Moving IT from Cost Center to Innovation Engine
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOften viewed more like a “break-fix” department than a leader of innovation or revenue generator, IT departments are often seen as cost centers. But when leveraged appropriately, the opportunity for IT to lead innovation and change within an organization is endless.
With the help of these three tips, you can be on your way to transforming the business through innovation rather than being a service commodity.
- Broaden your focus – and definition of success
A bimodal IT team understands the importance of emphasizing both predictability and exploration. Having a bimodal approach means you continue to have ongoing technology support for your business while also working toward a secondary objective of serving as an innovation engine.
Structuring the team to be bimodal allows you to continue to provide essential IT support to the organization while giving the team the opportunity to experiment, be innovation leaders and add unique value.
- Create a “Team Within a Team”
Try assembling a “team within a team” dedicated to innovation. Their primary responsibilities should include building proofs of concept and prototypes that take risk out of future technology investments — and help establish a culture of innovation.
In addition to finding great people to lead innovation, it is important to adjust your IT services to make sure processes enable, not prevent, innovation. Also, track innovation efforts as part of your portfolio and get everyone (IT as well as business partners) involved by making innovation a part of your culture.
- Embrace Evolution
It’s important for the team to evolve during this transformation. Some team members may move on to lead other projects and help spread the culture of innovation, or perhaps success metrics change over time.
If you want to shift your organization’s mindset about IT, first think about shifts you can make within IT. Evolve your processes to enable innovation. Start with the customer in mind, and reward intelligent risk-taking. With intentional, small changes, it’s very possible to move from being viewed as a cost center to being viewed as a value driver and leader in innovation.
This article is sponsored content paid for by Allegion.