Systems Integration is Dead. Long Live Services Integration
Author: Sonia Eland and Sam Johnston
It’s not a new story: accelerating technological change has created new modes of production and consumption, which in turn have created new economic imperatives and ways to organise and operate a business. This is the story of the industrial revolution; of the rise of the information economy; and of the growing ‘consumerisation’ of business, information technology (IT) and the global economy.
As individual needs and tastes change, businesses must respond rapidly or opportunity may be lost.
At the core of these changes has been the ‘personalisation’ of technology and information. With the rise of social, mobile, analytics, cloud and security (SMACS) technologies, individuals are using their ready access and willingness to share information to demand even better, more personalised services. And as individual needs and tastes can rapidly change, the businesses that serve them must be able to respond just as rapidly, or opportunities, customers and even entire markets may be lost.
This paper investigates these changes so that their impact on IT, and how best to respond, can be better understood and more effectively managed. It looks at five key factors in this transformation: the impact of new technology; the resulting economic changes; how businesses are adapting; the role of the integrator; and the growing importance of partners and relationships.
Ultimately, it suggests that chief information officers (CIOs) must rise to the challenge of renovating their organisation’s IT core, building strong internal and external relationships, and driving business growth.