Martyn Rhisiart Jones
As a CEO, CIO, or student of Business Management, you will understand this. Information and Communication Technology (ICT, also known as IT) has become essential. It is crucial. It is a pervasive element in the fabric of corporate life. What I mean by ICT encompasses three essential elements: Processes, Information and Technology. ICT should be seen as an important corporate asset. More importantly, Information, Processes, and their Management (IM) should be considered as such. They should be made to work as contemporary business enablers. They should bring about value-adding alignment in business. Thus, they should be managed as such. Although it does work that way, it typically doesn’t.
ICT’s tangibles and intangibles, especially IM, should not be viewed as corporate assets simply due to capital expenditure. Adding more ICT-related assets to other traditional assets of dubious nature and value should be avoided. Examples of such assets include debtors, underutilised real estate, or artificially high stock overheads. This is not the way to approach a serious evaluation of tangible, intrinsically valuable, and convertible assets.
ICT together with IM should work together as contemporary business enablers. They should not channel funds into low-value and high-cost pet projects. They should not constrain business because of ego or hubris. They should not put up barriers to value-adding commercial progress. ICT is a crucial element in providing a practical way to realise business objectives. The intelligent and pragmatic application of ICT empowers a more agile organisation. People have the tools and technologies at their disposal. These tools allow them to work even more effectively and efficiently towards the goals of corporate strategies. This ensures the smooth running of everyday operations and tactical decision-making of the business. It also provides the ability to manage change as if it were second nature.
ICT and IM should be aligned with the business, and never seriously attempted the other way around. The way a business wishes to interact with its clients, prospective clients, and suppliers should be driven by business goals. It depends on how the business wants the client relationship guided. The focus should be on the market. Only then should it be delivered using a strong technological base.
Also, if ICT and IM are really assets worth having, then their value must be well understood. This understanding is crucial to manage the assets effectively. It is also necessary to leverage extra value from those assets.
These approaches would deliver quality ICT and IM functions that almost any organization would be continually satisfied with.
Many thanks for reading.
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