The necessity of elevating the role of IT within your business

Surviving now comes down to the ability to make the most of the capabilities of modern technology. Typically businesses that have been slow to adapt fell behind the curve of innovation, while those that have risen to the top were able to do so by finding a way in which to exploit the potential of technology.

Organisations are required to find out how they can exploit new ways of working and deliver new services for customers via moving to cloud-based architectures.

This means that businesses now have to realise the vital role that the IT department has to play. In forward thinking companies this role is no longer merely assigned to supportive, back-office functions. IT teams are now crucial to any business’s future ambitions and have a vital role to play in not only enabling innovation, but also in shaping strategic direction.

The reason for this is that technology has changed the way in which businesses work. Most employees now use multiple devices daily, internal business processes are largely controlled through IT applications and customers expect to be able to communicate with organisations through several digital channels.

In today’s new world of business, IT is well and truly leading the charge and recent research has highlighted the increased level of influence IT professionals are enjoying across organisations. For instance they have become a more trusted source for strategic insight. When it comes to purchasing decisions, BDMs in EMEA rely more on insights from ITDMs than from their business peers.

Ultimately, IT decision makers have more purchase influence than business decision makers for nearly all technologies, a clear indicator of their growing presence and the vital role they now play in shaping strategic direction.

Organisations are relying on their IT departments to be able to develop an infrastructure that enables them to leverage the capabilities of technologies, such as cloud computing, virtualisation and the Internet of Things, all of which have become essential for business success.

The growth of Big Software provides a perfect example of the demands being placed on modern infrastructure. Businesses today are relying on the likes of machine learning, big data and OpenStack architectures so to remain ahead of competition.

*Image taken from Google