Creative IT professionals always have more ideas than they can possibly build into working fixes, extensions, or standalone software.
We’re creative. We’re problem-solvers. We’re builders. We’re drivers of value. Yet we’re always hamstrung by limitations — whether that’s budget, time, tools, team capacity, or simply other high priority projects.
Working around persistent problems
I started working as a professional developer back in 2003 and, despite a lot of great progress in the technologies and methodologies I use, a couple of problems have persisted.
First, business leaders still don’t get access to the technologies or software they need to get their job done. Second, talented engineers, architects, and designers are finding their capabilities and creativity stifled by the red tape, mundane tasks, and persistent rework that takes up more and more of our time.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to be a part of teams where we worked through these issues and delivered the change the organization needed, but we’d have delivered the result so much faster if we weren’t having to run uphill.
This got me thinking. If my experience is the reality for most businesses, then organizations across the globe are sitting on a gold mine of untapped talent, lost value, and wasted ideas.
Setting sail
Just about every day, my colleagues and I talk to business and IT leaders, developers, and pretty much everyone involved in moving enterprises’ digital agendas forward, and we hear the frustrations they encounter. We’ve accumulated so many first-hand stories that point to some fundamental, core challenges that stymied their ability to execute.
We wanted to validate this quantitatively, though, and learn if these were truly broad challenges beyond the organizations we talk to in person. So early last summer, we commissioned a sizeable research study of business and IT teams, from those on the front lines all the way to executive leadership. We asked questions about what they are really experiencing and looked for the root of the problem. We also explored what can be done to get teams pulling hard in the same direction and achieving the velocity they need to create real value. The results were staggering.
The reality of the crisis in business
In a nutshell, companies of all sizes are having trouble competing and disrupting in a software-driven world. That might not be a surprise when you consider the ongoing shortage of developers, but this perspective shows technologies like low-code are still not being used to their full potential.
The good news is that business leaders are united in wanting to involve the IT team in strategic initiatives that drive real revenue. Yet these good intentions are hindered by the reality that only a third of business leaders grasp that IT budgets are insufficient to deliver on these aims. What’s more, shadow IT is growing exponentially, and the failure to adequately consider the governance and security implications is causing huge headaches for IT, adding even more weight to already overburdened budgets.
We need a change. And we need it now.
What needs to happen?
IT and the wider business do have the same priorities. We all need to better articulate what we want and find a better way of working together.
Meaningful realignment between IT and the wider business is possible — I’ve seen it happen, and I’ve seen the drastically improved results — but, to do this, organizations need to set up their business so every employee can play a role in delivering on the digital future.
It can feel impossible to get everyone within a business working towards the same goal. So, to make it easier, I have one simple ask.
Take a look at our new research, The Digital Disconnect: A Study of Business and IT Alignment. Read the findings. Reflect on them. Talk to your colleagues about them.