At the three recent EMEA NowForums ServiceNow President and CEO Frank Slootman spoke of "The end of No. The beginning of Now."
It's about how enterprise IT organizations need to move away from what they have always known and done to embrace the need for a new way of delivering fit-for-purpose IT and business services to internal and external customers. It's about transforming IT.
Quash those Department of "No" perceptions and focus on "experiences"
The enterprise IT organization is often viewed as unhelpful, out of touch, and, most damaging of all in the business lexicon, as an overhead expense. Things need to change; and they need to change quickly. While many see "shadow IT," bring your own device (BYOD), and cloud as threats caused by technology evolution, they are really threats (or opportunities) caused by the evolution of customer expectations. Customers or consumers of IT services expect more and so they should.
So focus on transforming IT operations and service delivery for the better through consolidation, standardization, and globalization. Then focus on customer and service experience through suitable people and enabling technology — bringing the most-likely superior service experience of modern B2C services into the enterprise — with Amazon and its ilk being great examples of what employees now expect from corporate IT.
Recognize and embrace the need for more automation
Successful "web companies," such as Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook, also lead the way (for enterprise IT organizations to follow) when it comes to IT operations. Look beyond the on-premises versus cloud debate to see the need for more automation in IT operations and service delivery. With a "lights out, zero touch" approach not only offering the potential to reduce costs and make better use of scarce people resource but also, and more importantly from the business perspective, allowing execution to be more in line with business' expectations and needs for fleetness of foot.
Look to leverage IT's service management capabilities elsewhere in the enterprise
There is a great opportunity for the enterprise IT organization to support the management of service relationships in other corporate lines of business such as HR, facilities, etc. Where what the IT organization has learned about managing service delivery can be shared to benefit other business functions, their customers, and ultimately the enterprise.
Such service relationships can be improved through the use of best practices, service automation, and a single system of record in pursuance of improved business performance. A previous blog - A Future Role for IT: Managing Service Relationships in the Enterprise — explains more.
This can also deliver the secondary benefit of improved business perceptions of IT and the business value it delivers to enterprises. Something that most internal IT organizations would benefit from.
The role of the CIO is changing
Frank's slide says it all. How are you engendering the required transformation?
To get a copy of Frank's full presentation please see here.
Or if you want to hear more from ServiceNow customers, partners, employees, and senior leaders then Knowledge 14, the annual ServiceNow customer event, is for you. Where from April 27 - May 1 2014 circa 6000 IT service management (ITSM) and cloud professionals will descend upon San Francisco for a great learning and networking experience.
