A little over five years ago, there was no Instacart. But today, the same-day grocery delivery service is on a tear, with operations in 1,200 cities across 25 states, and a valuation of $3.4 billion as of March 2017. It’s left many retailers scratching their heads as to how a young startup figured out a service that they have been struggling to build for years.
It’s no secret that Instacart’s streamlined infrastructure, user-friendly platform, and a wide selection of products made it a near-overnight success in 2012. By focusing on delivering a great experience for the end user, and taking a novel approach to selling products from several partner supermarkets, Instacart was able to succeed where others have failed. And it’s far from the only example.
As technological progress accelerates, so will more companies fall prey to new, nimble competitors. Industries are being disrupted at alarming rates, and companies cannot afford to ignore the possibility that theirs will be next. Businesses will have to evolve and adapt to defend against its technology-driven competitors, and in turn become the tech-driven competitor in its market.
Trouble is, many IT organizations are still stuck in their old, familiar ways:
| Past | Present | |
|---|---|---|
| Spending | CIO and IT control spending | Business leaders engage in, and drive IT |
| Service delivery | Long development and provisioning times | Services, infrastructure, and applications can be deployed with the click of a button |
| Security | Sensitive information must be in-house only | Sensitive applications and data in the cloud strengthen security |
| Value | IT value is unclear and not analyzed by business leaders | Costs and ROI are clear, and IT is accountable for its decisions |
| Role | The CIO and IT leaders are responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects, developing applications, and managing IT infrastructure | The CIO and IT leaders are largely service integrators, managing third-party vendors |
| Workforce | The IT department is large and staffed with technically skilled employees | The IT department is streamlined, and technology workers are dispersed throughout the company |
These changes are rewriting the narrative of IT, shifting it from a siloed support entity to the core of a modern digital business. The IT strategy of the future is not an IT strategy at all—it is a business strategy.
It’s time for the IT leadership to rethink how it views technology and approaches new challenges—organizationally, operationally, and technically.
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Doug Smith
Managing Director
Doug has more than 20 years of experience as an IT leader and strategist. Before joining Wavestone US, Doug built and led the Enterprise Architecture function for McKesson, a Fortune 15 healthcare company. In his role as VP of Architecture and Solution Management, he led a team to develop technology strategies and roadmaps for McKesson’s businesses worldwide. At McKesson, he also served as VP of Data Center Transformation and led a multiyear, multimillion-dollar program to modernize and transform IT infrastructure and support teams. Doug has also served as an interim CIO for several of McKesson’s smaller businesses. Before McKesson, Doug worked for Novant Health as Director of Corporate Applications; and as a consultant for IBM Global Services, where he built an intranet to streamline delivery of content to physicians and nurses.
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