Synopsis

1. The past, present and future of IT

Why it’s time for a ‘New Deal’ between business and IT. We’ve had EDP for 20 years. We’ve had IT for twenty years. It’s time for a change, a radical change. It’s time for IT 2.0.

2. The elements of Fusion

We think the old ‘island of IT’ is a concept that is dead in the water. We believe that we should not just be concerned with ‘aligning business and IT’, but that we should be busy integrating IT into the business. We believe the time has come for business and IT to fuse.

  • Why is Alignment a dead-end street?
  • What does the concept of Fusion mean for IT?
  • What are the elements of Fusion, and how to apply them?

3. Models that work

Over the course of the last fifteen years of study and research into the field of Alignment, a number of models have proven to be extremely valuable, or at least interesting, to look at the business & IT Alignment domain.

Are these models still relevant in a Fusion context? Absolutely, because these models can be used in the transition towards a state of Fusion, and can in a lot of cases form a source of inspiration to look at the dialogue between business and IT.

  • The models of Alignment.
  • The models of Fusion.

4. People: the new IT crowd

What type of people do you need in a Fusion process? For a very long time, we’ve hired extremely technical specialists into our IT departments, and we have created armies of semi-autistic, communicationally-challenged deep-technical Nerds. In a Fusion concept, we need a new breed of professionals, with a new blend of capabilities.

  • When you transform your IT department, the most important priority should be on people and culture. They are the foundation of the new IT.
  • What does the ‘people’ element in a Fusion process entail?
  • Which blend of people will we need to attract, hire, train or develop, and how
    can you do that?
  • How can you crack the ‘culture’ code in an IT transformation?

5. The new CIO: from Robin to Batman

In the successful transformation of IT, perhaps the Fusion of IT and business, no factor is as determinate and as crucial as the profile of the CIO. What does the new CIO look like, and what role can they play?

6. The marketing of IT

Building up the communication skills, and developing a marketing mindset within IT is just part of an overall approach to strive towards better IT Alignment, and a totally new relationship between business and IT. Building a better communication will be essential in our drive to radiate IT leadership.

  • What is the rationale for communication in IT, and what are the mechanisms for communicating with the business on IT-related matters?
  • How do we build a communication and marketing strategy for the information technology function?
  • How can you raise the communication potential and marketing savvyness of your IT staff?

7. Intelligent governance: beyond IT governance

Most IT departments have set up IT governance purely in a ‘monitor and control’ mentality, burdening the IT department with extremely heavy compliancy, rules and procedures, and with the result that the business customer of IT now is confronted with a bureaucratic IT apparatus that kills all creativity, flexibility and innovation.

If we go from IT governance to the concept of ‘intelligent governance’, and turn the static budgeting process into a dynamic portfolio mechanism, then we can truly revive the governance domain from a sluggish bottleneck into an accelerator of change and a catalyst for the Fusion process between business and IT.

  • Demonstrate that governance can also be an intelligent mechanism to create
    more value with IT.
  • Explore the difference between ‘budget’ thinking and ‘portfolio’ thinking.
  • Show how to use the concept of Intelligent Governance as a mechanism for Fusion between business and IT.

8. Architects of Change: using scenario planning in IT

Architecture will be a key component in rethinking IT. Architecture should provide us with the tools and the mechanisms to not just think about today, but about the future of using technology in our companies. Enterprise architecture should become a weapon of change: instead of a static interpretation of the current, it should become an instrument for dealing with the constant flux.

  • Explore the notion of Enterprise Architecture, and what it means in a business/ IT Fusion context.
  • Elaborate on the concept of scenario planning as a mechanism to look at the
    dynamic aspects of Architecture.
  • Investigate the role and the profile of the architect.

9. The Fusion roadmap: a practical guide to a new IT

  • A roadmap for IT going forward.
  • Conducting an assessment of where you are.
  • Mapping out the work necessary to reshape the IT department.
  • Where will the Fusion of business and IT lead our industry, and where could it lead you?

Download this synopsis in pdf or just order the book.