Technology

Someone recently asked me the question, “What does it mean for us to be a ‘World Class IT’ organization?” and I thought it might be worthwhile to share my thoughts on this with others as well.

First of all, in my experience, this phrase is often used more as a carrot to motivate organizations than a meaningful description of any sort of specific end state. In particular, its appearance may be a signal that someone thinks an IT organization has become too inwardly focused and complacent about the way they do business, and use of this expression may be a way to get them to consider what’s going on in the rest of the industry and to think about constructive ways they could improve.

That being said, in order to be “World Class IT,” I think you have to be effectively doing a delicate balancing act between all of the following, usually opposing, forces: