Your company’s IT strategy is outdated. How can you inject innovation into it?

The demand for technological innovation is growing exponentially. Perceptions of IT have brought with it high expectations from executives seeing IT as a primary source of innovation. Form a dedicated and diverse team, equipped with strategies to discover unique opportunities for innovation, develop high-value impactful solutions, while prototyping quickly and efficiently. This will amass a reservoir of ideas poised for timely execution. To ensure IT stays central to organizational progress, an innovation hub can be established. This way, IT will remain at the forefront of organizational advancement and quickly earn a seat at the table.

Assess current processes, collaborate with stakeholders, pilot new tech, partner with fintech firms, adopt agile methods, foster continuous improvement, invest in training, and measure impact. ex: a bank updates its IT strategy by piloting blockchain technology for secure transactions, partnering with a fintech startup for AI-powered chatbots, and training staff on cybersecurity measures.

Revitalizing your company's outdated IT strategy demands a blend of new technologies and agile methodologies. Start by conducting a thorough audit to identify gaps and outdated processes. Embrace cloud computing for flexibility, invest in AI and machine learning for insights and automation, and adopt DevOps for faster, more collaborative development cycles. Encourage a culture of continuous learning and innovation among your team, ensuring they're equipped to integrate the latest tech trends. This approach not only modernizes your IT strategy but also fosters a proactive, innovative IT environment.

Over many years I have noticed one thing that outdated IT strategies have in common - they are monolithic. Ironically, just like the systems these strategies promise to modernise. The trouble with monolithic things is that they're hard to hold together in our minds long enough to do anything about them and so you experience inertia. Injecting innovation into the strategy can be as simple as breaking it into smaller pieces organised by meaningful and measurable value streams, and then driving the highest value piece first. This will drag everything else along with it, and the next you know, it's no longer a monolithic strategy but an innovative new way of working.

In today's dynamic market, a strong IT strategy is vital. Ensure its effectiveness with a comprehensive evaluation of infrastructure, processes, capabilities, culture, and alignment with business goals. Consider external factors too that impact IT strategy, such as customer demands, industry trends, regulatory requirements, and competitor actions. After assessing the current IT landscape, leverage collaboration and pilot projects to explore and integrate cutting-edge technologies like AI, cloud, and automation. Through continuous innovation. IT strategy will propel an organization forward, securing its position as a key driver of business success.

Clear Objectives: Define specific innovation goals aligned with business objectives, leveraging Wardley Maps to visualize the current state and identify areas for improvement. Measurable Metrics: Establish metrics and KPIs to track the success of innovation efforts, using Wardley Maps to measure the impact of new initiatives on the IT landscape. Continuous Evaluation: Regularly assess the effectiveness of innovation initiatives, iterating based on feedback and insights gained from Wardley Maps, ensuring ongoing alignment with business needs.

Set clear, achievable goals for innovation within your IT department. These goals should be aligned with broader business objectives and could include improving efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing customer experience, or entering new markets. Establish metrics to measure the success of your innovation efforts, such as time to market for new products, IT operational costs, system uptime, and employee productivity.

Practical Tip: Involve cross-functional teams in goal-setting workshops. Ensure that innovation goals are specific, achievable, and directly contribute to the overall business strategy.

Based on my experience IT leaders usually struggle with two issues when working out goals/objectives and metrics: 1) Choosing the right metrics to support and measure your strategic objectives: As a remedy I once again highly suggest to seek guidance from COBIT and its comprehensive and inherently liked goals with corresponding metrics. Understand/map your goals and find the supporting metrics (using the goals cascade) along the whole business/IT value chain. 2) Defining the correct and concise objectives: I suggest to set projects with the most contribution to business value (based on quantifiable dimensions aligned to business priorities) as your strategic goals. Lastly, put their progress against plan as your key metric.

Defining your innovation goals and metrics is crucial for steering your IT strategy in the right direction. Ensure these goals resonate with your broader business objectives, pinpointing key areas for enhancement or transformation. Establish transparent, attainable metrics to monitor your innovation journey, facilitating informed decision-making and strategy adjustments. Metrics could include revenue growth, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, or market share. By aligning your innovation objectives with measurable outcomes, you create a robust framework that not only guides your IT initiatives but also demonstrates their impact on your organization's success.

For SMEs, staying competitive and driving growth hinges on their ability to explore and adopt new technologies effectively. Keeping abreast of the latest advancements relevant to their industry and business needs is paramount. By engaging with right service providers / subject matter experts and evaluating the best technology fit, SMEs can leverage innovations to streamline operations, improve customer experiences, and seize new opportunities, ultimately contributing to their long-term success, sustainability and optimized cost.

Technology Assessment: Use Wardley Maps to evaluate emerging technologies and their potential impact on the existing IT strategy, identifying opportunities for innovation. Pilot Projects: Launch small-scale pilot projects to test new technologies and innovative solutions, monitoring their performance and scalability with Wardley Maps. Collaborative Innovation: Foster a culture of collaboration and idea-sharing among IT teams, encouraging them to contribute innovative ideas and solutions, visualizing their impact using Wardley Maps.

Stay abreast of emerging technologies and trends in the IT field, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT). Evaluate how these technologies can be integrated into your current systems to drive innovation. Consider partnerships with tech startups or participating in technology incubators to gain early access to cutting-edge technologies.

Practical Tip: Establish a dedicated task force or innovation committee to regularly evaluate emerging technologies. Pilot new solutions in controlled environments before full-scale implementation.

Embracing new technologies is pivotal for revitalizing your IT strategy. Stay abreast of cutting-edge technological advances in your sector and assess their potential to elevate your business. It's crucial to not just observe but actively engage with these technologies, evaluating their practicality, scalability, and potential benefits. Adopt a hands-on approach with methods like prototyping, piloting, or proof-of-concept trials. This proactive stance ensures your IT strategy remains dynamic and responsive, leveraging technology not just for enhancement but as a catalyst for transformation and opportunity creation within your organization.

People are stones and stones do not move is a saying i learned early in my career...this is especially true when it comes to 'new' things...Innovation happens top down and bottom up , however Innovation Culture is always top down...if leadership is not open to a culture of innovation (and yes that includes Change Management and is 'risky') no matter what innovative ideas exist in the organization they will not flourish....having said that ...typically Leaders have a genetic Innovative trigger (almost all of them) but it is important to make sure they foster the culture else anything you come up with will be DOA!

Infusing innovation into an outdated IT strategy requires strong leadership and a supportive culture. Leaders should actively promote innovation, dare to experiment initiatives, while also leading by example through their own willingness to embrace change and take risks. Cultivating a culture of innovation involves creating an environment where experimentation is encouraged, failure is viewed as a learning opportunity, and collaboration is prioritized. Providing resources and infrastructure that support innovation can further empower employees to explore new ideas and technologies.

As an IT strategist, you should foster a tech innovation culture among your teams, peers, and leaders across all organizational departments. Here are some things that you can do to foster an innovation culture: 1) Education: show everyone the importance of tech innovation. Bring cases of success and failure and explain how the organization can benefit from tech innovation. 2) Test and learn: promote internal competitions or create multidisciplinar innovation teams to constantly research and try innovative things inside the organization. 3) Set the right incentives: people are also motivated by incentives. Set goals and reward teams based on the level of innovation achieved.

Encourage Idea Generation: Establish platforms and channels for employees to share innovative ideas and suggestions for improving the IT strategy, leveraging Wardley Maps for visualizing and refining these ideas. Reward Innovation: Recognize and reward employees who contribute innovative solutions or propose improvements to the IT strategy, fostering a culture where innovation is valued and incentivized. Provide Resources: Allocate resources, such as time, budget, and training opportunities, to support innovation initiatives and experimentation, using Wardley Maps to prioritize and allocate resources effectively.

Cultivating an innovative culture within your IT department and the broader organization is crucial. Encourage experimentation and risk-taking, even if it means facing failures. Implement programs that reward creative thinking and innovative problem-solving. Offer continuous learning opportunities for your staff to stay current with new technologies and methodologies.

Learning from failures and successes is pivotal in injecting innovation into the company's IT strategy. Here I would like to emphasize the importance of continuous improvement by regularly evaluating innovation initiatives. Leveraging tools like surveys and analytics helps extract valuable insights. By applying lessons learned, we not only refine our approach but also foster a culture of adaptability and resilience. Embracing both failures and successes as learning opportunities propels the company toward a more innovative and effective IT strategy.

Post-Mortem Analysis: Conduct thorough post-implementation reviews using Wardley Maps to analyze both successful and failed initiatives, identifying lessons learned and areas for improvement. Iterative Approach: Embrace an iterative approach to IT strategy development, allowing for continuous experimentation and refinement based on feedback and insights gained from Wardley Maps. Knowledge Sharing: Encourage knowledge sharing across teams and departments to disseminate lessons learned from both successes and failures, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement within the organization.

Adopt a mindset that views failures as opportunities for learning and growth. Analyze both successful and unsuccessful projects to understand what worked, what didn’t, and why. Share these insights across the organization to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Practical Tip: Implement post-project reviews to discuss what worked well and what could be improved. Share success stories and lessons learned across teams to foster a collective learning environment.

I have heard some organisations "Celebrate failures". Every Friday of the week, the employees openly share their mistakes from that week. This practice fosters openness, and transparency and avoids mistakes from employees. To be more innovative - 1. Environment should encourage creativity 2. Hours blocked per week/day for creative work and showcase 3. Fail fast and challenging the status quo should be the norm 4. Last but not least, recognise every employee's innovative ideas and support to bring those to life.

I'm not sure that injecting innovation into your strategy is the automatic answer to fixing an outdated strategy. The questions to ask should always be: - Where do we want to go (our goals / destination). - How will we get there (our strategy). Your IT strategy is the best way way in which you will get the technology end state needed to support and accelerate the business goals. If you focus on that and ensure that your technology end state is appropriate for the business needs you will have succeeded.

Revolutionizing your company's IT strategy demands a holistic approach that embraces innovation at its core. Start by fostering an enterprise culture that champions creativity and problem-solving. Organize hackathons and ideation campaigns to unleash the collective genius of your teams. Dive deep into trend spotting and analysis, transforming emerging trends into actionable innovations. Forge strategic alliances with academia, research firms, and startup communities to infuse fresh perspectives. Remember, innovation thrives in collaboration and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Seize this opportunity to embark on a journey where every challenge is a steppingstone towards greatness.

***Pequenos passos e pequenos projetos*** Já ouviu falar em time que está ganhando não se mexe? Se seu lider não for um cara que olha a TI como investimento, esse é o pensamento que ele tem. Comece pequeno, pegue o projeto menor, faça as inovações e ENTREGUE. Depois que entregou os pequenos, a confiança em todos os envolvidos cresce, daí o médio já iniciará com as inovações e depois os grandes. É fácil fazer esses pontos acima, não! Mas devagar você consegue, tenha sabedoria de escolher os projetos certos no começo e não dê um passo maior que a perna.

As you embark on refreshing your IT strategy with innovation, remember the importance of aligning IT initiatives with business goals, securing executive support and funding, maintaining a focus on customer needs, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Additionally, pay attention to data security and privacy concerns when adopting new technologies.

Regularly revisit and reassess your IT strategy in response to market shifts, technological advancements, or internal changes. Maintain agility to pivot when necessary.