Before we dive into the responses, let’s look at a 2016 study of European organizations, as illustrated in Figure 1. When asked what challenges they are facing, 50% of organizations reported security and compliance, 46% reported ensuring IT can support a fast-changing business and 41% reported improving and optimizing IT. The rest of the findings show that a third to just under half of the organizations’ IT issues are related to mobility, supporting the business 24/7, increasing complexity, data storage and analytics, and enabling workforce collaboration.
If you look at these results, you will find they are centered around managing day-to-day operations and a reactive approach to needs.
Insight’s 2017 Intelligent Technology Index shows similar findings, in that, most companies are focused on keeping the lights on. With teams scurrying around data security issues and business continuity, how can IT drive efforts in infrastructure optimization?
When we asked IT professionals how their current infrastructure was performing we discovered that, “They give their current infrastructure a favorable rating, yet also express deep concern about ongoing maintenance and the addition of new capabilities.”
What does it take to innovate?
With so much of what’s illustrated in Figure 1 demonstrating a focus on current operations, it’s no wonder 29% of organizations report challenges innovating. How can a company innovate when it’s exhausting IT resources and budget on security and compliance, or keeping up with the demands of the business?
Innovation takes more than just a conversation about developing a cloud strategy. Although that’s important, the real prerequisite for innovation is a mindset shift that most companies are too taxed with daily demands to accommodate.
Adopting the bimodal IT approach
The answer some companies have found to this challenge is bimodal IT. This approach consists of one group focused on predictability and another group focused on innovation. Gartner’s glossary describes mode one as “improving and renovating in more well-understood areas.” And mode two is “experimenting to solve new problems.”