IT Advantage: Spring 2011, a new publication from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) described the global economic moves through 2011, and the companies facing far greater then ever before. For many of these businesses, the strength of their IT may prove to be a key competitive differentiator.
It further sheds the light on a variety of ways in which companies can optimize the performance of their IT capabilities–and, in the process, maximize IT’s contribution to the bottom line. It features interviews with two chief information officers who are tackling a number of mission-critical challenges. The first interview is with Jeff Keisling, chief information officer of Pfizer. Keisling discusses a range of topics, including the IT-specific challenges in bringing together Pfizer and Wyeth; how to strengthen the IT organization’s relationship with the business side of the company; and leadership.
The second interview is with Greg Farr, CIO of the Australian Department of Defence. Farr discusses his efforts to transform the department’s IT function to support the government’s new defense plan. He also details an effective approach he used to develop critical new skills among IT staff, an approach that could have broad application in both the public and private sectors.
IT Advantage: Spring 2011 also features outside-the-box thinking on two subjects that are central to the optimal management of IT: sourcing and ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems. Standard practice in IT sourcing is to manage supplier relationships as individual arrangements, with each vendor assigned unique performance metrics and compensated on the basis of its ability to deliver against them. But that approach can bring problems, especially when issues arise that straddle functional boundaries. This article posits that a radically different approach–using shared accountabilities among vendors–can avoid these problems and deliver significantly improved results for the company.
The publication takes a similarly fresh look at ERP. Companies seeking to significantly upgrade the performance of their ERP systems are often told that they need a major overhaul–or, worse, must start from scratch. But a targeted approach to ERP optimization can often deliver the bulk of the benefits of a big-bang approach at a fraction of the cost and risk.
The publication also offers a plan for how companies can monitor the many emerging technology-driven trends–for example, data-intensive computing and advanced analytics–and determine which ones will prove most important to their particular business. Finally, it summarizes how the expanding use of IT is beginning to transform the global health-care industry, bringing both risks and opportunities to industry players and the broader health-care ecosystem.
“Optimized IT can be a powerful competitive asset,” notes Thomas Reichert, Global Leader of BCG’s Information Technology practice. “But it won’t happen on its own. Companies need to think about how IT can change their businesses and determine if, and where, they need to make bold changes. This publication offers food for thought as companies work through that process.”
