rest of the company live in two different timeframes. When business units expect a response within a few days, it is inconceivable to wait several weeks or months to propose a solution. Yet this is often the case. The IT department is too slow, and often delivers projects late - a situation that is all the more incomprehensible given the existence of portals listing tens of thousands of ready-to-use SaaS software products.

Wrong priorities

The IT Department remains overly focused on rationalizing and industrializing its work, to the detriment of internal customer satisfaction. This focus on rationalization (architecture sophistication, technical automation, etc.) is becoming counter-productive and a source of frustration for all stakeholders. The IT Department needs to rethink its priorities in order to move forward and support business functions in their digitization by becoming a force for innovation.

The IT department trapped in its own history

The difficulties encountered have causes linked to the history of the Information System's construction, but also to the culture, processes and organization of the IT Department.

The "run" remains the IT department's top priority

The availability and reliability of the Information System is the IT Department's number 1 priority. When IT is down, the business is disrupted, or even completely shut down. Runtime therefore takes priority over project delivery. Given the complexity of the Information System, any request for modification represents a major risk of destabilization. Teams then spend a disproportionate amount of energy analyzing the side-effects of modifications, to the detriment of their availability to the Business Units.

The infrastructure trap

An Emerson study of 500 CIOs worldwide showed that 41% of CIO time was spent managing IT infrastructure issues, even though this technical work is generic. Why spend so much energy on a subject that isn't core business? IT infrastructures and office automation should no longer consume IT resources. They are therefore candidates for outsourcing or transfer to the Cloud.

When the IT department remains a prisoner of its past

IT Departments are often locked into legacy software based on old architectures. While it's tempting to replace them to benefit from more agile technologies, the replacement cost is too high in relation to the value created. This legacy hinders the IT department's digital transformation. The pitfalls of legacy architectures can be avoided by adopting new ways of working (time-based project management, etc.) and adding complementary technologies (Cloud, IS APIs, etc.).

What if your IT department was your own worst enemy?

When the IT Department is neither sufficiently available nor responsive enough, the Business Units find solutions on their own, via the Internet or suppliers, or develop solutions themselves without the involvement of the IT Department (e.g., based on Excel macros). This could be an opportunity for the IT department: the business units do the work for the IT department, experimenting with solutions at their own pace and taking ownership of the technology. The downside? Fragmentation of systems, a risk to their long-term maintenance, scattered data, increased security risks and a loss of overall value for the company.

The advent of the hybrid-architecture information system

The all-in-one ERP architecture model no longer works in an agile world. There is a SaaS solution (+30,000) for virtually every need. They can be integrated into the ERP system at the click of a mouse, rather than requiring cumbersome and costly ERP parameterization. The future of ERP is to be permanently interconnected with these complementary solutions thanks to integration tools (ESB).

Other causes are slowing down the transformation

Other obstacles are emerging, such as the heterogeneous appetence of digital technology within the business. Differences in perception between generations and difficulties in adopting new solutions add to the difficulties experienced by CIOs.

A heterogeneous appetite for digital technology in the trades

Adoption of digital technologies varies according to sector, company and individual. Top management has been convinced of the value of digital technology for several years. Operational staff readily adopt proposals if they are relevant. Middle managers, on the other hand, are often an obstacle, struggling to adapt to the agility brought about by digital technology (cross-functional information, bypassed hierarchies, constant innovations, etc.).

Even at 70% adoption, a digital project fails

How many times have we seen a "great" new software product used by only 70% of its target audience, or less? Sometimes, all the ingredients are there, but the graft doesn't take. Those who don't use it feel like failures, downgraded in comparison with the others. The low level of adoption is due to insufficiently intuitive ergonomics, change management that is not always adapted to the new situation, and management's difficulty in irreversibly imposing new uses.

Startups more credible than digitized incumbents

Some incumbent players who have made the digital transformation are nonetheless being beaten by startups with superior credibility. Startups win projects thanks to their "digital native" credentials and their ability to pitch. This is a paradox, as their ability to deliver is variable due to their young experience. By contrast, incumbent players have the experience and real ability to deliver, but must nevertheless adopt agile behavior and make it an integral part of their image.

"Digital in your private life but not at work!"

Tensions arising from the generational divide

On the one hand, the younger generations are extremely comfortable with social networks and digital collaboration methods; on the other, their elders are just as effective with more traditional means and tools. Support is needed to help them discover the new methods and share a common toolbox.

IT is not perceived as a differentiating factor

Many companies fail to understand how IT and digital technologies will enable them to make a difference and stand out from the competition. Born of a lack of digital culture and reasoning based on old business models, this misunderstanding opens up a boulevard to disruptive competitors, especially startups that dare to approach markets from a new angle. The challenge is to integrate technology into the company's offering. The IT department can seize this opportunity to contribute to the company's R&D.

Things to remember

• CIOs are mainly focused on "legacy" and "run", the initial priorities of companies
• To achieve this, they have sometimes implemented cumbersome architectures (ERP) and rigid governance processes.
• Digital technology is changing business models and upsetting user expectations, which are heterogeneous.
• These discrepancies lead to a loss of trust and a lack of understanding, which CIOs, with the help of senior management, must resolve.
• To play a central role in the company's digital transformation, the IT department needs to change its approach and focus on better integration with business functions and greater responsiveness.

Why transform an IT department?

The role of CIOs has undergone a veritable revolution in the space of ten years, moving from a mission of managing IT to a function of creating value for Business Units, whose needs are rapidly evolving. This change in the CIO's role in relation to the expectations of the Business Units creates friction points that the Transition CIO is able to resolve.

Turn your IT department into a transformation lever

The successful evolution of the IT department involves refocusing on value creation, taking responsiveness into account, a relationship centered on users and their needs, and more flexible architectures.

Changing the environment to change behavior

As the work of the Palo Alto School of Psychology has shown, behavior is a consequence of the environment in which we evolve.

Take, for example, a metal ball that spins in a funnel and always ends up falling to the bottom due to gravity. The result is the same every time. But if this metal marble is thrown into a saucepan, it will stop at a different point each time. It's the same ball, but its behavior is directly linked to the environment in which it's moving: the funnel or the saucepan.

The same principle can be applied to human beings. Imposing a certain way of working on them will have no effect as soon as pressure or incentives are left aside. On the other hand, a change in the environment will naturally and sustainably modify people's behavior. The "irreversible" dimension of the new environment is an essential element of success.

Changing IT behavior before technical architecture

The IT department's natural reflex is to change its technology before making any fundamental changes to itself. Re-engineering IT processes must be the first driver of change. It will always be possible to modify the technical architecture at a later date, thanks in particular to the services offered by public clouds, SaaS software or specific developments. Changes to IT organization and processes have an impact that is immediately perceptible to the Business Units. Architectural changes have a longer-term impact.

Focusing on value creation

We recommend evaluating projects according to their value-creation potential. R.O.I. (return on investment), the tool favored by financiers, is not the only prism of analysis.

The table below is a checklist of 30 value-creation axes that can be selected to promote a project.

These axes of creation will be useful for project developers to sell their projects, and for decision-makers to analyze their relevance. However, this new paradigm is not spontaneous in an environment where a techno-centric culture predominates.

30 ways to create value for your projects

"Modifying the environment to bring about lasting changes in behavior."

Speed and responsiveness: the two pillars of the IT department of the future

For the IT Department, responsiveness means knowing how to respond rapidly to business requests. It requires the courage to implement ambitious IS governance processes. The short timeframe and pragmatic approach generate rich, collaborative exchanges between the IT Department and the Business Units. The benefits are many: focusing on the essentials, interactive dialogue and giving priority to speed. It's also a way of challenging ageing architectures, with which such responsiveness is impossible.

A different way of responding to trades

"All requests from the Trades, qualified by significant value creation, should receive macroscopic proposals within two to five days".

This example illustrates the need to think differently. The constraint may seem excessive, but it is perfectly feasible to carry out a pre-framing exercise leading to three possible solutions and their associated SWOTs*. Once the analysis has been presented to the business units, and a macro-assessment of the cost/delivery/quality axes has been carried out, it is possible to quickly eliminate the bad ideas and concentrate on the most interesting hypothesis.

*SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

The advent of permanent prototyping

There's a debate about how to run projects, pitting "V-Cycle**" against "Agile*** Methods". But the essential thing is to meet the deadline and value-creation requirements imposed by the digital context. The permanent prototyping approach, derived from Lean Startup, enables us to test, observe, learn and correct continuously and rapidly. This enables the IT Department to become a driving force for innovation and an essential source of proposals.

**V cycle: specifications, development, acceptance...

***Agile methods: projects broken down into short sprints for better adaptation to needs

Innovate by creating a Start-up Studio

Innovation is one of the key levers for generating growth. Digital innovation is not yet a natural exercise, due to internal inertia within companies.

The Startup Studio concept involves creating a startup to develop a new idea related to the company's core business. To succeed, the startup must be made independent, and an entrepreneur must be recruited as a significant shareholder, so that he or she can act as the company's owner. Being independent of the parent company, he or she has real freedom to develop and innovate. Once success has been achieved, the parent company may decide to keep it as a subsidiary or sell it.

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Three models for organizing your IT department

These three organizational models enable each company to define an appropriate positioning for its IT department.

ISD for execution

IT is not a strategic differentiator in the company's product or service offering to its customers. The IT Department acts as a one-stop shop for business requests. It reports to the CFO, and is perceived as an expense center whose aim is to optimize costs. The IT Department is not represented on the Board of Directors. Business units don't expect it to be proactive, to launch new technologies or to think about new business models. Its mission is to manage operations safely and cost-effectively.

A proactive IT department

IT is seen as a value-creating element, often focused internally. In this case, the IT Department is proactive. It seeks to understand and anticipate the needs of the Business Units, adopting a permanent watch attitude in order to identify new trends and be operational when the need arises. The IT Department may report to General Management or to the Finance and Administration Department, and may or may not be a member of the Executive Committee.

The core IT department

Some companies require specific IT technologies as part of their service offering. When piloting these development projects, the IT Department needs to behave like an R&D team. The presence of in-house developers helps protect know-how. The Lean Startup and DevOps culture is becoming essential, and the profiles of R&D Directors (CTOs) are relevant for piloting the IT Department. The digitization of the economy means that this core business positioning of the IT Department will become increasingly important.

CIOs are "self-taught" in their function

IT is a relatively new profession, and the vast majority of CIOs are self-trained. Many come from technical backgrounds, but more and more come from business schools. In the same way as a CEO, the CIO function cuts across the whole company.

Infortive CIOs have replaced CIOs in many companies of all sizes. We have identified a real need for CIOs to acquire the right leadership and skills for the role.

With CentraleSupélec Exed, the first training course to offer a 360° view of the CIO professionprofession, delivered by highly experienced CIOs in the field.

This training course gives you the opportunity to learn from highly experienced CIOs in the field, and to stay in touch with them after the course. Exchanges are concrete and rich in anecdotes from these ISD "firefighters".

Which model to choose?

These three types of CIO do not operate in the same way, nor do they fulfill the same objectives. Companies often inherit a specific model that needs to evolve. Given the difficulty of this change, the services of a Transition Manager with equivalent experience is a real asset to success.

What results can you expect from IT transformation?

Transition Management, a lever for digital transformation

Designing and managing a digital transformation requires specific know-how. Relying exclusively on teams with little or no experience increases the already high risk inherent in any transformation. Conversely, calling on experienced interim managers is an essential safeguard for successful transformation, and saves considerable time.

Transition Management has proven its worth

Interim Management enables companies to benefit, at short notice and for a fixed period, from highly qualified operational managerial skills to deal with specific situations.

Examples of transition assignments

Interim CIO until new CIO arrives

This "interim" type assignment is focused on managing day-to-day business until a new CIO arrives. The Interim Manager will contribute his knowledge of best practices, shed light on the organization in place and, if necessary, propose a development plan.

IT transformation

This type of assignment is aimed at builders who have already carried out similar missions. Six weeks are generally needed to assess the situation, propose a transformation plan, set up a new organization capable of getting teams on board, and design a new environment generating the desired behavioral changes.

Company carve-out

The Transition Manager can act as CIO or in support of the CIO to specifically manage the transformation of the Information System linked to the carve-out. The transferor provides the Information System during the transitional period. The Transition Manager will use his experience to obtain the cooperation of the transferor's IT department, which is rarely motivated by this operation.

New infrastructures (data centers, telecoms, workstations, etc.) will be required. The Transition Manager's experience enables him to select new partners and service levels (SLAs), and set up the new IT team.

"Transition Management saves strategic time."

Company mergers

The first phase of a merger (6 to 12 months on average) is critical and fully justifies the presence of an experienced Transition Manager. Key employees in the merger will quickly need access to information from the other entity. The next step is to set up the new infrastructure, share non-critical applications and establish a common directory. These seemingly straightforward operations are complicated by the pressure of the stakes, the need to move fast and the multitude of projects to be carried out simultaneously.

The second phase of the merger will generally be carried out by in-house teams, and will enable business applications to be rationalized over a period of up to 3 years.

Digital transformation

Digital transformation involves changing a company's processes, and sometimes its business model, in order to integrate value-creating digital technologies. This transformation has a major impact on organization, processes, corporate culture and, of course, the technology portfolio. The Transition Manager will quickly identify the levers of transformation and lead the change.

Infrastructure outsourcing

Whether the outsourcing is to the public cloud or to an outsourcer, the Transition Manager will use his experience to plan the switchover operation down to the last detail, including return scenarios. From the outset, everyone needs to know what their role will be after outsourcing, whether inside or outside the company. The Transition Manager will be able to demonstrate to the teams that the professions involved in managing Cloud infrastructures are richer than those of traditional operations. The plan must be implemented, and users kept regularly informed.

International project deployment

Multicultural management can't be improvised (for example, "yes" doesn't always mean the same thing in every country). The Transition Manager with international experience is at ease in the field, and knows how to adapt the project to the local context. They also know how to find the local contacts needed to monitor milestones.

Crisis management

Crisis management requires a Transition Manager to be operational from day one. To manage the emergency, he or she will use a short hierarchy. He or she will know how to appropriate the company's vocabulary, communicate in a fair way to reassure and maintain firm positions. The manager knows how to be present in the field, where the problems arise, and his leadership is strengthened by the urgency of getting out of the crisis. He has an ecosystem of specialists he can call on to solve technical problems, and knows how to quickly assess the members of his teams to understand how to help them.

Cost rationalization

The Transition Manager uses benchmarks derived from a multitude of assignments. The levers at his disposal are numerous: benchmarking market prices, implementing low-cost redundant architectures rather than fault-tolerant ones (which are very expensive), optimizing IT department organization, internalizing or outsourcing functions or services... This rationalization can be the main focus of an assignment, or come as a bonus to the management of an IT department transformation assignment.

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Things to remember

• The more assignments an interim manager has completed, the better he or she performs.
• Transformation and crisis management missions require a builder's profile
• Interim assignments are more open in terms of profile
• The financial gain from a transition assignment is often more than 5 times its cost

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IT is a sector with huge performance gaps

IT deals with abstract concepts that are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is therefore preferable to recruit a high-level individual, as he or she will find it easier to manage complexity. In fact, his or her value for money is far superior to that of many average individuals who won't have the required capacity for abstraction. Accelerated technological obsolescence means that new technologies have to be relearned on a regular basis. This argues in favor of high-level individuals who can adapt more easily.

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Infortive, France's first community of CIOs in Transition

Created and run by CIOs in Transition, Infortive brings together Transition Managers who are experts in the transformation of companies, CIOs and Information Systems. The CIO profession remains difficult to grasp, as it is cross-functional, technological and managerial, and must integrate rapid and permanent change.

CIOs are in the best position to challenge each other and open up new horizons. As part of Infortive's transition programs, the CIO on assignment will benefit from "mirror" coaching (by one or more of his or her peers).

We run a CIO Transition Academy

A lively community of enthusiastic Transition CIOs, Infortive CIOs meet regularly to share their experiences and the results of constant monitoring, discuss best practices and help each other with specific cases. As part of our ongoing skills enhancement program, we organize training workshops and case studies, and set up committees to identify the best feedback (while respecting confidentiality).

"Only CIOs can challenge CIOs."

You have access to a multitude of specialists

When you call on Infortive, you benefit from the experience and collective intelligence of Transition CIOs with decades of experience and a wide range of skills. It is also the guarantee of a "support" CIO who will provide tailor-made assistance to the Transition CIO on assignment. Beyond the simple logistics of the mission, nothing is left to chance: choice of architectures, selection of software solutions, management... Infortive provides support tailored to the challenges of your transformation.

We look for innovation that brings you value

Infortive's greatest concern is to create value for its customers. Beyond simply improving methods, we focus on researching and proposing innovations that will make all the difference (taking advantage of a carve-out to move away from fixed ERP, reviewing architecture to systematize APIs...).

An offer based on operational efficiency

Our pragmatic offer covers all stages of a transformation:

Upstream, a flash audit to give management a 360° view of how to improve the Information System and IT Department performance.

A full range of transition assignments, including interims, transformations, turnarounds, crisis management, mergers and spin-offs...

An aspect too often neglected in transformation projects, Infortive also provides support to existing IT departments in structuring their teams and recruiting for key positions (production manager, architect, PMO, etc.).